Guru’s WBB Report: Saint Joseph’s and La Salle Knocked Down at Home by A-10 Rivals While No. 3 UConn Wins Big But No. 5 UCLA Ambushed

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

Saint Joseph’s and La Salle were unable to make headway in the Atlantic 10 early Friday night playing the frontrunner and one in the same standings neighborhood .

Meanwhile, nationally, No. 3 UConn handled Marquette on the road to formally rise with spreading distance above the rest of the Big East in the standings and out in the Northwest unranked Washington State has done it again, this time ambushing No. 5 UCLA 67-63 in a PAC-12 game at home in Pullman.

And the other highlight of the day came at the end of the daily national schedule as No. 6 Stanford celebrated its first true home game of the season, paying back unranked Colorado for last month’s upset by beating the Buffs 62-54 in Maples Pavilion, though it took finally stopping a huge rally to get it done.

The only other game involving a ranked team in a cross-state rivalry in the Summit League, No. 23 South Dakota State at home easily turned back South Dakota 64-45.

Saint Joseph’s and La Salle Felled:  The Hawks in Hagan Arena couldn’t take advantage of their home court, losing to the conference frontrunner Dayton 55-43 in Hagan Arena while not far away La Salle faded down the stretch and lost to Saint Louis 72-65 in Tom Gola Arena.

The two local teams will switch A-10 opponents Sunday with the Billikins moving over to Hawk Hill at 2 p.m. and the Flyers shifting to La Salle at noon, with both games airing on the ESPN+ streaming network.

In the Saint Joseph’s game, Dayton (9-1, 8-0 A-10), which has yet to lose within conference competition, used a strong second half to break away from a 24-24 tie at intermission that suggested things might go in the home team’s direction.

Both squads have experienced pauses in the schedule to the point that neither Saint Joseph’s (5-3, 3-3) nor Dayton have yet to reach the minimum 13-game requirement for access, if desired by the committee, to reach the NCAA tournament should they not win the automatic bid in next month’s tournament.

Saint Joseph’s, in its first home loss of the season, was held to 19 points in the second half and and 29.5 percent from the field overall.

Gabby Smalls was one of the few local exceptions, shooting 5-of-8 and scoring 10 points, Alayna Gribble scored nine and Katie Jekot had eight points and six rebounds.

Dayton’s Jenna Giacone scored 15 points built on 3-of-4 from deep, while Araion Bradshaw scored 13.

“We missed a lot of layups, I think we were 3-for-10 from missed layups standpoint, it was just really tough to score,” said Hawks coach Cindy Griffin, the dean of the local D-1 women’s coaches in the wake of Villanova’s Harry Perretta’s retirement at the end of his 42nd season last spring.

“Dayton did a really good job defensively, just trying to take away our primary options, and we got some secondary looks and we just weren’t able to convert. Those are things we have to fine tune and get better at, and we also need to get to the free throw line a little more. 

“And we’re still evolving. We haven’t had that many games and practice. We’re starting to make some reads, but we still have a long way to go as far as that’s concerned. They’re a very good team and when we didn’t score, they did those threes and that was a factor.”

La Salle, meanwhile, saw things slip away down the stretch to Saint Louis (5-3, 3-3 A-10), but on looking ahead could point to four players scoring in double figures as a positive, especially with Dayton making the short trip Sunday having stayed nearby after ther game with the Hawks.

Claire Jacobs scored 17 for theExplorers (9-9, 5-6), which, despite the setback is on an overall improvement in coach Mountain MacGillivray’s third season. Deja King shot 6-of-12 from the field and came within a point of her personal best with 15, Kayla Spruill had 13 points and seven rebounds, while Molly Masciantonio shot her way on 5-of-8 from the field to 12 points.

Ciaja Harbison scored 21 for Saint Louis, while Myriama Smith Traore scored 17, Rachel Kent collected 16, and Brooke Flowers grabbed 13 rebounds.

Washington State Stuns UCLA: When it comes to considering national coach of the year, there are many candidates, especially dealing with the stops and starts caused by the coronavirus.

But whenever the lists of contenders soon begin to get drawn, certainly the job that former Texas star Kamie Ethridge has been doing at Washington State deserves notice.

