Guru’s WBB Report: No. 2 N.C. State and No. 3 Connecticut Upset While Penn State Takes a Victory

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

The unbeaten list in Division I dropped to three Thursday night after No. 2 North Carolina State was felled at Virginia Tech 83-71 just four days after escaping the opposition Sunday night in Raleigh while in another suspense-filled game down south, No. 19 Arkansas ended its string of four closes to ranked teams, upsetting No. 3 Connecticut 90-77 as Chelsea Dungee exploded with 37 points.

In the one game involving a local, Penn State grabbed its second Big Ten victory of the season, edging host Illinois 80-76 in Urbana-Champaign.

No. 22 Georgia was an upset victim in the Southeastern Conference to LSU, while No. 20 Tennessee just nipped Mississippi by a point. Everyone else in the Top 25 who played Thursday held serve, not counting head-to-head matchups.

UConn Upset by Arkansas: In a game of runs, the No. 19 Razorbacks had final say and the No. 3 Huskies lost valuable seconds at the finish, not taking a timeout quick enough for a better chance to force overtime in the game played before a limited sellout crowd of 4,000 in Bud Walton Arena.

The two schools have played twice, the Razorbacks, then under current Texas A&M coach Gary Blair, losing to the Huskies back in November, 1998. 

Arkansas (12-6) had lost four straight to ranked teams, including a shot at the end of regulation Monday night at No. 22 Georgia, which in turn was upset at home Thursday night by LSU 60-52 in Stegemen Coliseum in Athens.

The non-conference attraction was put together game was put together just recently, with Connecticut Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma looking for an added attraction in the wake of several dropped from the schedule  because of COVID-19 protocols while Arkansas had just lost playing Vanderbilt in the Southeastern Conference when the Commodores decided to end their season, joining such traditionally high profile programs as Virginia and Duke, besides the entire Ivy League.

Retaining its top seven players for the contest, Arkansas was able to overcome the absence of six players sidelined under the coronavirus protocol.

Auriemma and Razorbacks coach Mike Neighbors have had a long friendship.

“Our kids wanted to play when we asked them, they could have easily said, nah, let’s take a break,” Neighbors said. “Geno could have very easily said no. But that’s why they’re a championship  program, and we’ve learned a lot from them today that will carry over.

“We actually won this one in the middle,” Neighbors referred to the third period in which his squad blasted UConn 31-19, firing 6-of-7 shots from down deep. The Huskies (10-1), however, then answered with a 17-5 rally and regained the lead by two with 5:28 left in regulation before Arkansas regained the momentum.

“If we hadn’t put in some of our young ones in that third quarter we might have been down by 25 points,” Auriemma said.

“I think we’ve become a littled calloused playing these teams,” said Neighbors, whose team upset Baylor early in the season when the Bears were ranked fourth. “We’re not just been playing Top 25 teams, we’ve been playing teams in the Top 5. I still feel we have stuff to prove.”

By comparison, UConn, which returned to the Big East this season, have had games against top powers go by the wayside, the biggest win to date a week ago in Knoxville, edging then-No. 25 in the final minute on freshman Paige Bueckers shot.

The Huskies rookie had 27 against Arkansas while newcomer Evina Wesbrook, a transfer from Tennessee, scored  19 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

“I thought Evina was really good the whole game; that’s the best I’ve ever seen her play since she’s been at Connecticut,” Auriemma said. “Paige took over the game for a long stretch.

“When you’re trying to come back like that, you need more from more people. And we just didn’t have enough. But certainly those two were above and beyond what we needed them to be.”

Dungee connected on 13-of-21 from the field, including a 7-of-10 from the line. Amber Ramirez scored 22.

“I knew what a big opportunity it was for our team,” Dungee said. “I wanted to come to come at it with as much energy as possible to fuel our team. Our whole team had a great game. It was just a huge win.”

