Guru’s WBB Report: Temple, Rider, and Delaware Win While Drexel Edged by Elon at the Finish

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

Elon punctured what would have been a four-game sweep by the locals who played Saturday afternoon when Jaylin Powell nailed a three-pointer with 0.6 seconds left in regulation to give the Phoenix a tough 59-57 victory at Drexel in a Colonial Athletic Association game at the Dragon’s Daskalakis Athletic Center in West Philadelphia. The two teams return Sunday afternoon to finish their weekend back-to-back series at 1 p.m.

Meanwhile, Temple came to life in the fourth quarter to beat Wichita State 65-55, in an American Athletic Conference home game in McGonigle Hall, while Delaware continued its CAA domination, beating UNCW 73-66 at home in the first of two weekend series with the same team at the. Bob. Carpenter Center in Newark, and Rider shocked Quinnipiac in the back end of their back-to-back weekend  series in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, beating the Bobcats, 77-74 in overtime at home in the Broncs’ Alumni Gym in Lawrenceville, N.J.

Temple Stops Shockers: The Owls snapped a two-game losing streak and got back to .500 overall outscoring Wichita State 20-6 in the fourth quarter to take a 65-55 win heading to a showdown down south with front-running South Florida Wednesday at 4 p.m. in Tampa if the game is played.

 The No. 14 Bulls are currently on a pause because of positive tests of the coronavirus that came up at the Tier 1 level of the program.

Meanwhile, back in Philadelphia the Owls (5-5, 5-2 AAC) trailed most of the afternoon until a 12-2 run between the third and final period enabled them to pull ahead.

Temple came into the game off a blowout loss at Houston, 80-46, committing 30 turnovers.

But ball control was the name of the game against Wichita State (3-6, 0-4), as the Owls committed just 12 miscues, going from their season high to their season low.

Freshman Jasha Clinton, who has become more impactful as Temple has tread deeper into its conference slate, scored 21 points, while senior Mia Davis was just short of another double double with 16 points and nine rebounds, while Asonah Alexander had 12 points, seven assists, five rebounds, and a career-high four blocked shots, and Alexa Williamson scored eight points, grabbed seven rebounds, and had two blocks.

Early in the third, the game appeared to be slipping away from the home team as the Shockers built a nine-point lead before Temple began to rally, launching its run at 7-2 in the final four minutes of the period. The Owls continued to surge at the outset of the fourth, 6-0 for a 51-49 lead that briefly twice shrunk to ties before Ermani Mayo broke the deadlock with a shot from deep that put the home team ahead to stay.

They finished out with a 10-0 run for the game’s last points.

“It feels good to be able to come back in that game and pull out a win,” said Temple coach Tonya Cardoza, now in her 13th season on North Broad Street. “Wichita State is a tough team to play because they will work. They are committed to a 100 percent effort. Before the game we talked about making sure they don’t outwork us but I feel in those first three quarters they definitely outworked us,

“I felt in the fourth quarter we finally turned it on. We outworked them. We came up with some loose balls and we finally saw some shots  fall for us. But we hung there. We were down, I think, nine points, and being able to come back, I think our players seeing that, no matter what the situation, if they continue to work, good things will happen, and good things happened to them today,” she continued.

“Just in this league, everyone is competitive, no matter what their record is. Their coaches are great coaches and they’re going to get their teams ready and come out and fight. And that’s one thing I try to relate to my players. I just think that’s indicative how our conference is. Being able to survive and pull out a win is a big deal. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing.

“I like what I saw from my guys in that fourth quarter. Nothing was really going our way. In that fourth quarter, we finally turned it up and had some good things happen for us, and we got on run. The fact we held them to six points, that’s a big deal, so the fact we saved the best for last, it’s good for us.”

Delaware Still Perfect in the CAA:  The Blue Hens (10-1, 7-0 CAA) took the first of a two-game, Saturday-Sunday, hook up with UNCW 73-66, to win their seventh straight overall and stay atop the conference, riding a huge 24-10 third quarter explosion to the victory.

Delaware continues to relive the gold standard era set by WNBA Washington Mystics sensation Elena Delle Donne,  off to the Blue Hens’ best overall start since her junior season in 2012, and best conference start since her senior year in 2013 when they finished a perfect 18-0 in league play, besides taking the CAA tourney title.

That season featured a visit to the Drexel game in Newark by the former Delaware U.S. Senator, then-vice president Joseph R. Biden Jr., who returned for the Blue Hens’ second round NCAA tournament win. The future 46th president, an alum of the university, later invited the team to his residence at the Naval Observatory in the nation’s capital for a cookout.

Jasmine Dickey had another strong outing, Saturday, scoring 23 points, helped by 8-for-9 from the line, while grabbing nine rebounds, dealing three assists, swiping three steals. Jewel Smalls had three connect from beyond the arc on the way to 16 points and Ty Battle extended her CAA-leading double double collection with 13 points and 14 rebounds.