So far, the program (9-6, 7-6 PAC-12), though it only lasted a week after two narrow overtime losses, became the last Power 5 school to earn a ranking in the 45-year-history of the Associated Press women’s poll, that will record its 800th weekly release on Monday.

The Cougars upset No. 5 UCLA 67-63 at home in Beasley Coliseum in Pullman to make it the first win ever over a Top 5 team, it’s third over a ranked team in the same season for the first time since 2014 seven years ago, courtesy of the strength of the PAC-12, and second over a Top 10 squad while also snapping a two-game losing streak in the process.

Standout freshman Charlisse Leger-Walker out of New Zealand made the difference, scoring 13 of Washington State’s 15 points in the fourth quarter, and had a game-high 28 points against the Bruins (10-3, 8-3). 

The rookie has been the difference-maker at the finish in numerous close games and this one was no different, scoring a three-pointer to put the home team ahead 64-63 with 42 seconds left in regulation, and then connecting 3-of-4 free throws the rest of the way to complete a charity stripe performance of 10-of-12 in the final period.

Leger-Walker’s older sister Krystal scored 10. Ula Motuga had 10 rebounds.

“I’m kind of blown away that we were able to pull it off,” Ethridge said. “We knew we had to bounce back after last week and and regrouping a young team isn’t a definite. 

“I thought they bought into growing (as a team) despite losing to these top-five and top-10 teams in recent games. I’m just so proud of this team, and I’m happy that they are able to experience beating a top-five team in the country.”

UCLA had won six straight in the series, and just recently beat then-No. 5 Stanford on the then-Cardinal’s adopted home court in Santa Cruz, enabling the Bruins to flip over into the Top 5 for the first time since 2017, which was once that season, and before that, all the way back to 1999.

Charisma Osbourne, the star of the upset of Stanford, had 21 points for the Bruins, while Michaela Onyenwere scored 16, and Natalie Chou scored 12,

On Sunday, Washington State hosts Southern Cal at 3 p.m., while UCLA heads to Seattle to play Washington at 5 p.m.

Stanford Finally Home Gets a Win: Call it double delight if not more for Hall of Fame coach Tara VanDerveer’s squad finally getting to be on its own floor in Maples Pavilion and decisively beating a Colorado team 62-54 (it was not that close most of the way until a late rally) that last month on Jan. 17 back in Boulder with an unranked status upset Stanford 77-72 in overtime to knock the opponent from its No. 1 ranking, the same fate likely to befall Louisville Monday off it’s upset loss a week ago in the Atlantic Coast Conference, losing at home at the KFC Yum! Center to No.4 North Carolina State.

Anna Wilson, the sister of Seattle Seahawks NFL quarterback Russell Wilson, had 11 points for Stanford (16-2, 13-2 PAC-12).

“I thought we had a really good game from Anna Wilson, both defensively and offensively,” said VanDerveer, who extended her Division I leading all-time women’s win record to 1,110, ahead of UConn’s Geno Auriemma, who reached 1,103 earlier in the evening.

Stanford plays again Sunday, hosting Utah, while Connecticut hosts No. 2, likely to be No. 1 South Carolina on Monday night, one of the few marquee intersectional women’s games that has stayed in place since the date was originally set.

The late legendary coach Pat Summitt retired in 2012, fighting Alzheimer’s Disease that ultimately claimed her life, with then the win record number of 1,098 that VanDerveer passed in early December and Auriemma also passed last month to move into second.

In the game against Colorado (6-9, 4-8), Kiana Williams scored 16 points and hit two free throws with 1 minute, 18 seconds in regulation that blunted the rally.

Stanford did open the season on Nov. 25 in Maples, hosting Cal Poly before the strict COVID-19 protocols for Santa Clara County, especially involving sporting events, transformed the Cardinal into gypsies living out of hotels until Friday night. Three home games were played at Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz, a venue that houses the NBA Golden State Warriors’ G League representative.

The group spent the December holidays in the desert in Arizona and even used UNLV to play a non-conference game.

Through it all, things were going great Friday, Stanford in front 49-26 at the end of three quarters, when Colorado launched a huge rally in the final period, outscoring Stanford 28-13 and blanking the opposition 0-for-6 during the final 8:53.

“I was thrilled for them to be able to be home,” Colorado coach JR Payne said. “I’m sure there was energy sleeping in your own bed and playing in your own gym is huge.”