Christyn Williams, who had 16 points and was making a homecoming appearance with UConn, grabbed a key rebound on a missed shot to set up UConn’s last possession but she dribbled the ball first instead of calling a quick timeout that would have allowed the Huskies to advance the ball and have a better chance to launch a three to tie instead of having less than a second to work with.

Auriemma’s plan going in was to negate three pointers and foul shots “and then let the chips fall where they may. But we missed a lot of shots we needed to make, a lot of open shots, and they made a lot of tough shots.”

Connecticut heads to Chicago Sunday and back in the Big East to play the second of the home-and-home with No. 17 DePaul at the Blue Demons’ Wintrust Arena, with the game to be the first women’s basketball game to air on the main FOX sports network.

Arkansas will be back in the SEC playing Auburn.

“We’re going to lift our 24-hour moratorium and celebrate this one a little longer before getting ready,” Neighbors said.

Asked about beating Auriemma, Neighbors harkened back to his previous job coaching Washington in the PAC-12, and quipped “I once beat Tara VanDerveer in ping pong on media day. That was pretty neat but I guess that doesn’t count in the resume.”

VanDerveer passed the late legendary coach Pat Summitt last month and is currently the all time Division I women’s career leader with 1,107, while Auriemma passed the Summitt 1,098 total this month and is second at 1,101.

Virginia Tech Upsets N.C. State: After narrowly missing upsetting No. 2 N.C. State in an Atlantic Coast Conference game Sunday in the Wolfpack’s Reynolds Coliseum, the Hokies came back four days later and this time prevailed at home as Aisha Sheppard scored 18 of her 28 points in overtime for an 83-71 victory. 

Prior to Sunday, the Wolfpack (11-1, 6-1 ACC) had not played since Jan. 3, shut down under COVID-19 protocols.

It’s the first win for Virginia Tech (8-7, 3-7) over a Top 5 opponent since beating No. 5 Old Dominion in 1985 and the highest-ranked opponent the Hokies have prevailed on the winning side.

“You like the Sundae, but sometimes the cherry on top is really good,” said Hokies coach Kenny Brooks, who in 2016 left a thriving James Madison program in the Colonial Athletic Association to move down the road to the ACC member and revive their fortunes, where he has won 63 % of their games.

“We needed the win. The fact it was the No. 2 ranked team in the country was the cherry on top.

“Where we were and just the way the season has gone for us, I didn’t care if we were playing the Globetrotters. We needed the win — it feels really good to just be gritty, gutsy, and come through with a big win.”

N.C. State’s Camille Hobby scored a career-high 19 points, with her three-ball as time expired forced a 57-57 tie and the extra period.

All seven losses for Brooks’ team have been by ten or less points.

Hobby hit one from down deep at the start of overtime and the home team never trailed again.

Elizabeth Kitley had 17 points and 11 rebounds, while the Hokies also got 16 points from Azana Baines to snap a three-game losing streak.

The Wolfpack were without their star performer Elissa Cunane, sidelined under COVID-19 protocols, a situation that factored into the end of the team’s 16-game win streak.

“The whole game they played great defense and we just didn’t get it done,” N.C. State coach Wes Moore said. “I’ve got to figure out a way to help our players maybe get better looks and stress a little bit more about how important rebounding and having urgency is.”

Elsewhere in the ACC, No. 1 Louisville had it a bit easier than their recent wins over Wake Forest Sunday and Miami Tuesday  by beating visiting North Carolina 79-68 in the Cardinals’ KFC Yum Center to remain unbeaten at 16-0 overall as six players scored in double figures. 

They next host N.C. State Monday night but the Wolfpack’s upset loss makes it unlikely the game will be as a national 1 vs. 2 showdown, though it will still be that way within the conference with the Cardinals at 9-0 and the Wolfpack 6-1.

The only two Division I teams still yet to lose are Bucknell at 6-0 overall in the Patriot League and UC-Davis at 3-0 out west.

