Guru’s WBB Report: No. 2 UConn Recovers From Slow Start to Down Seton Hall While Temple and Penn State Blunted in Their Conference Play

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

If you’re part of the war room of a vastly improved Seton Hall operation and a week ago you looked ahead to where your return encounter with No. 2 Connecticut in the Big East landed on the schedule, you had to like the fact that extra intangibles might help your odds a bit.

Only 48 hours before you had to take the floor in Gampel Pavilion on Wednesday night on the Huskies campus in the Storrs, they were going to play No. 1 South Carolina with two possible hangover outcomes.

They lose and might be emotionally drained and in a funk. Or they win but are a bit drained and either way, considering it’s been a pattern anyway this season, they start slow and you if you get your “A” game together, you might make the evening interesting.

Well, as we know, Connecticut prevailed and the growing legend of freshman Paige Bueckers accelerated a bit more.

And sure enough the Huskies were in a bit of a twilight zone instead of the two-punch knockout mode that they can display.

And the Pirates, they plundered early, built a eight point lead that dropped just a basket to six at the end of the first quarter, and went to the break still up by one. Though outscored 23-16, courtesy of a 12-0 run, in the third, being down six left room for anything to happen in the final ten minutes.

Unfortunately, in the supply of anything was the Huskies muscle flex, which they rode to a 21-6 finish and 70-49 victory but at least you know for a long time the game was closer than the outcome indicated. The triumph also completed a series sweep following the 92-65 win at Seton Hall in December.

The loss snapped a six-game Pirates win streak, longest in six seasons, and UConn has beaten them 33 straight times in the series between the two schools.

Only the Georgetown visit Friday night in Washington stands between UConn and a move to No. 1 for the first time this season in the next Associated Press women’s poll, a place where the Huskies have had a dominate residence in the 45-year history of the rankings, which has now reached 800 weeks.

“We looked sluggish,” said UConn Hall of Fame head coach Geno Auriemma, who picked up career-win No. 1,106, which is second behind the Division I women’s record holder, Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer, who is at 1,111 with both coaches next on the sidelines Friday night. “I guess that was to be expected a little bit. We didn’t really get started until the third quarter.”

And the home team side even included yellow caution alerts over Christyn Williams, who has been struggling of late and went scoreless, shooting 0-fo-6 from the field that had one three-point attempt.

The good news is Bueckers was stopped from her string of three-straight 30 plus points was halted. The bad news was as she and the team came to life in the second half, she still finished with 23, shooting 10-of-19, including 3-of-6 from deep.

Olivia Nelson-Ododa had a double double 15 points and 13 rebounds for UConn (15-1, 12-0 Big East), while Tennessee transfer Evina Westbrook scored 12, and Aaliyah Edwards scored 11, while another reserve, Aubrey Griffin, had six points and seven rebounds.

“I think once we started getting everybody involved and moving at the pace that we usually do, things really opened up for us,” Nelson-Ododa said.

The UConn size caused a lopsided 46-32 advantage on the boards.

A familiar face to the UConn viewers on the other side, former Husky Andra Espinoza-Hunter and Mya Jackson each scored 15, while Desiree Elmore scored 12 for the Pirates (9-4, 7-3), who are in a crowd with No. 22 DePaul and Marquette battling for second place.

For Auriemma, the best shot of the day came before the opening tip when he got his first COVID-19 vaccination.

“Hey, it was my turn,” he quipped noting he turns 67 next month. “I waited in line. I just wanted to see if somebody could make a shot and the nurse was great, stuck the needle in me — swish. It was the first swish I’ve seen in a long time other than Paige, so I feel 100% percent better.

“It’s easy. You drive up and then after you sit for 15 minutes so they can make sure you still have all your fingers.”

Seton Hall, next, is back home in Walsh Gym in South Orange, N.J., Saturday hosting Creighton.

 Connecticut heads to the nation’s capital Friday night at 6 on CNSSN to visit Georgetown, the start of a four-game road trip that follows at St. John’s, Xavier, Creighton, and Butler before returning home March 1 to host Marquette to end the regular season prior to the start of the Big East tournament at the Mohegan Sun, assuming virus protocols don’t go through any more of the massive interruptions to the original schedule.

“What are you going to do,” Auriemma said. “Everyone’s dealing with it.”

