Guru’s WBB Report: Sweep Sunday for Saint Joseph’s, La Salle, Drexel and Delaware While No. 1 Louisville and No. 2 N.C. State Pull Escapes in the ACC

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

Saint Joseph’s came back from another layoff to down George Washington While La Salle came back in the fourth quarter on George Mason, and Drexel came back from a tough loss to Elon to beat the Phoenix on the Dragons’ second shot, and Delaware just keeps coming.

Rutgers, which was scheduled to host Iowa, in a Big Ten contest, continues on a growing long lockdown under cautionary protocols from the coronavirus.

That was how it went for the locals, with Villanova to return from a long pause Monday, while Penn State be will be hosting Minnesota at the same time.

Nationally, the end of a week after gaining its first No. 1 ranking, Louisville was in deep danger of becoming the second straight team at the top to lose to an unranked team until the Cardinals got Wake Forest 65-63 near the the finish on Dana Evans’ three-point play on the road in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Likewise in the ACC, North Carolina State, the No. 2 team in the nation, which hadn’t played since Jan. 3, also had a narrow escape, beating Virginia Tech 89-87 at home in Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh. 

However, another ranked team in the ACC did get upset, having a comeback wasted, as No. 23 Syracuse fell at host Clemson 86-77 in overtime.

Elsewhere, No. 25 Tennessee came off its narrow loss to No. 3 Connecticut and upset No. 12 Kentucky 70-53, while No. 4 South Carolina broke away at the finish to beat LSU 69-65, both in the Southeastern Conference. No. 8 Texas A&M avoided a road upset in the ACC, edging host Missouri, 70-66, also in the SEC.

Saint Joseph’s Beats George Washington: The Hawks have been one of the most hard-hit this season in terms of stops and starts on the schedule due to positive testing at the Tier 1 level for the coronavirus. But they were able to return to action for the first time in two weeks and defeat the Colonials 63-61 in an Atlantic 10 game at home in Hagan Arena, building enough of a lead to withstand a rally down the stretch from the opposition.

Alayna Gribble, a graduate transfer from Pittsburgh, and Katie Jekot combined for 31 points for the Hawks (4-1, 2-1 A-10), who last played two weeks ago on a back-to-back weekend with La Salle, thumping the Explorers at home after coming out of a previous pause, and then getting likewise thumped by the Explorers in Tom Gola Arena.

Gribble had not played since early in the season in a win over Monmouth on Dec. 15, but she had a game-high 17 points against the Colonials (4-8, 1-5), shooting 6-of-11 for 55 percent from the field, including 5-of-9 from beyond the arc. Jekot was nearly equally hot, scoring 14 points on 5-of-9, including 4-of-7 from down deep.

“It gives us spacing on the floor and gives us confidence that the offense is working,” veteran coach Cindy Griffin said of having her backcourt together again. “Any point guard is always better with somebody that complements them.

“They really complement each other, and it’s nice to see that they’re working well together and that their experience is shining through.”

Elizabeth Marsicano had nine points while Katie Mayock had eight points and six rebounds and dealt six assists, and Kaliah Henderson scored eight points.

George Washington’s Ali Brigham scored 16 points, Sydney Zambrotta scored 13, and Jasmine Whitney scored 12.

The Hawks built a 13-point lead midway through the fourth quarter until George Washington mounted a comeback attempt down the stretch that fell just short.

“For our players to be able to come off the lay-off that they had, this was a great game,” said Griffin, a Hawks graduate now in her 20th season and the dean of local Division I coaches following the retirement of Villanova’s Harry Perretta last March at the end of his 42nd season on the Main Line.

“It was a tough start and we were a little but out of sync, but we had three really great quarters after that. GW made a run there at the end, but we were able to hang on. Coming out of this game with a win is really a confidence booster for us, and I’m proud of our kids for stepping up when they needed to step up.”