The Cardinals stormed out of the gate against the Tar Heels (8-6, 3-6), making 8-of-10 opening shots for a 21-9 and by late in the third quarter it was 67-35,

However, second-year coach Courtney Banghart’s squad came to life with a 17-0 run in the second half and closed within eight in the final minute.

Freshman Olivia Cochran had 14 of her 17 points in the first half for the home team, while North Carolina’s Petra Holesinska scored 26 points.

Cardinals coach Jeff Walz pointed to himself as the cause of the slippage from the seemingly insurmountable lead.

He cited some “bad combos” and not calling a timeout when a drought extended to over six minutes.

“I was trying to see if they could figure it out and try to come up with a couple of stops,” he said of his team.

Banghart thought the opening burst was inspired by news of the the top two poll teams being upset.

“I think they felt like they could have some separation,” the former Princeton coach said. “And they played like it that first quarter, holy moly, and throughout the game. Obviously, once we got through the onslaught, we were fine, but that onslaught was a little hard to gather from.”

The Tar Heels have little time to rest, heading to Virginia Tech Sunday afternoon.

Meanwhile, in another ACC game, Syracuse, which dropped out of the poll this week for the first time this season, snapped a two-game losing streak, using a closing 20-2 run to beat visiting Pittsburgh 80-57 in the Carrier Dome.

“They came out and they responded so I have to give them credit,” Orange coach Quentin Hillsman said.

Before the scoring explosion, the Panthers (4-5, 2-4 ACC) closed a 15-point halftime deficit to two early in the final period against the Orange (8-3, 5-3).

A few scare tactics might have done the trick for a team that recently ended a 28-day shutdown and then had to play four games in eight days with another similar four-in-eught stretch beginning Sunday when Notre Dame visits.

“I told our players if we don’t win this game, season’s over. We’re going to the NIT. Period,” the Syracuse coach said. “We’re done because you cannot start stringing three-game losing streaks. You don’t know how many games you’re going to play because anything can happen next week.”

Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi scored 17 for Syracuse, while Emily Engstler had a double double of 12 points and 13 rebounds, Kamilla Cardoso and Priscilla Williams each scored 11, and Kiara Lewis scored 12,

Pittsburgh’s Dayshanette Harris scored 14.

Penn State Tops Illinois: Trying for a two-game road sweep in the Big Ten, the Lady Lions knocked the first one down, beating the Illini 80-76 as the trio of sophomores combined for 52 points.

Shay Hagans scored six of her career-high 18 points in the final two minutes for Penn State (5-7, 2-6 Big Ten), while Maddie Burke’s three-ball brought the visitors from a deficit to a four-point lead. Makenna Marisa had a team-high 24 points, and while senior Johnasia Cash had a double double of 14 points and ten rebounds. Anna Camden had 10 points and Burke finished with nine.

“Our composure was the difference tonight,” said second-year coach Carolyn Kieger. “We weathered the storm when they made a run. We stayed in the huddle, we took deep breaths, and the team did a great job keeping each other composed. When you do that, great things happen.

“I thought the sophomores all played phenomenally. Anna Camden’s toughness is something she’s been working with our strength coach  and our post coach and it definitely showed tonight.

“Shay Hagans with five steals and phenomenal free throws down the stretch. And then Makenna — once she figures out that no one can guard her she is going to be very scary going downhill and hitting her pull-up,” Kieger said. “Just overall extremely proud of our fight and our composure, and we needed that one. Very happy for the team.”

Jeanae Terry had a double double with 21 points and 16 rebounds for the Illini (2-9, 0-8), who are still seeking their first conference win, while  Jada Peebles scored 19.

The Lady Lions next head to Purdue Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. in West Lafayette, Ind.

Elsewhere in the Big Ten, in a battle of ranked teams, No. 14 Ohio State made it three straight wins over ranked conference squads, coming out of the two-point win over No. 7 Maryland at home Monday to beat No. 16 Indiana 78-70 on the road in Bloomington.