The return Villanova game to Connecticut after postponements has already been stricken due to lack of calendar dates though both teams have made their minimal 13-game quota to be eligible for the NCAA tournament, though enough loopholes exist for other worthy teams.

Auriemma was asked to compare Bueckers to other standout players in the UConn program as freshman.

“That’s hard to do,” he said, “because when they came in they were already surrounded by all-Americans. I think the best comparison is when Diane (Taurasi) was a junior and had to carry the team.”

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Big East concerning No. 22 DePaul, the Blue Demons edged host St. John’s 81-73 on the road in the Red Storm’s Carnesecca Arena in Queens, N.Y.

Sonya Morris had 21 points for coach Doug Bruno’s squad (11-4, 8-2 Big East), which is alone in second and whose only loss in six road games was at Connecticut.

Deja Church added 18 points for the visitors, while Lexi Held had 14 points and a career-high eight assists, along with six steals, while Jorie Allen scored 11. Dee Bekelja scored 10 and dished eight assists, and Darrione Rogers grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds.

The Red Storm (5-11, 2-9) shaved a 20-point deficit from the third quarter to a single one late in the game before the Blue Demons stopped the rally with the last seven points of the game.

Leilani Correa scored 33 for St. John’s, while Kadaja Bailey scored 12.  

DePaul is next home Monday night hosting Seton Hall at Wintrust Arena in Chicago with the game on the FS1 apps.

Temple and Penn State Felled: On the local front, the Penn State four-game win streak came to a crashing end of the road, losing at No. 15 Indiana 90-65 in a Big Ten game in the Hoosiers’ Alumni Hall in a matinee attraction.

Niya Beverley had 16 points for the Lady Lions (8-8, 5-7 Big Ten) while freshman Maddie Burke scored 13 and Anna Camden scored 12.

Penn State was competitive through the first half and then Indiana opened the third quarter with an 11-0 run that extended to a 19-6 attack and a seven-point lead. That became a 14-point advantage at the end of the period after a brief rally by the visitors, who were unable to get any closer the rest of the way.

Indiana (12-4, 10-2), which is in second in the Big Ten, trailing Maryland, got 25 points from Mackenzie Holmes, who was 10-for-12 from the field, while Grace Berger had a double double of 17 points and 11 rebounds.

The Lady Lions are back home Saturday in the Bryce Jordan Center in State College in the annual Play4Kay Game, benefiting the Pink Zone fight against breast cancer as they host Michigan State at noon on the Big Ten Network.

Temple also played a matinee game and the Owls at home suffered as much as thrashing from Houston as in their recent Texas trip, losing to the Cougars 89-52 in McGonigle Hall in an American Athletic Conference game.

They were outscored in every quarter, falling behind 24-10 at the outset.

The key for Houston (11-5, 8-4 AAC) was the outside attack, raining 11 three-pointers, shooting 50.8 percent from the field (31-61) and 44 percent from beyond the arc (11-for-25).

Temple (7-8, 7-5) had its second worst ball handling day of the season, committing 26 turnovers.

Alexa Williamson scored 19 points, grabbed eight rebounds, and had three blocks for the Owls, while Mia Davis scored 17 and grabbed six rebounds, and freshman Jasha Clinton scored 10.

Coach Tonya Cardoza’s squad next hosts East Carolina Saturday at noon in McGonigle Hall on ESPN+.

Ohio State Upset by Wisconsin: Coming out of a recent Sunday demolition at Penn State, the Badgers reversed direction at home in a Big Ten contest in the Kohl Center in Madison and stunned No. 12 Ohio State 75-70, Wisconsin’s first win over a Top 15 team in eight seasons.

Imani Lewis, who leads the conference with double doubles, recorded her ninth scoring a career-high 27 points and grabbing 14 rebounds for the Badgers (5-13, 2-13 Big Ten). Sara Stapleton had 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Sydney Hilliard scored 13, and Estella Moschkau scored 10.

The home team dominated the boards 49-34 over the Buckeyes (12-3, 8-3), who have self-reported themselves out of the postseason, including the conference tournament.

Ohio State’s Dorka Juhasz had 16 points and 12 rebounds, while Madison Greene had 15 points, and Braxtin Miller sccored 10 playing most of the night in foul trouble. Aaliyah Patty scored nine and grabbed six rebounds.

The Buckeyes host No. 21 Northwestern Sunday at 12:30 p.m. on the Big Ten Network and will be looking to split the series with the Wildcats, who recently won the first game between the two back in Evanston, Ill.

