Guru’s WBB Report: Siegrist and Herlihy Power Villanova Over Creighton

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

If the Creighton women’s basketball team thought an intense film study of last week’s Drexel narrow loss at Villanova would be instructional on how to handle the Wildcats’ Maddy Siegrist in Saturday’s  Big East battle on the Main Line in Finneran Pavilion, the reigning conference freshman of the year provided an up close and personal lecture on how to handle defenses.

In one of the more colossal games in her still young career, Siegrist blasted her way with 34 points and a career-high 19 rebounds besides dealing three assists, blocking three shots and grabbing a steal while Herlihy, who missed last season with an injury poured 20 points leading Villanova to a 73-68 victory over the Bliuejays.

That triumph enabled new Villanova coach Denise Dillon to tie her own coach and longtime Wildcats mentor Harry Perretta for most consecutive victories at the outset of the program at 7-0.

Had not the Wildcats been postponed a trip to Providence on Wednesday over coronavirus protocol issues off the Drexel meeting on the part of the opposition, Dillon might have been able to take sole possession of the mark on the Providence originally scheduled visit. But that 7-0, 2-0 Big East launch is likely to slam to a halt Tuesday when the Huskies stop here on the return to the confeence tour.

That would be No. 3 UConn, formerly with the American Athletic Conference, after being formerly with the powerful existence of the previous Big East.

Delayed a season start due to the Huskies’ own COVID-19 test results, coach Geno Auriemma’s group on Saturday afternoon around the same time as the ‘Nova game completed a busy week decimating Xavier 106-59 in Gampel Pavilion on the Storrs campus.

UConn shot 64 percent from the field, including 56 percent from vveyond the arc to improve the record to 4-0 overall ajnd 3-0 in the conference.

Six players for the home team scored in double figures, paced by Christyn Williams with 24 points and freshman sensation Paige Bueckers with 19 points.

Xavier (3-2, 0-1) in its first conference game of the season got 11 points from Nia Clark.

“They have some very good players, no doubt thbat’s a challenge,” said Dillon of the Huskies and Tuesday’s visit.

Just two days earlier Auriemma referred to his players as the worst shooting team in America.

After struggling a week ago in the Drexel game, Siegrist had struggled to reach double digits but she was back on the high-scoring mark Saturday.

“The loaches all week stressed the importance  of shooting the low to high three,” Siegrist said. “Because it’s something I can get it off on smaller guards. So that’s really something I tried to work on all week, setting screens for myself, getting other players open and doing what I can open as well.

“Connecticut’s a good team, we’re super excited for that game. You just show up, play as best as you can, play as hard as you can, and just see what hsppens.”

Dillon was happy to just get the game Saturday played after being shutdown on Wednesday because Drexel had come up with a positive test in the wake of last Sunday’s game.

“Obviously, Maddy led the way and she ;as done this season, Brianna as well, and we knew those two had to combine to for a lot of points for us to have any success today,” said Dillon, of the Bluejays, who swept Villanova in last season’s home-and-home series. “But it does not go unnoticed that it eas team effort on both ends of the flolor.

“I kept telling our guards, they’re going to their shots today and they took them, not because they were left open,” and I feel their confidence will build and they’re going to start to drop.”

Temi Cardi scored 21 points for Creighton ( 2-5, 1-2) while Tatum Rembao scored 10. Both teams were missing several players impacting their depth on each side.

 

“We’re going to spend a few hours enjoying this one and  refocus. One game at a time. Today, we seemed more connected. They went back excited to just be able to play.”

The local schedule has been light the past 48 hours due to issues surrounding the virus.

Rider remained winless after back-to-back Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference road losses 56-41 on Friday night and 56-40 on Saturday to Iona in New Rochelle, N.Y., to fall to 0-8 overall and 0-4 in the conference.

Rutgers (3-1) on Friday hosted Hampton (0-2) in an afternoon non-conference game and rolled to a 94-45 victory in the RAC as the Scarlet Knikghts’ offense flowed with 25 assists, matching a total in December 2017 against FDU (Fairleigh Dickinson,)

“It’s really something special,” said Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer, now in her 50th seasons combined at three different universities including 26 in Central New Jersey. “We train our guards to see the whole court and to see the defense before it actually develops.”

Arella Guirantes, the Big Ten co-preseason player of the year, tied a career high with eight assists and set one with five connected three-balls on the way to 25 points, Mael Gilles scored 18, while Zippy Broughton scored 10 while dealing 10 assists, and freshman Diamond Johnson out of Philadelphia scored 11 points.

Rutgers on Sunday will host another non-c onfeence game when. Sacred Heart visits at 8 p.m.

Fans are extremely limited at all these arenas if not barred altogether off of virus protocols.

Other local teams in action has Temple (0-3) hosting SMU at 2 p.m. on ESPN+ in McGonigle Hall  in the Owls’ season conerence opener in thhe American, while Penn State at home in the Bryce Jordan Center in State College gets its. Big Ten season under way hosting Purdue in its conference opener at 2 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.

Delaware visits George Washington in the Colonials’ Smith Center at noon in a non-conference game while Drexel’s home game with Old Dominion is postponed and likewise Tuesday’s Dragons game with Saint Joseph’s.

Nationally Speaking: On Saturday of the ranked team that played  all survived but two where in the PAC-12 No. 21 Oregon State fell 61-55 at Washington State and in a non-conference game No. 20 host Missouri State fell to South Dakota State 60-52. The Jackrabbits, which had beaten some previous ranked teams, returned to the poll several weeks ago for the first time in several seasons but lost right away and fell back out on the next vote by the nationwide media panel.

Top-ranked Stanford won at Southern Cal 80-60 in a PAC-12 game in Los Angeles expanding Tara VanDerveer’s lead as the winningest WBB Division I coach at Stanford to 1100. She passed the late legendary Tennessee coach Paat Head Summitt at 1,098 to reach 1,099 on Tuesday with the Cardinal win at Pacific. 

The win Saturday for UConn coach Geno Auriemma was 1,095, three behind Summitt and five behind VanDerveer. The Cardinal next visit No. 11 UCLA on Monday.

Elsewhere, No. 9 Kentucky returned home from its upset loss to No. 19 DePaul in Chicago to beat Wofford, 98-37, while the Blue Demons stayed in Chicago to beat Georgetown 72-57, in the Big East. No. 11 UCLA stayed home and beat Californisa 71-71-37, in the PAC-12 in Los Angeles, while No. 7 Baylor cruised over McNeese State at home 117-24.

No. 12 Arkansas on the road in-state won at Little Rock 80-70., while No. 7 Oregon, who was in a ranking tie with Baylor, won its PAC-12 game running over host host Washington 73-49.

In the Oregon State game, Johanna Teder had 17 of her 20 points in the second half including shooting 6-of-10 from deep for the Cougars (3-0, 2-0 PAC-12) coached by former Texas star Kamie Ethridge, playing in Pullman. Oregon State (3-3, 1-3) got 14 each from Aleah Goodman and Sasha Goforth, and and a double double 13 points and 10 rebounds from Taylor Jones.

“I can’t tell you how happy I am for this tgeam,” Ethridge said afterwards. “We’ve been getting pummeled by these Top 25 teams.”

Nd in the other Saturday upset of a ranked team, Mylah Selland had 19 points for the visititing Jackrabbits (5-2), who have now beaten three ranked teams this season. Missouri State (4-2) at home in Springfield got 13 points from Brice Calip.

And that;s the report.