Saint Joseph’s next on Friday at 5 p.m. heads to Amherst to play at Massachusetts, one of the A-10 frontrunners who got upset Sunday 63-52 at Saint Louis, and then ends the weekend road trip Sunday at Rhode Island, 1 p.m. in Kingston. Both games will air on ESPN+

La Salle Rallies Over George Mason: The Explorers made it five of their last six in the victory column, using an 18-0 finish after having trailed by 11 to down the Patriots 56-49 in an Atlantic 10 game at home in Tom Gola Arena to complete a weekend sweep that started with Friday’s home win over George Washington.

This is the first time in four seasons that La Salle (8-7, 4-4 A-10) is above .500 after having played 15 games.

The 21-7 advantage in the fourth quarter marks the lowest points allowed by the home team in the final period this season.

Claire Jacobs scored 19 points for the Explorers, while Kayla Spruill was down a bit from her previous three games since returning from an injury, but collected 11 points and grabbed five rebounds.

Haleigh Hill scored eight points and grabbed eight rebounds, while reserve Deja King scored nine and Kate Hill, the league leader in assists-to-turnover ratio, dealt seven assists.

Teodora Popovic scored 11 for George Mason (3-10, 0-6), the only opposition in double figures.

While La Salle got dominated on the boards, 57-33, including 25-11 on the offensive boards, the Explorers compensated gaining 17-4 on points off turnovers.

“If you want to say what is the key to our recent success, it’s our defense,” said Explorers coach Mountain MacGillivray. “Giving up 25 offensive rebounds isn’t going to win a lot of games, but then you look at turnovers. Plus we held them to 26.2 percent from the field and that is going to win you a lot of ball games.

“You also have to look at the other team. They had left some of their key players back home but they were playing inspired to get their first conference win. But you can kind of see they began to run out of gas in the fourth quarter.”

The closing run occurred over a span of 6 minutes and 50 seconds.

As for dealing with the uneven landscape that has been affected through the COVID-19 protocols, MacGillivray said, “We’re happy to practice, we’re happy to get to our next game. Because every day you leave not knowing if this was the last practice or game of the season.”

La Salle takes the same road trip in the conference this weekend as Saint Joseph’s, but in reverse, playing at Rhode Island 5 p.m. on Friday and at Massachusetts on Sunday at 1 p.m. Likewise, both Explorers games will be on ESPN+.

Drexel Defeats Elon: Having suffered a gut-wrenching loss to Elon at the finish on a three-pointer as time expired, the Dragons picked themselves up 24 hours later, returned to their Daskalakis Athletic Center home in court and defeated the Phoenix 55-44 to earn a split on the weekend series in the Colonial Athletic Association.

Drexel (7-4, 4-2 CAA) took the lead early in this one, going ahead 9-4 on a 7-0 run and never relinquishing the advantage the rest of the way.

Defense was the key, holding Elon (6-4, 2-2) to 44 points.

Hannah Nihill had a career-high 22 points, shooting 8-for-14 from the field, while Marian Leonard scored scored 13 points and grabbed a game-high seven rebounds.

All nine of Maura Handrixson’s points were courtesy of connecting on three shots from down deep, while Elon had only player in double figures, Jaylin Powell, who hit the game-winner Saturday, but was held to 11 points on Sunday.

“I’m happy with the effort,” said first-year coach Amy Mallon, who moved up from associate head coach last March after Denise Dillon ended her 17-year run returning to her alma mater to takeover Villanova this season following Harry Perretta’s retirement. “We held them to 44 points and did a better job on the boards.

“The key was making shots early and scoring in transition. It was a total team effort with help from the bench, though it was Hannah Nihill who set the tone in this one.”

As of now, Drexel hits the road this weekend up to Boston to play at Northeastern Saturday and Sunday at noon. Both games swill air on the FloHoops streaming apps.

Delaware Stays CAA Perfect:  The Blue Hens completed another weekend sweep, their fourth, and stayed unbeaten atop the CAA with a 79-67 victory over UNCW at home in the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark.

The squad continues to match its previous greatest era dominated by WNBA Washington Mystics sensation Elena Delle Donne, with the 11-1 overall record being the best start since her junior season in 2012, when the team finished 31-2, and the current 8-0 mark the best to date since going unbeaten at 18-0 in the CAA her following year as a senior.