Of the experience, Lacie Hull said, “We’ve been through a lot. It’s been challenging, but it’s made us closer. Being able to unpack our suitcases was incredible.”

Maya Hollingshed had 16 for Colorado, which since the noteworthy upset has lost three straight.

Stanford hosts Utah Sunday and Colorado moves on to California across the San Francisco Bay.

A big showdown to complete a series is on hold this weekend in the conference because both No. 10 Arizona and No. 12 Oregon, which had spent time in the Top 10 and lost to the Wildcats on the road in their first meeting, are in pause mode off positive tests at the Tier 1 level.

UConn Tops Marquette:  In recent telecasts from No. 3 Connecticut’s local TV partner, Friday’s game in Milwaukee was continuously touted between the No. 3 Huskies and Marquette as the battle for No. 1 in the Big East.

But for the moment, life with UConn in their former Big East home for the rest of the residents is no different than the 0-for the American Athletic Conference rivals endured for seven seasons, though the new group might be more formidable from top to bottom.

The latest exhibit, Friday night’s massive 87-58 victory with freshman Paige Bueckers nailing six from deep and scoring 30, two under her previous game Wednesday at home against St. John’s, that became the career-high for the moment, playing for UConn (13-1, 11-0 Big East).

After Bueckers hurt her ankle near the end of the win over Tennessee in which she hit the deciding shot, she missed the Georgetown game and has since cross the 20 or more dew line four straight times, including 30s the last two.

Auriemma was emphatically satisfied, considering Marquette (12-3, 9-2), second in the standings, courtesy of the Huskies sweep of No. 20 DePaul, that the event went well enough in being the final game tuneup for Monday’s showdown with South Carolina, which finally downed UConn last season.

After this Monday, unlike the Gamecocks win or lose, Auriemma’s group won’t see much more of anything until the NCAA field is set, so a win definitely solidifies a No. 1 seed, if not the No. 1 seed.

But Friday seemed to be a throwback to the golden oldie days of the collection of 11 editions that claimed NCAA titles, several of unbeaten vintage.

This is not to say yet that this is that team. But it certainly seems well on the way of becoming one, especially with Bueckers and her freshmen classmates impacting the attack.

Auriemma proclaimed the affair the most complete game of the season.

“I thought we were pretty locked in, defensively for the majority of the game,” he said. “That defensive mindset allowed us to flow into a really good offensive rhythm.

“The ball was really moving well and we were cutting well. (Olivia Nelson-Ododa) made some fabulous decisions with the ball, and we just played a solid, solid game for 40 minutes,.

“That’s some of the best things we’ve done this year. I’m pretty proud of them.”

Christyn Williams, who missed Wednesday’s game due to an ankle injury, returned and scored 18, freshman Aaliyah Edwards was 4-for-4 and scored 11. Making her third start on the season, freshman Nika Muhl filled the proverbial stat sheet with eight points, nine assists, seven rebounds and five steals. Hooked to Bueckers, the two in their postgame press conference seemed akin to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. 

“Her being in the lineup has changed our defense,” Auriemma praised Muhl. “We are much more vocal, more active, a more aggressive defense.”

Nelson-Ododa’s contribution to the cause was eight points, eight rebounds, and seven assists, a career-high.

Lauren Van Kleunen scored 18 for Marquette, but the Golden Eagles’ top scorer, Selena Lott with a 16.1 average was held to one field goal and four points.

Aubrey Griffin, missing Wednesday with minor injuries, was held out as a precautionary measure, and a rough fall on the ground to Edwards in the final quarter, had her depart with her mouth bleeding, but both are expected for Monday’s showdown.

Looking Ahead: Drexel and Villanova, originally on the game log separately for Saturday among the locals, were postponed — Drexel, set for back-to-back games, including Sunday, hosting Hofstra on homecoming weekend in the Daskalakis Athletic Center, stricken because the Pride became stricken with coronavirus issues, likewise Villanova’s visit to Creighton plus the Wildcats’ visit to Providence on Monday and hosting No. 20 DePaul, next Friday.

However, Temple continues its long road trip in the American Athletic Conference, hoping to extend its recent win at Cincinnati into a two-game streak and series sweep when the Owls visit Wichita State at 3 p.m. on ESPN+.

