Guru’s WBB Report: No. 3 Connecticut’s Fountain of Youth Douses Red Storm While Villanova and Temple Post Wins

By Mel Greenberg @womhoops

Villanova made it two straight in the Big East, beating Providence 67-53 in a matinee home game in Finneran Pavilion late Wednesday afternoon, while on the road, Temple’s Alexa Williamson scored a career-high 21 points, freshman Jasha Clinton collected 18, and Mia Davis scored 17 points, enabling her to reach the group of  top five points producer in Owls history as they won at Cincinnati 69-53 to gain a split in the series in the American Athletic Conference and move on to Saturday’s meeting with Wichita State in Kansas.

Connecticut, meanwhile, flooded the Huskies’ Big East attack with freshmen, including standout Paige Bueckers m with career highs to blunt St. John’s.

Back here in reaching their fourth triumph in five games, a 16-0 second quarter run and solid defense, especially in the fourth, soon after Mackenzie Gardler entered the game, did the trick for the Wildcats (11-3, 6-3 Big East).

All that compensated for a rare off day offensively from Maddy Siegriest, who finished with nine points, shooting 3-for-11 from the field and 0-for-4 from deep, but still grabbed seven rebounds. 

Not to worry, however. 

Sarah Mortensen scored 18 points, shooting 8-for-13 and making both three-pointers, while Lior Garzon scored 15, the bulk of the 20-2 lopsided bench scoring comparison, while Brianna Herlihy scored 10. 

Though Alyssa Geary had a game-high 22 points for Providence (5-8, 3-5) and Olivia Orlando grabbed 10 rebounds, Villanova was able to outscore the visitors, 17-4, in points off turnovers.

Off of some modification of retired coach Harry Perratta’s system of 42 years on the Main Line, the Wildcats are scoring just over 75 percent of assists on field goals.

“If we didn’t focus as much as we did on the defensive end it would have been a different story,” said first-year coach Denise Dillon, who  has returned to her alma mater following her 17-year success guiding Drexel in West Philadelphia.

“We had plenty of stretches where we were struggling offensively. When your top scorer is struggling, it could be a long night.”

Dillon was pleased the youthful part of her roster had a larger hand in the outcome.

“It was really big for the younger players to see what they’re capable of,” she said. “They played nice team basketball.”

On the move to Gardler, Dillon explained, “We needed some energy today. As I mentioned, it was a little stale. 

“I think Raven (James) played a nice game, she was contributing, six assists, only one turnover, but there was just something about how they were guarding us, I felt ‘Kenzie could give a little life on both ends on the floor and she did just that.

“Again we talk about that position by committee and they are stepping up to it. That was a real nice adjustment and again ‘Kenzie getting out on the floor. Really, it wasn’t for lack of effort. Some things just weren’t going our way.”

Villanova now goes on the road Saturday at 2 p.m. to try to complete a sweep of Creighton in Omaha, Neb., and then heads to Providence 1 p.m. Monday at Alumni Hall in Rhode Island to complete the series, making up a December postponed trip over coronavirus issues.’’

Dillon was asked whether the 4 p.m. weekday start might have contributed to the funk.

“Well, now that classes have resumed, it makes game day a little harder but hopefully we will soon be back on our normal rhythm,” she said.

Temple, meanwhile, continuing its long road trip, bounced off the back-to-back losses on the weekend in New Orleans at Tulane. That setup came to make up for a Green Wave trip to Philadelphia that was postponed in December over COVID-19 protocol issues on the part of Tulane.

“This certainly was a nice win,” said Temple veteran coach Tonya Cardoza. “When we lost to them in Philadelphia, we didn’t have ‘Lex for that game, and we need her usually as one to guard the other team’s better player or olayers.”

The Owls (6-7, 6-4 AAC) were 24-for-60 from the floor for 40 percent and 40 of the 60 points was also the number scoring points in the paint.

In the process of Davis reaching 1,702 points, she bypassed none other than WNBA All-Star Candice Dupree, currently with the Indiana Fever, who was at 1,689 and whose Temple number was retired three seasons ago. 