Considering the Hoosiers (9-4, 7-2 Big Ten) are No. 15 in the coaches’ poll, it’s the second time in program history the Buckeyes (10-1, 6-1) have beaten three straight Top 15 opponents. The other was in 1993 when the team advanced to the Women’s Final Four.

Braxin Miller led the visitors, scoring a season-high 25 points, shooting 9-of-6 from the field with five rebounds and five steals, while Dorka Juhasz had 19 points and 12 rebounds. Back from a shoulder injury costing her two games, Aaliyah Patty scored 13 points.

Grace Berger had 26 points and 10 rebounds for the host Hoosiers, while while Mackenzie Holmes scored 17.

“Coming together, our kids showed some toughness and some grit,” Ohio coach Kevin McGuff said. “They played really well.”

The Buckeyes rallied from an 11-0 opening burst from Indiana.

“She was really efficient,” McGuff said of Miller. “Our team really executed well in the second half and she was a big part of that.”

Ohio State next on Monday goes to No. 23 Northwestern, which beat host Iowa 87-80 on the road in Iowa City.

The Wildcats (9-3, 7-3 Big Ten) rallied late in this one with an 8-1 run for the squad coached by Father Judge grad Joe McKeown, who previously coached George Washington in the Atlantic 10.

In getting a season sweep over the Hawkeyes (9-4, 5-4), Northwestern gained 23 points from 28 Iowa turnovers and also had a lopsided 34-8 advantage on the foul line on attempts leading to 17 points..

“The turnovers, so many of them were self-inflicted,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “Their pressure didn’t bother us at all, but the self-inflicted mistakes we have to overcome.

“I’m not sure I’ve been involved in a game where one team shot 26 free throws in a quarter,” Bluder cited the 13-of-26 attempts in the fourth quarter.

Lindsay Pulliam scored 27 for Northwestern, while Veronica Burton scored 20, Sydney Wood scored 14, and Jordan Hamilton scored 10.

Monika Czinano hit her first 15 shots and finished with 34 points and 11 rebounds for Iowa while freshman Caitlin Clark scored 23 and connected with four deep.

No. 7 Maryland bounced back from its narrow loss at Ohio State, crushing Michigan State 92-52 at home in the XFINITY Center in College Park.

The win was the 498th for coach Brenda Frese with the Terrapins (12-2, 8-1 Big Ten), bringing her one short of tying the program record of Hall of Famer Chris Weller. 

Frese is 498-130 at College Park since succeeding Weller in 2002, and 555-160 including two seasons at Ball State and one at Minnesota.

Maryland has now won 100 conference games since switching from the ACC in 2014-15 over seven seasons to make them 100-13 in the Big Ten.

“I could tell we were locked in from the moment we stepped on the practice court yesterday to the tip today. It was one of our most dominating performances to date,” Frese said.

Diamond Miller and Ashley Owusu each scored 20 points for the Terrapins and Miller grabbed 10 rebounds., while Chloe Bibby and Faith Masonius each scored 13 points.

The game as a safety valve was moved up from Feb. 10th since both teams had an open date due to postponements caused by COVID-19.

Nia Clouden had 15 for Michigan State (9-3, 4-3), which has had three postponements and played just twice since Jan. 10.

Maryland is next set to host Wisconsin next Thursday at 4 p.m. on the Big Ten network.

Tennessee Escapes But Not Georgia: No. 20 Tennessee in the SEC escaped at home in Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville by having enough points to withstand Donetta Johnson’s three-pointer as time expired to ruin Mississippi’s upset bid 68-67.

Rennia Davis had 21 points for the Lady Vols (11-3, 5-1 SEC), Rae Burrell scored 17, and Jordan Horston scored 13, while Johnson had 19, Shakira Austin scored 16, and Snudda Collins scored 13 for the Rebels (7-6, 1-6).