An oddity Delaware, which was knocked off its long win streak Sunday by Elon, gets to play Northeastern hosting the Huskies a third and fourth time Saturday and Sunday in the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark at 1 p.m. each day on the Flohoops streaming apps. This is the regularly scheduled set of games. The two prior were inserted and played in Boston early last month after the Blue Hens and Huskies were knocked out of scheduled games because of COVID-19 issues with their respective opponents.

A series of shuffles on dates and ending pauses now has Rider, coming to life with a three-game win streak, getting some solid game tests, traveling to Marist on Sunday and Monday in Pougkeepsie, N.Y., meeting the Red Foxes the first day at 1 p.m. on ESPN+ and the second day at 5 p.m. on ESPN3.

Penn State, on a three-game win streak, hosts Wisconsin at 2 p.m. Sunday on the Big Ten Network in the Bryce Jordan Center in State College.

Nationally, not a lot Saturday, in the Big 12, No. 21 West Virginia is at Texas at 8 p.m. on the Longhorn Network while the second in the two-day, two-game series has No. 23 South Dakota State chasing a series sweep hosting South Dakota in the Summit League at 6 p.m. on ESPN3.

Now updating the Oregon situation.

The Ducks will on Saturday go into non-conference mode with a first-ever series meeting at home in the Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene hosting UC Davis, one of two teams still unbeaten in Division I at 5-0. Then on Monday on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. Oregon, as of now, gets to host No. 9 Arizona, trying to avoid a season series sweep by the Wildcats. The other unbeaten team is Bucknell of the Patriot League at 8-0 overall.

On Sunday, among ranked teams, DePaul now listed to visit Marquette at noon on the Flohoops network, while No. 10 Maryland at No. 13 Michigan is postponed on the part of the Big Ten hosts and No. 14 South Florida, which has been on a long one, at UCF in an AAC game is paused, No. 11 Ohio State in the Big Ten hosts Minnesota at 1 p.m.

No. 1 Louisville is hosting Notre Dame at 2 p.m. on ESPN in an ACC event, while in the same conference, No. 4 N.C. State is at North Carolina in Chapel Hill at 2 p.m. on the ACC Network.

No. 6 Baylor is at Kansas State at 2 p.m. on the Big 12/ESPN+ network, while No. 17 Indiana is at Iowa in the Big Ten at 2 p.m. onESPN2.

In a reshuffle because No. 17 Tennessee is shut down, now No. 16 Arkansas is at No. 7 Texas A&M at 3 p.m. on the SECN network, No. 22 Northwestern is at Michigan State 3 p.m. on the Big Ten network, and the two PAC-12 games with No. 6 Stanford hosting, and No. 5 UCLA traveling were already mentioned.

The Alamo to be Memorable: What was expected to happen became formal on Friday afternoon with the NCAA definitively announcing as it did for Indianapolis in the men’s tournament, the entire 64-team women’s tournament will be held in the San Antonio region in Texas — the Alamodome had already been selected well in advance to be the site of the Women’s Final Four.

The affair will be conducted in somewhat, but not quite bubble mode, as the NBA and WNBA operated last summer, respectively, at Wide World of Disney Sports near Orlando, and the IMG Academy, near Tampa.

With the change of no longer regionals, the entire field will be seeded on a true S curve.

The tourney will begin March 21 and conclude April 2 and 4 with the Final Four.

Five sites will be used at the outset, including the Frank Erwin Center in Austin 80 miles to the north, though if Texas, which is likely, in the field, the Longhorns will not be in their own arena.

The Alamodome will be used every round with two courts in the building. As of now, no fans, execpt immediate families. Testing will be daily under strict compliance with local ordinances involving the virus.

The following weekend, after the opening rounds, the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight will be played and then the last weekend, Friday and Sunday for the national semifinals and final.

The Women’s Basketball Coaches Association already months ago cancelled their heavily attended convention. Teams will arrive March 16 and 17 and stay in hotels in the San Antonio or other areas of Bexar County.

Practice courts are being set for the downtown convention center, which would have housed the WBCA event, nine in all including the two in the Alamodome.

The men are also using similar tight protocols and traveling parties of 34 individuals will be tested daily, including already testing negative seven consecutive days prior to the arrival in Texas.

And that is the report for Friday.