Guru’s WBB Report: Temple, Drexel, Delaware Gain Victories While UConn’s Geno Auriemma Moves Into Second Place Tie With Pat Summitt for Total Wins

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

Though Saturday’s afternoon and night slate saw 37 postponements or cancellations due to protocols involving the coronavirus, there was a plentiful amount of action among the locals.

Meanwhile two games of note nationally saw No. 3 Connecticut shrug off a slow start at home in the Storrs campus Gampel Pavilion to cruise past Providence 87-50 in the Big East as Hall of Famer Geno Auriemma tied the late Tennessee legendary coach Pat Summitt for second on the all-time women’s Division I victory list at 1,098, and it was daughter knows best in what is believed to be a first-ever match of its kind, as Maureen Magarity’s Holy Cross squad got their first win of the year, routing father Dave Magarity’s 80-46 in a Patriot League game at West Point, the site of the U.S. Military Academy.

On the local front, Temple at home in McGonigle Hall carved out a gritty 61-58 win over UCF to stay unbeaten within the American Athletic Conference at 4-0, Drexel inserted a non-conference contest  to finally play in the Dragons’ Daskalakis Athletic Center, and gained a crushing 70-47 win over Delaware State, and Delaware took the first of a weekend home back-to-back pair of games in the Colonial Athletic Association in the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark, handling William & Mary 79-55.

Rider, however, continued to struggle, though the Broncs made it closer at the finish, losing the first of two back-to-back road games with Siena, dropping a 73-64 outcome to the Saints in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

Temple Stays Unbeaten in the AAC. Back in late November after the Owls got battered in their season and home opener by Villanova in the wake of a period of pausing dealing with COVID-19 issues,  veteran coach Tonya Cardoza forecasted a rough stretch through the remaining two non-conference games but that her squad would be much better in January.

The Owls (4-3, 4-0 AAC) went on to lose competitively on the road at Florida Gulf Coast and then got slammed at No. 5 South Carolina by her friend and predecessor Dawn Staley, However, coming home they squeezed two games in before the Christmas break to start conference play, beating SMU, which has just joined Duke and the entire Ivy League, on the season shutdown list, and Tulsa.

Then after an extended Christmas break due to Tulane going into pause, Temple hit the road winning a tough game with a short roster Wednesday at East Carolina, and then following Saturday by handing UCF (5-2, 3-1) its first conference loss in a narrow 61-58 finish, staying slightly ahead in the final minutes.

“I like where are guys are right now,” Cardoza said. “Mentally, they’re really feeding off each other and really believing of what we are trying to get accomplished. I like the state of our team. Good things are happening for them. That one felt really good.

“To be in that situation and every possession mattered in that last two minutes, and for us to be able to go get the stops we needed,” that says a lot.

“They found success in the SMU game, then at Tulsa, and they started to feel good about themselves,” Cardoza explained. “Then you go to ECU and you beat them at home, you come into this game feeling confident.”

Freshman Josha Clinton had a career-high 17 points, while Kash Ayuso had a personal pest. Mia Davis had a game-high 19 points on the pile while UCF’s team high came from Brittney Smith, with 17 points.

“Just trying to stay connected and learning from my team and trying to better myself, obviously from Mia,” Clinton said of the cause of her accelerated performances in recent games.”

The game did not have a lot of rhythm, punctuated by a slew of fouls but after an eight-point lead shrank down the stretch to just one, Davis and Asonah Alexander made their free throws to keep the win streak alive.

In what caused her back in November to think her Owls could right themselves and be at this point, virus permitting, the Temple coach said, “It’s because everything that happened up till November. The fact that they came to practice every day. they just showed up. It wasn’t like it was a struggle, I don’t want to be here. They just come for the time they’re in here, they just focus and they try to get the job done. 

“Because of that they’re willing to learn. They want to get better. They want to win. It’s just going to take some time.  I enjoy coaching these guys. They’re a fun bunch.”

Temple stays home Wednesday to host Cincinnati at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday next door in the Liacouras Center broadcast on ESPN+

Drexel Cruises Over Delaware State: With the Dragons temporarily knocked out of their conference weekend slate due to a pause by Charleston, they found an opponent to help launch the home season in more ways than one, beating Delaware State 70-47 for their win in 2020-21 in the Daskalakis Athletic Center to go to 5-1 overall while the Hornets dropped to 2-4.

Between the virus-caused stops and starts, first-year coach Amy Mallon, who had been associate head coach under Denise Dillon, now at Villanova, was able to finally be presented the game-ball for her first head coaching victory back in the opener at Rider.

Drexel’s sole loss was a two-point affair near the end at Villanova, the Wildcats getting revenge from when their current coach beat them a year ago on the final play in overtime.