Baylor and West Virgina Triumph:  The 1-2 standings and rankings punch in the Big 12 won their games as did unranked Texas, which was in the poll earlier this season.

No. 7 Baylor topped  host Texas Tech 82-50 at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock as Hall of Fame coach Kim Mulkey got her 600th head coaching win, all with the Bears (15-2, 10-1 Big 12).

“When you come out of the gates, and you’re playing and everybody’s confident like that on the defensive end and listening to the scouting report, it allows you to do some things,” Mulkey said..

The Bears won their seventh straight and 25th straight in the series, leading No. 19 West Virginia (16-2, 10-2) by a half-game.

“The big thing from today, other than the win, was the opportunity to play a lot of people and rest kids because we’ve got a very tough stretch ahead of us,” Mulkey said.

The one downside happened late in the third quarter when DiDi Richards took a hard fall and was helped off the floor with apparent concussion symptons, though she returned to the bench in the fourth quarter.

Richards suffered a horrific nonstructural spinal cord injury in a preseason scrimmage on Oct. 24, but made a quick recovery after for a while it seemed her basketball career might be in jeopardy/

“I didn’t have to go out on the floor for my heart to stop,” said Mulkey, “when I saw who it was and I saw how ugly it was. That was when I was like, ‘Not this kid again.’

“I think everybody in the gym knows the history of what she’s been through.

“To see that same kind of neck/head type of injury, or something happens like that, everybody just gets extremely quiet.”

NaLyssa Smith had her best road performance, scoring 28 points while getting 13 rebounds, her eighth double double in her last 10 games for Baylor.

“It’s a very scary thing,” Smith said of Richards’ mishap. “We all know what she’s been through, but we knew we had to stay focused.

‘Coach kept encouraging us to stay focused and keep the lead. You just had to get your mind back right, and we just went out there and kept playing for her.”

Smith scored her 1,000th career point on her first basket against the Lady Raiders (9-11, 4-10).

The Bears are home for the next two games, playing Texas (14-5, 8-4) on Valentine’s Day Sunday at at 5 p.m. in Waco, Texas, and then West Virginia at 8 p.m. next Wednesday.

Both teams won Wednesday night, West Virginia beating Kansas 69-62 for the Mountaineers’ 11th straight win, while Texas topped Oklahoma State 64-53.

In the West Virginia game at home in WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, Kysre Gondrezick scored 19 points for the home team while Kari Niblack and Esmery Martinez each scored 17 points, and Kirsten Deans scored 11.

At one instance, the Mountaineer lead got to 16 points before the Jayhawks (7-10, 3-8) got back into it.

Holly Kersgieter had 25 points for Kansas.

“Give Kansas credit,” Mountaineers coach Mike Carey said. “They came right at us. Coach (Brandon) Schneider does a great job. They were getting downhill on us. Offensively, we were standing around. We just didn’t play well. Give Kansas a lot of credit for that.”

In the Texas game in the Frank Erwin Center, the Longhorns opened up on Oklahoma State (14-6, 10-4) in the second quarter, outscoring the Cowgirls 19-4, though the visitors made it closer with a 20-10 advantage in the fourth period. The home team went into the final period with a 21-point lead.

“Can’t tell you how proud I am of my team tonight,” Texas coach Vic Schaefer said. “Just played their guts out. Played their hearts out defensively. (Oklahoma State) is as good offensively, as anyone we’ve seen all year. Now we haven’t seen Baylor yet, but they are hard to guard. They can shoot it at every position. What a tremendous effort by our kid. Gave up four offensive rebounds all night. Took a tremendous effort.

“The only negative was the 20 turnovers. But we really wanted to aggressive coming out, so I’ll take that. We just wanted to be aggressive. Played pretty good defensive without fouling.”We’re still a long way from anywhere near where I want to be on defense, but I thought we made strides tonight. We did a tremendous on their wings. Outscored them in the paint, 36-22, and 19-4 on second chance points.”

Charli Collier, the nation’s double double co-leader with 14, had 28 points, including her 1,000th, and 19 rebounds, while Celeste Taylor scored 18 and Joanne Allen-Taylor scored 10. Collier is the 47th player in the storied history of the Longhorns program to reach 1,000 points. She also had five blocks.