Jasmine Dickey had a game-high 26 points, helped by 11-for-12 from the line, her ninth game this season scoring 20 or more points. She also grabbed 11 rebounds.

Jewell Smalls went 50 percent from deep, going 4-for-8, and matched her Saturday overall total with 16 points. The transfer from Western Carolina also grabbed six rebounds, had four steals, and an assist, as a reserve.

Ty Battle extended her double double conference lead again, scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

Dickey scored 11 in the opening quarter as the Blue Hens took a 21-12 lead and never trailed.

The Seahawks (3-7, 0-4 CAA) got 18 points from Carol-Anne Obusek, one of three opposition to score in double figures.

Delaware next heads south this weekend in the conference, playing at Elon at 1 p.m. each day in North Carolina on Saturday and Sunday. Both games will be on the FloHoops streaming apps.

Escape Artists in the ACC, Part 1: Top-ranked Louisville, No. 1 for the first time in program history in the Associated Press women’s poll this past week, and No. 2  North Carolina State, which had been idle but reached and matched their highest ranking in a long time, nearly both got upended in their Atlantic Coast Conference games before the No. 1 Cardinals prevailed on the road 65-63 at Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, N.C., and the No. 2 Wolfpack squeezed out a home court win, 89-87 over Virginia Tech.

Both teams are two of three remaining unbeaten overall in Division I women’s competition. The other is No. 3 Connecticut take took a narrow win at Tennessee Thursday and then returned home Saturday to handle Georgetown in the Big East.

A third ranked team in the ACC did get upset, No. 23 Syracuse, which had previously lost at Louisville, Thursday, fell at unranked Clemson, 86-77, in overtime in South Carolina after having rallied to force overtime.

In the Louisville game, Dana Evans completed a rally with a three-point play with eight seconds remaining in regulation, though Wake Forest (7-6, 4-5 ACC) nearly got it back, missing a three-point shot from Ivana Raca that if successful would have given the Deacons their first ever win over a No. 1 team.

Evans had 25 points for the Cardinals (14-0, 7-0), who were at the low end of a nine-point deficit in the final period before launching the comeback with a 14-2 finish.

Wake Forest’s Gina Conti, the defender on Evans’ game-winner, had 13 points, while Raca scored 12.

Louisville jumped to a nine-point lead early before the Deacons’ crashing the boards got them back into the game and ahead.

Evans gave the Cardinals their first lead in the final quarter earlier on a three-pointer for a 60-57 lead with 3 minutes, 27 seconds left in regulation.

If Wake Forest is to have regrets no game film is necessary, just the Deacons’ foul line performance, shooting 12-of-24.

Louisville is back home hosting Miami in an ACC game Tuesday at 4 p.m. and will remain for two more in the KFC Yum Center.

Escape Artists in the ACC, Part II: Meanwhile,  trailing by 14 points midway through the fourth quarter, the Wolfpack (11-0, 6-0 ACC) , trailing the Virginia Tech by 11, launched a 19-6 rally to stay unbeaten overall besides inside the ACC along with the Cardinals.

Jakia Brown-Turner tied a career high with 23 points for the home team, Kayla Jones scored 22, and Kai Crutchfield scored 20.

N.C. State was deadly from the outside with that trio, each connecting with four from deep to provide the bulk of the overall total of 14.

There eight lead changes and two ties in the contest.

An 11-0 run with eight straight from Crutchfield tied it 81-81 with 2:36 left. She then put the Wolfpack ahead with a pair of free throws.

Cayla King got Virginia Tech within a point on a three-ball with 12 seconds left but N.C. State hit its foul shots to preserve the win.

Elizabeth Kitley had 30 points and 13 rebounds for Virginia Tech (7-7, 2-7), while Aisha Sheppard scored 24, helped by four long-balls. King finished with 12 points.

In the first half, the Wolfpack overcame a 10-point deficit in the second quarter, connecting on seven from deep for a 47-41 halftime lead.

Coach Wes Moore’s team next hits the road for a return game with Virginia Tech, traveling to Blacksburg, Thursday, for a 4 p.m. contest.