‘They’re much improved from last year,” Tennessee coach Kellie Harper said of the opposition. “And obviously, they have some dynamic players. They played well. Down the stretch we made free throws. I’m proud of our team.”

Mississippi held a 13-point lead in the second quarter before the Lady Vols rallied.

Next up Florida visits Sunday at 2 p.m. on ESPNU.

No. 22 Georgia was not as fortunate, becoming the second ranked SEC team to fall to LSU, losing 60-52 at home in Stegeman Arena in Athens four days after having upset No. 19 Arkansas at home at the buzzer.

“I think if you look at key stats, it’s offensive rebounds,” Georgia coach Joni Taylor said. “When you’re playing a team that wants to limit possessions, we’ve got to value basketball a little more than we did.”

LSU ( 7-7, 5-3) used a 13-5 run in the last five minutes to secure the win over the Bulldogs (13-3, 5-3) and outscored them overall 25-11 in the fourth quarter.

Georgia shot a mediocre 35 percent and committed 19 turnovers.

Jenna Staiti had nine of her 19 points for the Bulldogs in the final period, while Que Morrison scored 11.

Tiara Young scored 17 for LSU, while Awa Trasi had 13 points and eight rebounds and Faustine Aifuwa scored 12.

“”To be able to hold a team like Georgia in the 50s, have a big fourth quarter like we did, it started with our defense.,” said LSU coach Nikki Fargas.

LSU next hosts Mississippi Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Pete Maravich Center in Baton Rouge 

Georgia heads to No. 8 Texas A&M, the other ranked SEC team LSU has upset, Sunday in College Station.

The Aggies were at Auburn Thursday night snd easily beat the Tigers 84-69 in Auburn Arena in Alabama as N’dea Jones had 23 points and 11 rebounds, tying for first in Division I with 11 double doubles at Texas A&M (15-1, 6-1 SEC). Ciera Johnson had 14 points and nine rebounds with the Aggies, while reserve Destiny Pitts scored 14, and sub Kayla Wells scored 12.

Auburn (5-10, 0-7) has yet to win in conference this season while A&M is off to its best SEC start in in seven seasons. They are also 15-0 in their series with the Tigers.

“The end of the second quarter when we got separation, that was fine because we had let them hang around in the there. Second half we got 51points and that was coach (Kelly) Bond mixing our zone offense up because if we didn't turn it over we got a great shot.”

Blair is 823-331 with three combined programs but 420-168 through his eighth season in College Station.

On Sunday when Georgia visits Reed Arena at 3 p.m., the Aggies will celebrate the 10th anniversary of their 2011 national NCAA championship.

The other two SEC ranked teams also were victorious.

No. 15  Kentucky sed a balanced attack for an 81-68 win over visiting Alabama as Rhyne Howard scored 16 points in Rupp Arena in Lexington. Robyn Benton scored 15, while Dre’una Edwards and Chasity each scored 10 for the Wildcats (12-4, 5-3 SEC). 

Jasmine Walker had a double double 27 points and 11 rebounds for the Tide (12-3, 5-3) while Jordan Lewis scored 15.

“Any time you have four players in double figures, you shoot 52 percent from the field, 55 percent from 3,” said first-year coach Kyra Elzy, promoted at the beginning of the season when veteran Matthew Mitchell retired for medical reasons not related to the coronavirus. “Yeah, we’ll take that every night if we could.

Missouri visits Memorial Coliseum, Sunday, at 1 p.m.

South Carolina Eyes Rankings Climb: No. 4 South Carolina, the SEC frontrunner, dropped in on No. 21 Mississippi State and sentimentality took a pause between Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley and her former assistant, Bulldogs coach Nikki McCray-Penson, as the visitors blitzed the home team 75-52 in Statkville.