Natasha Mack, the reigning national player of the week chosen by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA), had 16 points for Oklahoma State, and Ja’Mee Asberry scored 13.

Towson Upsets JMU: In another game of note in the Colonial Athletic Association, Towson at home in SECU Arena in Maryland beat preseason favorite James Madison 84-73 for the fifth straight by the Tigers (10-3, 5-1 CAA)  as Kionna Jeter scored 31, shooting 6-for-13 from beyond the arc. Aleah Nelson scored 13 while Shayonne Smith scored 10.

“I feel good. I think I’m playing at an elite level,” Jeter said. “I have a great team around me that is helping me out a lot. It’s not just me, but it’s my teammates, also.”

Kiki Jefferson had 29 points and 10 rebounds for James Madison (10-7, 6-4), while Jamia Hazell scored 16, Madison Greene scored 13, and Anne Francoise Diouf scored 10.

The uneven schedules allowed Towson to squeeze in between Delaware and Drexel heading to Northeastern for a pair of games Saturday and Sunday in the Cabot Center in Boston.

“We want to be fast and we want to play fast,” said Towson coach Diane Richardson. “I reminded the team that we are first in the country in scoring on fast breaks. We want to live up to that and if we continue to do that, we’ll have some teams worried.”

Looking Ahead: Rutgers, the only local in action Thursday, after coming out of its month-long layoff under COVID-19 protocols, heads to No. 21 Northwestern in the Big Ten after a decisive Sunday home win over Nebraska. The host Wildcats are coached by Father Judge grad Joe McKeown, who grew up in Northeast Philadelphia.

Breaking the ranked teams by leagues, in the Atlantic Coast Conference, former national No. 1 now No. 3 Louisville will host Georgia Tech in the KFC Yum! Center at 7 p.m., while No. 4 North Carolina State hosts Clemson at 4 p.m. in the first game since the Wolfpack were upset Sunday at North Carolina.

Meanwhile, in the Southeastern Conference, in its first game since the out of league loss at No. 2 Connecticut, No. 1 South Carolina will be going after extending its program-record 27-game SEC regular win streak and 30-game including three straight opponents in last season’s conference tournament, when the current No. 1 Gamecocks host Missouri at 7 p.m. on the SEC Network.

Elsewhere in the SEC, No. 24 Georgia hosts Auburn at 7 p.m., while if No. 16 Tennessee has been cleared, the Lady Vols will at No. 20 Kentucky in Lexington. No. 18 Arkansas will be hosting Mississippi State, which got bounced from the poll for the first time in 125 weeks.

Over in the Big Ten, beyond the Rutgers game, No. 12 Michigan coming out of a layoff stretch will visit Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind. 

No. 17 Gonzaga will host San Francisco at 8 p.m. in the West Coast Conference.

On Friday, Saint Joseph’s, locally, visits Fordham at noon, while La Salle visits Davidson at 2 p.m., both in the Atlantic 10 and both on ESPN+.

In the first of two and at each other’s arenas in the CAA, Delaware hosts Drexel at 6 p.m. in the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark before the teams head  to Drexel’s Daskalakis Athletic Center, Sunday on Valentine’s Day at 1 p.m., both on the Flohoops streaming apps.

Other ranked teams in action Friday has No. 8 UCLA at Utah in the PAC-12, while No. 10 Arizona will host Washington State at 9 p.m. on the PAC-12 network. No. 11 Oregon hosting California in the PAC-12 is postponed due to coronavirus issues on the part of Cal.

No. 25 Missouri State will visit Illinois State Friday at 5 p.m. in the Missouri Valley Conference on ESPN+

On Saturday, in the ranked categories, No. 14 South Florida, if cleared, will be hosting Tulsa at 4 p.m. in Tampa, Fla., in the AAC, while No. 25 Missouri State will be playing its second game at Illinois State in the Missouri Valley Conference.

No. 5 Stanford will be at Oregon State in the PAC-12  at 11 p.m. on the PAC-12 network while No. 17 Gonzaga in Washington will be hosting Santa Clara at 5 p.m., and No. 23 South Dakota State will be at Oral Roberts at 3 p.m. in the Summit League.

Rider in the first of two back-to-backs will host Niagara in the CAA in Alumni Gym at 1 p.m. on ESPN3 in Lawrenceville, N.J, and Sunday at 1 p.m. on ESPN+

We’ll hold Sunday for the intensive look for another two days.

And that’s the report.