Paris McBride dealt seven assists.

UNCW (3-6, 0-3) got 23 points from Za’Nautica Downs, who was 13-for-16 from the line for the bulk of her points.

Delaware will going for its fourth straight weekend sweep when the teams return Sunday, airing on the Flohoops Apps streaming service.

Rider Upsets Quinnipiac: Coming out of a blowout loss Friday afternoon with a young roster, the smart money on another weekend sweep by the opposition in the MAAC was made dumb by the Broncs, who gained a split with one of the conference heavyweights, prevailing in overtime.

“Today was a taste of who we can be once we find consistency,” said veteran Rider coach Lynn Milligan. “On Friday, they ran right through us, but the difference today was we made shots and traded them shot for shot. And Amanda was really great.”

On a day when Rider (3-14, 2-10 MAAC) got five players scoring in double figures, Amanda Mobley and and Maya Hyacienth each scored 18 points, while Raphaela Toussaint had 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Victoria Toomey and Makayla Frebaugh each scored 10 points against Quinnipiac (7-5, 5-3).

The game had 11 lead changes, Rider erasing a four-point deficit in the final 90 seconds of regulation to force the extra period. Toussaint’s two foul shots knotted the score with 23 seconds left in regulation and the opposition couldn’t score in its final possession.

In the extra period, Firebaugh put Rider in front 71-69 on a shot from deep with just over two minutes left. Quinnipiac tied it on the next possession, but the Broncs then scored five straight, culminating in a three-ball from Toussaint with 14 seconds left.

The Bobcats countered with a shot but but the home team went 1-for-2 from the line to seal the win.

“We’ve been fortunate in that we’ve probably played more games than most teams this season,” Milligan said of the havoc on schedules caused by the coronavirus. “I’ve been careful and tried to control as much as I can. That’s what this team needs, lots of games.”

The 46 percent from the field for the Broncs was their best this season.

Toomey set career highs with eight blocked shots and five assists.

Next weekend, Rider travels to one of the MAAC frontrunners, playing at Marist, Friday and Saturday, at 5 p.m. each day in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Friday’s game will air on ESPN3 while Saturday’s will be on ESPN+

Late Score Fells Drexel: The Dragons trailed the Phoenix most of the afternoon, though not by much, in their CAA encounter, and rallied from an eight-point deficit with 5:30 left in regulation to take lead on Mariah Leonard’s score with 10 seconds remaining to make it 57-56. 

Another tight one, to be sure, in a season that saw a loss at Villanova on a score near the finish, a loss at La Salle in the final minute, and last Sunday’s sizable setback at William & Mary after beating the Tribe the previous afternoon.

Unfortunately, ten seconds were ten too many. Elon (6-3, 2-1 CAA) took a timeout to advance the ball and then Powell on the inbound with under a second left launched her three-ball on a straight-away shot and left Drexel (6-4, 3-2) needing a win Sunday in their 1 p.m. contest on FloHoops to gain a split and avoid falling further behind Delaware in the Standings, where they trail by two games.

Hannah Nilhill had 16 points for Drexel along with six steals, tying a career-high. Keishana Washington also scored 16, while Leonard scored 14, off  7-for-14 from the field while grabbing nine rebounds. Maura Hendrixson dealt seven assists.

The National Scene - UConn Beats Georgetown While Texas Upsets Iowa State: It was more a disarray from two missing starters than a letdown off Thursday’s pulsating win at No. 25 Tennessee that had the No. 3 Huskies’ win at home over the Hoyas in a Big East matchup in the Gampel Pavilion on the main campus in Storrs that set forth a case of the blahs from Huskies coach Geno Auriemma, who reached career triumph 1,101, just four behind Division I women’s frontrunner Tara VanDerveer, whose No. 5 Stanford squad got upset by visiting No. 6 UCLA in a PAC-12 game Friday night.

The Cardinal play host Sunday to visiting Southern Cal.

Freshman sensation Paige Bueckers, who hit the key basket late in the Tennessee game after rolling her ankle, did not play against the Hoyas, though Auriemma said he was hoping to have her back before a two-game road trip that has a recently added scheduled trip to No. 15 Arkansas of the Southeastern Conference in Fayetteville Thursday and then a return match in the Big East visiting No.18 DePaul Sunday in Chicago. That  contest will be the first women’s game to air on the main FOX network.

The Big East has a men’s and women’s deal with the FOX families.

Asked for a takeaway from Saturday’s 72-41 contest by the crew broadcasting the game, Auriemma replied, “In this game, in this atmosphere, (devoid of fans), it was more like a bad practice.”

Georgetown (1-5, 1-5 Big East) got 13 points from Kelsey Ransom and 10 from Yasmin Ott.