With the upsets of the No. 2 and No. 3 teams in the nation, all South Carolina (13-1, 8-0 SEC) needs is a win over Alabama at home Sunday (3 p.m.) on the SEC Network in Columbia and the Gamecocks will move to 2nd, just one below the No. 1 ranking they held early in the season before the upset at hone claimed by North Carolina State.

Staley’s group struggled early against the Bulldogs (8-6, 3-4), trailing by a point after the opening period.

Then suddenly it was boom, lights out, and the Gamecocks own Starkville the rest of the way.

Zia Cooke scored 14 for the visitors, while Victaria Sexton collected 13 and doubled with 11 rebounds. Though Aliyah Boston was held to six points, she still grabbed 12brebounds.

South Carolina was 19-of-22, their best night from the line this season.

Mississippi State (8-6, 3-4) hired McCray-Penson from a successful three-year rebuilding job at Old Dominion to succeed Vic Schaefer who was lured by Texas in his native state. 

Now the Bulldogs are going through a three-game losing streak, the first since the 2014 season.

The Gamecocks lead the nation with six wins over ranked teams and have tied a program record with 24 straight SEC wins set earlier in the Staley era from Jan, 3, 2016 through Jan. 2017, the same season they won their national title.

South Carolina held sophomore all-SEC player Rickea Jackson to two first-half points before she got untracked to finish with a team-best 15.

The only other ranking team in action was out west where No. 18 Gonzaga gained a West Coast Conference road win in Stockton, Calif., over Pacific 77-65 st the Alex G. Spanos Center.

The Zags (14-2, 9-0 WCC) have won 13 straight, fourth longest in the nation.

Jenn Wirth scored 15, shooting 7-gor-8 from the field, while LeeAnne Wirth scored 14 and grabbed a team-best nine rebounds, and Kayleigh had 10 points and eight assists, 

Pacific, which got 16 points from Ksylin Radhawa, fell to 5-6 overall and 3-5 in the WCC.

Gonzaga Saturday is at Saint Mary’s in Moraga, Calif., at 4 p.m.

Looking Ahead: Locally, La Salle and Saint Joseph’s are traveling in tradeoff destinations on an Atlantic 10 road trip to New England destinations beginning Friday with the Hawks at UMass in Amherst at the Mullins Center at 1 p.m. while the Explorers are at Rhode Island’s Ryan Center in Kingston at 5 p.m.. On Sunday, Saint Joseph’s is at Rhode Island at 1 p.m. while La Salle is at UMass at also at 1 p.m. All four games are on ESPN+.

In the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in a traveling switch this week Rider is at Monmouth for a pair of central New Jersey hOURglass Series games Saturday in the OceanFirst Bank Center in West Long Branch at 2 p.m on ESPN3 and same time and place Sunday but on ESPN+

In the American Athletic Conference in a rescheduled set of games in New Orleans, Temple is at Tulane Saturday at 1 p.m.on ESPN+ and Sunday at noon on ESPNU.

In the Big East, Villanova is at Butler at noon Sunday on the Big East Digital/Flohoops streaming aps in Indianapolis.

In the Colonial Athletic Association, front running and CAA unbeaten Delaware is at Elon in North Carolina in the Schar Center 1 p.m. each day Saturday and Sunday  while Drexel is in Boston at Northeastern at noon each day on Saturday and Sunday. All four games will be on the Flohoops streaming apps.

In the Big Ten as mentioned, Penn State is at Purdue 1 p.m. Sunday but the Michigan at Rutgers game for Monday is postponed.

Nationally on Friday, in the PAC-12, No. 6 Stanford, which beat Washington State handily on Wednesday returns to Beasley Coliseum at 3 p.m. trying to make it 69-0 against the host Cougars. No. 5 UCLA hosts Arizona State at 9 p.m. in Psuley Pavilion in Westwood, Calif., while No. 11 Oregon is at Utah in the Huntsman Center at 5 p.m. in Salt Lake City.

Elsewhere No. 25 South Dakota State is at Denver at 6 p.m.

And that’s the report.