In this one, Mariah Leonard equaled her career-best with 15 points to lead the Dragons, while Maura Hendrixson scored 11 points, and Kate Connolly had eight points and six rebounds in a balanced effort. Keishana Washington, who missed Sunday’s game at UNC-Wilmington due to a lower body injury suffered the previous day playing the Seahawks in the first of two on the road, returned and was part of the rest of the squad that helped build the score.

Hannah Nilhill dealt six assists.

“Today was a collective win,” Mallon said. “I think my favorite stat was the 20 assists from the 28 shots made, so from an offensive standpoint, that’s a really impressive stat line today, and we made our defensive goal, which is always big for us. I’m really happy with the collective effort from the whole squad today.”

On Leonard, the Drexel coach said she “was impressed from what she was able teo take advantage on the offensive side. Today, that showed with the points she scored.

“I said the other day, from me because we focus on defense so much, the hardest teams to play are the ones that have balanced scoring because it’s hard to pin one particular player, and I feel that’s an advantage for us this season is we have so many people, who can score different ways.”

Drexel next attempts a local non-conference makeup game, traveling to La Salle, Wednesday night, to play in the Explorers’ Tom Gola Arena at 6 p.m. on. ESPN+.

Delaware Blasts William & Mary: The Blue Hens continued to build chemistry and momentum, taking the first of a weekend pair 79-55 at home over the Tribe (4-4, 1-2 CAA), for a third straight win that improved the record to 6-1 overall and 3-0 in the conference.

Jasmine Dickey led the heavy attack with 20 points and 10 rebounds for her 20th career double double, while Ty Battle also got into the double double act with 10 points and 12 rebounds, her sixth for the season, which is best in the CAA. 

Chyna Lattimer nailed 3-of-5 from deep on the way to 13 points, while Ty Skinner scored 11.

Reserve Brynn Wade grabbed 12 rebounds in 18 minutes, with the entire squad outrebounding the Tribe 52-33, including 19 on the offensive glass to create 21 second-chance points.

The weekend series concludes Sunday at 1 p.m. with the game streamed on the Flohoops Apps.

Rider Burnt by Siena: At some point a Broncs comeback might make it all the way, or better yet, perhaps the squad will finally gel and they’ll be the ones carrying the lead. In the latest struggles of a young roster left by the graduation of the greatest team in program history that included WNBA draft pick Stella Johnson, Rider was down 19 points to the Saints (1-2, 1-2 MAAC) on the road in the suburban Albany (N.Y.) town of Loudonville, but rallied in the fourth quarter before falling short 73-64.

Four scored in double figures for Rider (1-11, 0-7), whose sole win was at NJIT in a non-conference game before the holiday break.

Maya Hyacienth had had 12 points for the visitors, Lenaejha Evans, Makayla Firebaugh, and Victoria Toomey each scored 11.

The Broncs had beaten the Saints in four straight, though the home team has an overwhelming 34-16 lead in the series,

Daija Moses added nine points and 10 rebounds to the Rider effort. She also had four assists and two steals.

Playing a similar format as the CAA and several other conferences, the Broncos remain in upstate New York to conclude the series, playing Siena again Sunday at 1 p.m. on ESPN3.

Auriemma Catches Summitt: With the disappointment of having had a Top 10 matchup at No. 6 Baylor cancelled due to Bears coach Kim Mulkey having received a positive test for the virus, No. 3 Connecticut returned to its Big East schedule, beating Providence 87-50 to stay unbeaten overall at 7-0 and 6-0 in the conference.

The outcome became a milestone in the long, successful career of Huskies coach, Geno Auriemma, tying the late legendary Tennessee coach Pat Summitt for second place in total Division I victories in women’s basketball at 1,098.

A month ago Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer passed that total to be the current record holder at 1,104 after Friday’s win over No. 11 Oregon.

Auriemma, who grew up in the Philadelphia suburb of Norristown, will likely take sole possession of second Wednesday after the Huskies’ next game and then story will shift between Stanford and Connecticut as to who eventually leaves with the best record.

“Today was game No.7,” Auriemma said afterwards. “The only number that matters to me is get to Game 13 so we can qualify for the NCAA tournament.

“The other stuff, I’d like to think if you’ve done something for 37 years, whatever it is, you’re going to have some milestones, and if you’re fortunate enough, you have some pretty important milestones, and if you’re lucky enough to be surrounded by the people I’ve been surrounded with, they are actually dome meaningful milestones and I’m sure some day I’ll be able to look back on all of those and appreciate it when it’s all over.”

Both coaches also understand they closed the gap on Summitt only because her battle against Alzheimer's disease forced her to retire premature in 2012 several years before her passing.