Failed Escape Artists in the ACC: Double overtime didn’t work as well earlier in the week, but this time just one overtime was enough for unranked Clemson to upset No. 23 Syracuse 86-77 at home in Littlejohn Coliseum in South Carolina in another ACC encounter.

The winning Tigers (9-5, 4-5 ACC) were just a little better from the field than then Orange (7-3, 4-3) in this one, shooting 40.5 percent to Syracuse’s 40.3 percent. Clemson also helped its offense with 10 made from deep and 16 points off free throws.

More significantly, was scoring 22 points off the Orange’s 20 turnovers, part of which was off 12 steals, while dominating the boards, 54-39, including 24 on the offensive glass worth 22 second-chance points and 30 overall in the paint.

Kendall Spray amassed most of her 24 points for the Tigers off seven three-balls, while Amari Robinson scored 23, besides grabbing nine rebounds and four steals. Delicia Washington added to the attack with 17 points and 11 rebounds, besides blocking three shots. Hannah Hank scored 15 and grabbed eight rebounds.

Syracuse got 25 points and eight rebounds from Kiara Lewis.

Early, it seemed the outcome was going to be decided quick enough, Clemson leading 29-10 at the outset of the second quarter.

That type advantage maintained to the break with a lead of 52-27.

But the Orange got explosive in the third period, 23-9, to get back into contention.

And so the final stanza in regulation began with the Tigers holding a 61-50 advantage.

But Syracuse refused to go quietly and Emily Engstier’s shot with 27 seconds left in regulation tied it to force the extra period.

Clemson, however, regrouped, getting a steal, offensive rebound and three-pointer to snap the tie on Destiny Thomas’ shot. It to six points on another trey with 1:54 left in the extra period before Engstier chopped three-points off the deficit with a shot. But that became the last stand and Clemson pulled away for the upset.

“I’m super proud of the way our group responded today,” said Clemson coach Amanda Butler. “They played with a tremendous amount of heart, determination and belief. Even when Syracuse whittled the lead down, our players kept a confident look in their eyes. I knew we were going to gut it out. We worked an awful lot on our ball screen coverage in preparation for this game, and it paid off.

“We’ve been a really good offensive rebounding team all year. We just haven’t been cashing in, so that was a big step forward for us to be able to capitalize on offensive boards like we did with 22 second-chance points.”

Had Syracuse been able to make the comeback from 25-down to win, it would have been the fourth largest in the history of the sport and largest since UNLV downed George Washington in 2007.

Now, the Orange have a two-game losing streak for the first time this season.

“It’s tough, but our kids fought hard to get to the overtime,” Syracuse coach Quentin Hillsman said on the team’s postgame radio show. “At the end of the day, we lost the game and it’s totally unacceptable for them to come out and not play with energy and effort.”

Having shot poorly against Louisville, the malady continued into the first half at Clemson before improving in the second half.

Kamilla Cardoso, the team’s leading scorer and ACC-leading rebounder, had 12 points and six rebounds.

It was the team’s fourth game in the last eight days, after a long coronavirus-caused pause that went back into late December.

Next up is a visit from Pittsburgh at home in the Carrier Dome on Thursday at 12:05 p.m.

Texas A&M Dodges an Upset: N’dea Jones rescued the No. 8 Aggies from a stunning upset in the SEC, scoring 14 points, grabbing 18 rebounds, while the team made four foul shots in the final 15 seconds of regulation to win at unranked Missouri, 70-66, in Columbia. Jones has 10 double doubles to lead the nation.

Texas A&M (14-1, 5-1 SEC) hadn’t won at Missouri since 2015, though it’s only a two-game span, both losses in overtime.

Ciera Johnson also scored 14 points against the Tigers (5-5, 1-4). From the bench, Destiny Pitts scored 12, while Aaliyah Wilson scored 11.