Connecticut (10-0, 8-0), one of three unbeaten teams left in Division I, got 19 points and nine rebounds from Olivia Nelson-Ododa, while Christyn Williams scored 17, Aubrey Griffin scored 15, and Evina Westbrook scored 13. Anna Makurat also did not play and is out indefinitely with a lower leg injury, UConn officials did not specify. Westbrook also dealt nine assists.

But freshman Nika Muhl saw her first Huskies action and played all but just under five minutes and scored six points on a pair of three-pointers. She also had three rebounds and three steals,

Missing two of the team’s best passers, created an uneven flow, not that the outcome was ever in doubt.

Auriemma said, “It was difficult to watch.”

The only other two ranked teams playing Saturday competed separately in the Big 12.

No. 24 Iowa State, which just checked back into the AP women’s poll for the first time since early in the season, off the Cyclones’ win at then-No. 6 Baylor last weekend to end the Bears’ 61-home win streak, got upset by Texas 70-59 at home in Ames to the Longhorns squad that had just checked out after a seven-week run.

The win was new coach Vic Schaefer’s first Longhorns win over a Top 25 squad, though he won plenty at his previous stint at Mississippi State.

Charli Collier had 13 points and 10 rebounds for Texas (11-3, 5-2 Big 12) in the conference matchup, which saw the host Cyclones move within a point early in the third only to have the Longhorns respond with a 10-0 run.

Joanne Allen-Taylor keyed the eruption with eight of her 16 points, off 6-of-8 from the field, including 3-of-4 from down deep.

Texas was not seriously threatened the rest of the way.

Ashley Joens, was less dangerous in this one for Iowa State (10-5, 6-2), held to 17 points and was the only Cyclones players scoring in double figures.

Joens got into early foul trouble forcing her to the bench.

“When Ashley Joens plays 19 minutes, we’re going to have a hard time beating anyone,” longtime Cyclones coach Bill Fennelly said.

The win completed a season sweep for Texas in between which Iowa State had won four straight including the win at Baylor.

In the only other game, No. 9 Baylor crushed Oklahoma 84-61 at home in the Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas.

NaLyssa Smith scored 21 points for the Bears (10-2, 5-1 Big 12), while Trinity Oliver and Moon Ursin each scored 14, and Ursin completed a double double with 11 rebounds. DiDi Richards dealt 12 assists, reserve Hannah Gusters scored 11, and Queen Egbo scored 10.

Oklahoma (4-7, 1-5) got 29 points from Madi Williams, while Taylor Robertson scored 19. 

Looking Ahead: Saint Joseph’s is returning to action from another shutdown that postponed playing on the road in the Atlantic 10 last weekend and on Friday at home will now be back in Hagan Arena on Hawk Hill to host a conference game against George Washington at 2 p.m. on ESPN+ while La Salle will be looking for a weekend sweep in the A-10 hosting George Mason at 2 p.m. in Tom Gola Arena at 2 p.m. on ESPN+.

As mentioned above, Delaware and Drexel will be finishing their CAA home back-to-back weekend set, while in the Big Ten Rutgers remains in shutdown mode, having its home game with Iowa postponed. Penn State is hosting Minnesota, looking for a sweep of the Gophers, at 6 p.m. Monday in the Bryce Jordan Center in State College, the same night Villanova returns from a shutdown to host St. John’s looking for a sweep in Finneran Pavilion at 7 p.m.

Nationally on Sunday, the slate is loaded with ranked teams, pending any new virus disruptions.

In the Big Ten, No. 11 Michigan off a tough loss at No. 17 Ohio State, hosts Purdue at 2 p.m. in Ann Arbor, No. 21 Northwestern hosts No. 16 Indiana at noon in Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Ill., while on Monday No. 7 Maryland hosts Ohio State in a showdown at the Terrapins’ Xfinity Center in College Park at 7 p.m.

In the Southeastern Conference, No. 4 South Carolina is at LSU in Baton Rouge at 1 p.m., No. 12 Kentucky is at No. 25 Tennessee at 2 p.m., No. 8 Texas A&M is hosting Missouri at 5 p.m., while on Monday, No. 15 Arkansas hosts No. 22 Georgia at 7 p.m. in Fayetteville, though the visiting Bulldogs could have their ranking number removed by tipoff, pending the Monday afternoon release of the next poll.

In the PAC -12, No. 13 Oregon hosts Washington at 5 p.m., No. 5 Stanford, on a two-game losing streak after its upset loss at No. 6 UCLA, Friday, hosts Southern Cal at 7 p.m.

In the Atlantic Coast Conference, No. 22 Syracuse visits Clemson at noon, No. 1 Louisville visits Wake Forest at 2 p.m., No. 2 North Carolina State, emerging from a COVID-19 shutdown, hosts Virginia Tech at 4 p.m. while in the Mid-major West Coast Conference, No. 20 Gonzaga visits Portland at 7 p.m.

And that’s the report.