While never should not always be definitive the reality is that trio will not likely be passed because the coaches behind them do not project to have enough years left in their careers and the coaches behind them don’t figure to stay in the game as long as they have.

“To me, it’s not the wins as much how few losses they’ve have had,” recently retired Villanova coach Harry Perretta told the Hartford Courant this week.

As for the game details against the Friars (5-7, 3-4), freshman sensation Paige Bueckers shot 8-for-10 from the field and finished with 23 points, reserve Aubrey Griffin had 18 points and nine rebounds, while Tennessee transfer Evina Westbrook had 13 points, Olivia Nelson-Ododa scored 11, and Aaliyah Edwards scored 10.

connecticut next hosts Seton Hall Wednesday st 4:30 p.m.

Daughter Whomps Dad in Holy Cross Win: First blood within family blood went to new Holy Cross coach Maureen McGarrity, whose Crusaders crushed Army 80-46 on the road in a Patriot League game in the Black Knights’ Christl Arena in West Point, N.Y.

Army (4-4, 1-2 Patriot League) is coached by Maureen’s father Dave McGarrity, a native of Philadelphia who used to coach men’s basketball and has been guiding the Black Knights since being promoted soon after the 2006 season when then first-year coach Maggie Dixon, a former DePaul assistant, collapsed and died suddenly of a heart arrhythmia while jogging.

Sister of TCU men’s basketball coach Jamie Dixon, she had just led Army to its first Patriot League title and NCAA tournament appearance.

Maureen Magarity, who previously coached New Hampshire, earned her first win at Holy Cross (1-2, 1-2).

The family matchup is believed the first father-daughter coaching court reunion in Division I women’s basketball.

“That was awful,” Dave Magarity said of the rout to your Guru Saturday night after the game. “We had just begun to figure things out among our injuries and missing players from testing and then, this. Now we have to get on a bus at 7 in the morning tomorrow and go all the way up there (Worcester, Mass.) to play them at 3 p.m. Well, she had to do the same thing today and she did it to us, so maybe we’ll grt them back.”

Avery LaBarbera led the Crusaders with 23 points, among four scoring in double figures.

Reserve Kaci Helmick had 13 for Army, while Taylor Sullivan scored 10.

“I’ll start off,” the elder Magarity said earlier at the postgame press conference, “It’s sort of a surreal day but I couldn’t be more disappointed at our performance. If it had been a close game and we won or lost I would feel a little different. We were pretty much dominated in every category. Holy Cross just broke us down. Last week at Colgate, we were down 18 and won by 19 so at the half I felt we’ll figure this out.

As for his daughter, “For us, everything was differently, obviously. I felt everything went our way. I’m just so proud of our team. This is the third game in a week that we played. We played Monday and Tuesday against a very good (Boston U.) team. I’m just so proud how we bounced back. Neither one of us thought it would go this way. Tomorrow I’m sure Army and my dad will figure something out.”

Said Dad, “I’m proud of her as a father and the fact they were prepared, I really believe at the end of the day being able to adjust to things, she’s always prepared.” ‘

Texas Upset By West Virginia: The No. 17 Longhorns (8-2, 2-1 B-12) became the lone ranked team to lose and it was at the hands of a poll outsider in a 92-58 loss to West Virginia (8-2, 2-2) on the road in a Big 12 game in Morgantown as Kysre Gondrezick had 24 points and five assists while Esmery Martinez had a double double 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Madisen Smith scored 17.

Texas got 12 points from Joanne Allen-Taylor and 10 points from Celeste Taylor, but Charli Collier got just five points and fouled out with three of them assessed in the first quarter.

“We were hitting shots,” said Mountaineers coach Mike Carey, “We were passing the ball. I think we ended up with 20-some assists, which was big for us. We were getting out and running. I thought our bench came in and did a great job when we got in foul trouble.”

Elsewhere, No. 18 South Florida cruised over visiting Houston 80-51 as Maria Alvarez scored a career-high 23 points, fueled by six from deep, for the Bulls (9-1, 6-0 AAC) in an American game in Tampa to be two ahead of Temple in the win column.

Looking Ahead: Saint Joseph’s will be looking for a sweep after Friday’s blowout home win when the Hawks visit La Salle at Tom Gola Arena in the Atlantic 10 feature game on the CBS Sports Network at 2 p.m. while as mentioned above Delaware goes after sweeping William & Mary at home at 1 p.m., in the CAA. Rider will be after a split at Siena in the MAAC at 1 p.m. while Penn State will be after its first Big Ten win visiting Minnesota at 5 p.m.

Nationally, No. 8 Texas A&M visits No. 13 Arkansas at 4 p.m. in the SEC, while a Top 10/SEC showdown has No. 5 South Carolina visiting No. 10 Kentucky at 5 p.m.

And that’s the report.