Aggies coach Gary Blair is now 822-331, of which 419-168 is at A&M, including one national title. He is a handful of coaches with three different teams to be ranked, including previous stops at Stephen F. Austin and Arkansas. Retired Chattanooga coach Jim Foster is the only one with four teams, including stops at Saint Joseph’s in his native Philadelphia, Vanderbilt, and Ohio State.

“Sometimes you have to learn how to win ugly on the road to become a better team,” Blair said after surviving the Tigers. “We learned a lot about ourselves in a tough road game like this.”

Missouri fought back from a devastating 23-4 A&M attack in the second quarter and led 62-60 just over the four-minute mark of the final period.

But Kayla Wells got the lead back with consecutive baskets and then the Aggies held the Tigers scoreless but not out of it.

Wilson missed clinching it with two errant foul shots but trailing 68-66 with six seconds left Missouri got turned over and Pitts went to the line with two scores to end it.

“Road games are hard no matter who you play,” Jones said. “It was a tough game, but at the end of the day, we’ll take a win no matter how it comes.”

A&M next goes to Auburn, Thursday, at 8:30 p.m. EST in Auburn Arena in Alabama.

Elsewhere in the conference, in a battle of ranked teams that became not-so-much warfare, No. 25 Tennessee avoided sliding back out of the rankings, upsetting No. 12 Kentucky 70-53 at home in Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, holding the Wildcats to a season-low in points.

Suddenly enjoying their most success in three seasons in big games, the triumph was the third for the Lady Vols (10-3, 4-1 SEC) over a Top 15 squad.

Tamari Key had a career-high 19 points for Tennessee, shooting 8-for-10 from the field, while Rennia Davis had a double double with 15 points and a career-high 20 rebounds, while Rae Burrell and Kasiyahna Kushkituah had 13 and 11 points, respectfully.

Kentucky (11-4, 4-3) got 15 points from Chasity Patterson, while Rhyne Howard scored 14, though the reigning conference player of the year was 3-for-16 from the field.

Tennessee next stays at home to host Mississippi Thursday at 7 on the SEC streaming network. Kentucky hosts Alabama the same night at 6:30 p.m.

“Right now, people are getting to see what we can do,” Tennessee coach Kellie Harper said. “I think we’re putting together a pretty good resume with three Top-15 wins right now. I think our style of play is fun to watch, and our team is locked in. We’re playing hard. Tonight, I thought we won on the defensive end. Our focus was excellent. Our execution of the game plan was really solid. Our staff did a really good job of preparing our team. I’m very pleased with this one.”

No. 4 South Carolina beat back a threat from LSU, pulling away to win 69-65 in Baton Rouge.

Aliyah Boston had 11 of her 20 points in the second half and grabbed 14 points for the Gamecocks (12-1, 7-0 SEC), who remain atop the conference with a perfect record. Destanni Henderson added 16 points and dealt eight assists, while Zia Cooke scored 11 against the Tigers (6-7, 4-3).

LSU’s Khayla Pointer scored 18 points and Tiara Young had 16.

The Tigers had a 45-43 lead heading to the final period, already claiming Texas A&M’s only setback on the season to date. They extended it to four before the Gamecocks unleashed a 9-0 run.

LSU got back within a point and then South Carolina struck back with a 10-2 run to finish it.

“LSU wanted to take the air out of the ball so I wanted to pick up the pace,” said Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley on changing the momentum.

The Gamecocks have won 23 straight SEC regular season games, one short of the program record set Jan. 3, 2016, through Jan. 26, 2017. They next head to No. 19 Mississippi State, Thursday, at 7 p.m. on ESPN.

Stanford Snaps Skid: The No. 5 Cardinal coming off its Friday upset loss and second straight, got back on the winning side, beating Southern Cal 86-59 in the PAC-12 on cruise control in their adopted home of Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz, Calif., due to strict COVID-19 protocols in Santa Clara County where the Palo Alto campus is located. Stanford hasn’t been back since Dec. 1.

NO. 13 Oregon handled Washington 69-52 at home in a PAC-12 game st home in Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, while Washington State, in yet another overtime game, this time snapped a three-game losing streak and gained a season sweep, beating host Oregon State 77-75 in a PAC-12 game in Corvallis.

