Guru’s WBB Report: Temple and Villanova Grab Conference Victories

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

Temple beat East Carolina 66-57 on the road in Greenville, N.C., Wednesday night to bring the Owls’ overall record to .500 at 3-3 but more importantly stayed unbeaten at 3-0 in the American Athletic Conference while earlier in the day Villanova snapped its two-game losing streak to No. 3 Connecticut  before the Christmas break and No. 20 DePaul on Monday, winning 78-71 at Seton Hall in Walsh Gym in aBig East game in South Orange, N.J.

“No doubt, it is going to be a happy plane ride home,” said Temple coach Tonya Cardoza before the squad boarded a charter to head home soon after the game. “We knew they were going to press us and l’m proud of the way we took care of the basketball.”

Temple squandered a 10-point lead in the first half but came back to outscore the Pirates 15-12 in the third quarter and with a closing burst 17-9 in the final period.

The Owls had not played since Dec. 23 with postponements off positive testing of the coronavirus by opponents causing disruptions. Indeed, SMU, which was beaten by Temple in McGonigle Hall, recently joined Duke shutting down for the rest of the season, while Penn and Princeton were knocked out in the fall by the Ivy League cancellation of winter sports.

That fed into the Big Five standings being put off this season though weekly awards are still being given by the organization for performances in the four remaining schools.

Against the Pirates (5-5, 3-2 AAC), Cardoza was able to manage foul trouble to her scoring guns who still produced 19 points from Alexa Williamson and a double double of 17 points and 11 rebounds from Mia Davis before each fouled out late in the game.

Freshman Jasha Clinton scored 11 points, dealt a career-best nine assists, and grabbed seven rebounds while Emani Mayo, whose parents were in the limited attendance of 29 families of both teams, scored nine. Reserve Asonah Alexander dealt eight assists and grabbed nine rebounds.

Lashonda Monk scored 17 for East Carolina.

Assuming there’s no Covid-19 issues Temple gets an AAC test Saturday at home when UCF visits at 2 p.m. in McGonigle Hall.

“You can only take this season one day at a time,” Cardoza said. “We’ll have a happy plane ride home and then prepare for UCF.

Villanova Stops Seton Hall: In a Big East Conference that now has five of 11 women’s members in pause protocols, the Wildcats have had a greater share of games, reaching their tenth after going 8-2 overall and 3-2 in the league including the win over the Pirates (3-3, 1-2).

Down 20-12 after the first quarter, the Wildcats exploded on an 11-2 run to open the second for a brief lead that was then quickly recovered after an exchange of baskets that launched a 6-0 run to build on the advantage and an eventual 40-34 halftime lead courtesy of an overall 28-14 doubling in the period.

Maddy Siegrist had 10 of her 23 points in the third to sustain the lead that grew to 12 on a 9-2 run at the outset of the fourth.

But the Pirates quickly countered to move within four before Brianna Herlihy twice made key shots to get Nova to 72-65 with 1:36 left in regulation.

After a bad turnover, Lior Garzon from Israel swiped a pass a dashed the other way for a layup to seal the win.

Herlihy had a double double with 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Sarah Mortensen scored 14, and freshman Tailiyah Madina scored 11.

Lauren Park-Lane had a game-high 27 for Seton Hall, while Desiree Elmore scored 15.

Depth was a factor with the ‘Cats outscoring the home team 21-2.

With Saturday’s home game with Xavier postponed, Villanova next is slated to host Providence Wednesday afternoon at 2 in Finneran Pavilion on the Big East Digital/Flohoops Network.

In two games nationally of some note, No. 22 Northwestern snapped a two-game skid in the Big Ten, winning at Wisconsin 80-55, while No. 18 South Florida topped Wichita State 66-48 at home in Tampa in an AAC contest.

Looking Ahead On Thursday, while the virus has caused postponement of Rutgers-Purdue and cancellation of  UConn-Baylor, some key games still exist as Penn State hosts No. 19 Indiana in a Big Ten matchup in the Bryce Jordan Center in State College while another Big Ten meeting has No. 12  Maryland at No.23 Michigan State at 5 p.m.  No.5 South Carolina hosts Georgia at 7 p.m. in the SEC, which also has a Top 10 clash with No. 10 Kentucky at No. 8 Texas A&M at 8;30 p.m.

And that’s the report.