Against the Bearcats (3-10, 2-7), besides the 17 points, Davis also had eight rebounds to get to 906, just behind Dupree’s fourth place career total of 940.

“Mia is just a bucket,” Cardoza said. “Other teams keep trying to come up with different ways to stop her and she’s just going to keep getting better.”

Temple was leading the entire way when Cincinnati moved to a 42-42 tie and the Owls answered with two scores in the third quarter and regained control the rest of the way.

Williamson also had five rebounds, three steals, and blocked three shots, while Clinton had a career-high eight rebounds, five assists, and a steal.

Asonah Alexander had nine points, eight rebounds, four assists, and two blocks.

Temple finishes its travel to date, heading to Kansas, Saturday, looking for a sweep of Wichita State at 3 p.m. on ESPN+

No. 3 Connecticut  Rides Fountain of Youth to Douse Red Storm: At game time, Hall of  Fame coach Geno Auriemma learned junior  Christyn Williams, who turned her ankle, in a precautionary move, wasn’t good to go for the first time in  her  collegiate career since arriving from Little Rock, Ark. 

Neither was Aubrey Griffin shortly later in shape to play at the outset of two minutes after banging her knees in practice.

Well if you thought starting three freshmen for the first time since 1998, according to the UConn media bunch, or playing five at once, including recent early enrollee Saylor Poffenberger, who in a non-COVID-19 world would be finishing her high senior season, was a kind way to play the Big East visit from St. John’s in the Huskies’ Gampel Pavilion on the main campus in Storrs with a hand behind the back, the final 94-62 result tells it all. 

Of course the main rookie was Paige Bueckers, who on Tuesday became the first ever back-to-back national freshman of the week from the United States Basketball Writers Association in the four-year history of the award.

Trying for a three-peat, all Bueckers for UConn (12-1, 10-0 Big East) did was score a new career-high 32 points, eclipsing the recent 20 plus games against the ranked programs of  Arkansas and DePaul, a total best for a program frosh since Tina Charles of the WNBA Washington Mystics scored 34 in February, 2007.  The points were achieved on 13-for-20 from the field, including 5-of-6 from deep, and she also dealt seven assists.

Aaliyah Edwards, who’s been somewhat in Bueckers’ shadow, got into the career-high act with 22 points and nine rebounds, while Nika Muhl scored 11. Frosh Mir McLean and Autumn Chassion also scored to bring the group total to 75, allowing 19 for the elder class on the roster and even that bunch has a newcomer in Tennessee transfer Evina Westbrook.

“Anytime there’s an injury, it obviously opens up an opportunity for someone to step up and fill that void,” Auriemma explained. “In our case it’s freshmen.

“When the season started, four kids were freshmen and one kid was in high school,” Auriemma continued. “Now all five of them are here at UConn and they’re all playing at the same time, they looked like they knew what they were doing.

“Paige was their ringleader, and they seemed to have a little fun out there.”

For all that, the top performer on the floor was sophomore Leilani Correa, who got into the 30s in the loss at Villanova a week ago Monday and did likewise for St. John’s (5-10, 2-8), Wednesday, scoring 33, including 27 in the second half.

Of course, the number that mattered most to Auriemma came at the end when season game number 13 clocked in, a double digit that in collegiate football parlance off different parameters made UConn Bowl Eligible.

That’s the minimum requirement in dealing with stops, starts, pauses, postponements, and cancellations, allowing NCAA tourney eligibility, though enough loopholes exist through waivers and conference tourney counts that for the Huskies, or others with similar profiles, a way would be found.

In fact, one could envision Rutgers, which is at  No. 17 Indiana at 8 p.m. in Bloomington for a Big Ten game Thursday night, playing for the first time since Jan. 3, heading for that potential conversation after already missed seven games.

Auriemma had said Tuesday, cancelling the Big East tournament was acceptable in light of the virus-causing havoc, though media reporting up north said the conference athletic directors had green lit continued planning for the event next month at the Mohegan Sun. 

That’s the former site of the American Athletic Conference tourney, where when the Huskies were involved, everyone else got to play for second, the same collateral price the newer Big East crowd now pays while the American, with Temple still involved, will be  down in suburban Dallas as an open-ended affair, more so if South Florida can’t return to play.