Two other remaining scores from ranked teams saw No. 20 Gonzaga win at Portland 79-61 in a West Coast Conference game, while in the Big Ten, No. 16 Indiana won at No. 21 Northwestern in Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Ill.

In the win by Stanford (12-2, 9-2 PAC-12), Haley Jones had a double double for the Cardinal with 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Kiana Williams scored 16, and Lexi Hull and Francesca Belibi each scored 12 points.

Cardinal coach Tara VanDerveer gained her all-time No. 1 women’s victory total to 1,106, ahead of Connecticut’s Geno Auriemma’s 1,101, gained in Saturday’s win over Georgetown. The late Tennessee legend Pat Summitt, the leader at 1,098 at the time of her retirement, is third, passed by VanDerveer last month and Auriemma earlier this month.

Southern Cal (6-7, 4-6) got 19 points from Endyia Rogers while Jordan Sanders and Angel Jackson each scored 12.

Stanford next is at Washington State at 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

In the Oregon win,  Lydia Giomi had a double double of 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Ducks (11-3, 9-3 PAC-12), who were missing three players, while Angela Dugalic had 12 points in her first start. Sedona Prince went 7-for-12 scoring 16 points, reserve Sydney Parish scored 12, and Te-Hina Paopao scored 10.

Washington (4-6, 1-6) got 13 points from Haley Van Dyke, while Quay Miller and Darcy Rees each scored 10.

“We had some stretches where we played some really ugly basketball, and that’s unfortunate,” Oregon coach Kelly Graves said. “But I’m really proud of our effort. Down two starters, and three rotation players, that’s not easy.

“We needed her tonight, and she played really well,” Graves said of Giomi. “What she does is, she runs the floor every time. She got a couple looks in transition, which was great. And she’s a good defender, and quite frankly our best screener. I’m really happy for her.”

Oregon is next at Utah, Friday, at 5 p.m. EST on the PAC-12 Network.

In the Washington State win 77-75 in double overtime, the Cougars (8-4, 6-4 PAC-12) got their first sweep of the Beavers in a decade in the game played in Gill Coliseum.

In the second overtime, a foul shot from Cherilyn Molina tied it at 75-75. She missed her second but Ula Motuga grabbed the offensive board and passed it to freshman Charlisse Leger-Walker out of New Zealand with 40 seconds left. Three seconds later she scored for a two-point lead.

The Beavers (3-5, 1-5) then missed an inside shot, but grabbed the rebound and called time with 16 seconds left. The home team’s Aleah Goodman went up with a shot that Motuga blocked, but the Beavers gained the obound to control possession. However, Washington State’s defense forced a shot that hit the side of the backboard as time expired.

The Cougars, who next host Stanford, Wednesday, had 14 steals in the game.

Krystal Leger-Walker, the older sister of Charlisse, scored 23 points for Washington State, while Charlisse scored 22, and Molina had a career-high 15 points. Bella Murekatete also was in double figures with 10 points and nine rebounds.

In the win by Gonzaga (13-2, 8-0 WCC) at Portland’s Chiles Center in the City of Roses arena in Oregon, Kayleigh Truong scored 17 points, Jenn Wirth scored 14, and Jill Townsend had 11, including her 1,000th career point against the Pilots.

Over in the Big Ten, the Hoosiers trailed the Wildcats by as many as 13 points in the second half before launching a comeback.

Mackenzie Holmes scored 22 and grabbed 10 rebounds for Indiana (9-3, 7-1 Big Ten), while Grace Berger scored 14, and reserve Jaelyn Penn scored 12,

Northwestern (8-3, 6-3) got 17 from Veronica Burton, while Lindsay Pulliam scored 15, Jordan Hamilton had 13, and Sydney Wood scored 10.

“This is a difficult place to win,” Indiana coach Teri Moren said. “It’s a great basketball team that we faced this afternoon. We are real pleased with the way that we kept plugging away and hanging in there.”

The Hoosiers next are home Sunday, hosting Michigan State, while Northwestern is at Iowa Thursday at 6 p.m..

And that’s the report.