Guru’s WBB Report: UConn and South Carolina Are Slammers While North Carolina Tennessee, and DePaul Become Spoilers

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

As the headline indicates Thursday night was one of slamming with No. 3 Connecticut improved to  2-0 in the Big Easr and 3-0 overall by routing Creighton 80-47  at home  on the Storrs main campus in Gampel Pavilion while No. 5 South Carolina and Temple emerged from a 10-day schedule gap that was short-lived by the visiting Owls and thoroughly enjoyed by the host Gamecocks  103-41 in Columbia improving USC to  5-1.

Meanwhile, in the Atlantic Coast Conference, host North Carolina dropped No. 18 Syracuse from the unbeaten column after four games, beating the Orange 92-68 in Chapel Hill (N.C.) while in a game hastily cobbled together Monday four days ago, Tennessee took down No. 15 Indiana  62-58.

We were off the grid from writing for several days this week after the second cataract surgery Tuesday that made seeing small type for the moment problematical but to catch up for the record  the locals got hit with chaos involving the coronavirus while several milestones were also achieved.

One, as if there was any doubt on the outcome,  saw Top-ranked Stanford stayed unbeaten and beat host Pacific, putting Tara VanDerveeer past the late Tennessee coach Pat Summitt with 1,099 victories  for the most women’s basketball career coaching triumphs in Division I, while Thursday’s Connecticut win has Gen o Auriemma continuing pursuit with 1,094,

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, No. 24 DePaul at home in Chicago upset No. 9 Kentucky 86-82 which gave host Blue Demons coach Doug Bruno 725 victories the most for men or women at the university passing the ;ate men’s coach Ray Meyer.

Bruno and Meyer are the only gender duo to win at least 720 games all ats the same university.

“I am blessed,” said Bruno who was recruited by and played for Meyer. “I would have nothing at DePaul without coach Ray. He built the DePaul brand for more than 42 years.”

As The Locals Turn: There has been more action off the court involving shutdowns over safety concerns from the Covid-19 virus.

Rutgers, which missed a bunch of games because of other teams problems did open its home schedule in the Big 10 on Monday and lost narrowly to No. 14 Maryland  when a rally fell short 91-87 wasting an effort by pre-season co-Big Ten player of the year Arella Guirantes, who scored 33 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the first 30-point double double in five seasons.

“When we needed to take control and guarantee ourselves a shot, it came down to execution and experience,” said Rutgers coach C. Vvivan Stringer.

The Scarlet Knights (2-1, 1-1 Big Ten) havwe added some games, beginning Friday when they host Hampton of the Mideastern Athletic Atlantic Conference at 10 a.m.

Meanwhile after finally getting to play Sunday and rallying from 18 points to beat Division II Lincoln, on Tuesday, Saint Joseph’s stayed home in Hagan Arena and romped over Monmouth 80-52 dropping the visiting Hawks to 0-4.

As for the host Hawks,  graduate student Alayna Gribble had 19 points fueled by 5-fr-5 from beyond the arc .Grad student Alexis Santarella  was 5-for-6 from the field and scored 11, while Gabby Smalls had a game-high 10 rebounds.

Then the fun began. Drexel had an individual at the Tier 1 level tesst positive so through contract tracing, Villanova’s Wednesday Big East game up in Rhode Island against Providence was postponed. The Wildcats may return to action Saturday hosting Creighton. The Drexel testing postponed Wednesday’s schedule game at La Salle for an unknown future date. Then Saint Joseph’s came down with a positive test postponing the Atlantic 10 opener in Hgan Arena Saturday against La Salle. 

Rider.(0-6), meanwhile, after dropping two at home last weekend to MAAC rival Manhattan continues the league slate on the road Friday and Saturday at Iona in New Rochelle, N.Y. 

 Meanwhile, in the Temple game, though the Owls (0-3) were heavy underdogs after contesting South Carolina a year ago home in McGonigle Hall, were unhitched from contention in the second quarter.

“It was a complete waste of time,” said Temple coach Tonya Cardoza, who succeeded her friend and Virginia teammate Dawn Staley when the latter left for the Gamecocks job. “I expected to compete. I can give (her players) a pass for being a little out of shape, but I can’t give one for not being able to communicate.

“We don’t have that guy that when it all hits the fan like it did in that second quarter can pull everyone together and calm them down.”

WNBA prospect Mia Davis, who dealt with foul trouble, finished with 17 points, and Ermani Mayo scored 11,

Zia Cooke scored 23 for the Gamecocks, while  Aliyah Boston,.last season’s national freshman of the year, had 14 points, 9 rebounds, and blocked three shots. Victaria Saxton  had 16 points. 

The National Scene: Despite a delayed start to the season caused by a positive result, No. 3 Connecticut has taken up beating up on the reconfigured Big East the same way it made a seven year perfect run through the regular season and postseason of the American Athletic Conference.

Olivia Nelson-Ododa had 24 points off shooting 9-for-9 from the field ehilr Christyn Willams scored 15 points, Anna Mskurat scored 12, and Paige Bueckers scored 11.

Meanwhile, UNC snapped its own 10-game losing streak in the conference in topping No. 18 Syracuse 92-68 and Janelle Bailey had 25 points and eight rebounds for the Tar Heels in Carmichael Arena. Freshman Deja Kelly added a career high 22 points.

Syracuse was held to a season-low 29.3 percent from the field. Furthermore, Tiana Mangakahia , who hurt her foot in a recent loss at Miami, only played 17 minutes.

Up in Bloomington, Ind. No. 15 Indiana, the Big Ten prseason favorite, fell at home to unranked Tennessee 66-58. 

The Lady Vols were set to play No. 23 Texas in Austin Sunday when the game was cancelled two hours before the tip due to a positive test on the Longhorns. As many teams are doing, after arriving back home in Knoxvxille, the squad scrambled to come up with another game and the Hoosiers were available.

Renia Davis had a double double for the Lady Vols (4-1) with 19 points and a career-high 15 rebounds.  Ali Patberg had 16 points for the Hoosiers (2-2) and Jaelynn Penn had a double double of 14 point and ten rebounds.

And that’s the report.