“I had said earlier in the season it’s going to be real easy to pick the teams that are in the NCAA tournament this year. Just pick how many teams get to 13. We’re one of them. I hope they have us on the list,  Auriemma also quipped Wednesday night. 

Asked how much the bad rhythm of the season has contributed to the injuries,, Auriemma said, in part, “Maybe too many stops and goes, maybe too many, ‘not sure when our next game is.’ I don’t know. Maybe it’s just bad luck.”

The UConn schedule how begins to ramp up, first by competition and then by tight time spacing between games.

On Friday night the Huskies visit Marquette in Milwaukee and although the UConn local SNY telecast Wednesday kept referring to the match as “the battle for No.1,” the reality for all the decency of the Golden Eagles, this is the Big East version of  what became called The Phony War in Europe.

On this Monday night at 7, however, Dawn Staley’s South Carolina squad, matching immediate past and present USA Women’s Olympic coaches, will visit. 

Earlier in the day, when the next Associated Press women’s poll is released, the No.2 Gamecocks are likely to return to No. 1 for the first time since early in the season in the wake of Louisville, the current leader, being felled by No. 4 North Carolina State at home last Monday night.

It remains and unclear whether the Huskies, assuming a win at Marquette, moves a step higher or gets jumped over by the Wolfpack, if they win their next game Sunday against North Carolina.

West Virginia Tops Iowa State:  With No. 14 South Florida in continued pause, the only other game involving a ranked team had No. 21 West Virginia beating visiting Iowa State 65-56, a Big 12 matchup in Morgantown and ninth straight win for the Mountaineers (14-2, 8-2 Big 12), also an eighth straight conference win, the longest since a 10-game run seven seasons ago in 2014.

Kysre Gondrezick had 24 points, Madison Smith collected 15, and Kari Niblick scored 11, all for the Mountaineers, while Ashley Joens scored 17 and grabbed 7 rebounds for the Cyclones (11-7, 7-4) in WVU Coliseum.

“That was a tough game,” said WVU coach Mike Carry. “We had a lot of good shots. We just didn’t hit the shots. ... but overall, this was a good game for us.”

The Mountaineers next are at Texas at the Longhorns’ Frank Erwin Center Sat at 8 p.m. in Austin on ESPN’s Longhorn Network.

Texas will be returning home off Wednesday’s 69-58 win in the Big 12 at Oklahoma (6-8, 3-6 Big 12) at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman as Charli Collier put down 32 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, thus back in the nation’s lead in double doubles with 13. With 90 rebounds her last five games she has averaged 18.0 in that stretch for the Longhorns (13-4, 7-3 Big 12).

Madi Williams had 17 points for the host Sooners while Taylor Robertson scored 14, and Gabby Gregory scored 11 points.

“We really persevered tonight through some tough stretches,” said first-year Texas coach Vic Schaefer, previously with Mississippi State. “Our second half, holding them to 27 points, in the second half after giving up 35 in the first was really special. We were connected. Our chemistry was good. They only had six or seven available and we know what’s that like.”

Tennessee Pauses While Miss. St. Streak Endangered: No.18 Tennessee has gone into pause again due to a positive test at Tier-1 postponing SEC games Thursday with No. 24 Mississippi State and the already once rescheduled affair Sunday with No,. 7 Texas A&M.

The question poses among others does Mississippi State dodge a bullet or not.

By not playing the Lady Vols right now, the Bulldogs’ status as a deep underdog is removed.

But at No. 24, the 5th place current ranking streak in the AP poll at 125 weeks over six seasons is in jeopardy in that with that low spot should several unranked teams come up with upsets, the rush to get thrn ranked if the won-loss record is appropriate could get them dropped in the shuffle.

Meanwhile, besides Rutgers, the only other local on the card is also in the Big Ten on Thursday, Penn State on a two-game win streak is hosting Nebraska in the Bryce Jordan Center in State College. 

A lot of other ranked teams playing Thursday hight will result un another large report 24 hours from now.

But that’s this report.