Guru’s WBB Report: Rutgers Finishes Regular Season With Ninth Straight And Second Ranked Opponent

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

No. 24 Rutgers continued to make program history within the Big Ten, celebrating senior day Friday night and the end of a unforgettable regular season with a ninth-straight victory, topping No. 22 Ohio State 71-63 in the Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway, N.J., to claim the third seed in next week’s conference tournament in Indianapolis.

Emerging from a five-week shutdown due to COVID-19 protocols early last month, Rutgers (14-3, 10-3 Big Ten) has fashioned together their current run in all ways and against all sizes in making the Buckeyes (13-7, 9-7) the second victim with a ranking number. 

The third seed ties the Scarlet Knights’ best performance within the conference since leaving the old Big East, plus a one-season transitional showing in the American Athletic Conference at the start of 2014-15.

The honorees cited at home were Arella Guirantes, Tekia Mack, and Mael Gilles, who propelled Rutgers from the opening tip against a Buckeyes squad that had declared itself out of all postseason competition.

But there will be no doubt as to how Hall of Fame coach C. Vivian Stringer’s bunch would have performed had they not met by doing exactly that led by the upper class trio.

Guirantes had a double double with a game-high 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Mack scored 11 and added five rebounds from her while dealing four assists, and blocking two shots, and Gilles collected six points, five rebounds, and two assists and a pair of rejections.

Additionally, Tyia Singleton had 18 points and 13 rebounds, while getting a personal best six blocks as the entire team rejected 12 launches, its best on a Big Ten opponent.

Continuing to reduce high-scoring opponents, Rutgers took apart the Buckeyes’ 81.1 average by nearly 20 points.

However, Stringer’s group was not overly ecstatic afterwards.

“We didn’t play our best game today, so everybody’s not excited about that,” she said. “But even as we didn’t play our best game, that’s not a knock on Ohio State. There is an excitement about senior day and it is quite emotional. The mark those left on the program, even more than many others I’ve coached, was quite exceptional. They had to bring along seven freshmen and that’s tough because they were all systems, ready, go.

“And yet they were very patient, understanding, and wanted to teach. The things they said everyday and the task of keeping every little thing in check. Seniors are always special to us and certainly. But this group was different. The group was eight freshmen but they grew unto themselves and the upperclassmen taught them how to accept our standards.”

The official certification of the seed will come Saturday night with the release of the Big Ten bracket following completion earlier of the regular season, including No. 8 Maryland’s attempt to claim another outright title and tourney No. 1 seed when it hosts Penn State at 3 p.m. at the XFINITY Center in College Park, Md. on the Big Ten + Network.

Based on the projected finish that includes a double bye to the quarterfinals, the Scarlet Knights would play the fourth and final game of Thursday on the Fox Sports 2 network against the winner of the 6-11 seed matchup.

While the 9-0 run is the longest in the Big Ten, it matches part of a nine-game run in the old Big East that grew to 16-0 in 2005-06 and eventually an overall run mark of 24-0 into the elite eight of the NCAA tournament.

The 12-blocks as a team ties a 12 set of rejections in a Big Ten contest set in 2016 on Michigan.

Zipporah Broughton saw her first competition since Dec. 31 missing nine games since then.

It was the third straight win in the series with Ohio State, which got 19 points from Braxtin Miller and 15 from Jacy Sheldon.

“We played well, we played hard, which just didn’t quite execute at either end of the floor,” said Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff of the final game of the season. “We had some great opportunities. We missed a few shots around the basket. We missed some free throws. So we had some great opportunities. But faced a lot of adversity with COVID-19 and the postseason ban so I’m really proud of them fighting through all that.

“It’s a competitive group and they care for each other so it really says a lot about them as a group they’re willing to fight for each other.”

Drexel Takes Third Seed While Rider Drops to Seventh: Two other locals that did not play Friday and have been done with the regular season had their conference tournament seeding for next week affected by those that did.

UNCW coach Karen Barefoot guided her squad in the second of two back-to-back makeup games with Towson to an upset victory bringing the Tigers to a tie with Drexel. 

Going through enough tiebreakers like the stretch drive of an NFL season, by the time the smoke cleared, Towson fell from a two seed to four while Drexel moved up from four to three behind preseason favorite James Madison but in position to dodge top seed Delaware until the title game of the Colonial Athletic Association tourney at Elon in North Carolina.

“The best we did all year,” Drexel first-year coach Amy Mallon quipped about the days events after the CAA bracket was announced.

The CAA begins Wednesday with eighth-seeded Charleston meeting ninth-seeded UNCW at 2:30 p.m.

On Thursday, the first quarterfinal at 11 a.m. has No. 4 Towson meeting No. 5 Hofstra, followed at 2:30 p.m. with No. 1 Delaware meeting the Charleston-UNCWwinner. All numbers in this bracket are seeds, not rankings. No. 2 James Madison meets No. 7 Northeastern at 6 p.m., followed by No. 3 Drexel facing No. 6 Elon at 9:30 p.m.

Friday’s semifinals has the Delaware side facing the Towson side at 2:30 p.m. with the JMU side facing the Drexel side at 6 p.m.

Saturday’s championship will be at 5 p.m., with the entire tournament on the Flohoops streaming service.

Meanwhile, Iona’s win Friday bumped Rider, which had not played in two weeks from a 6 seed to 7 for the tourney next week returning to Atlantic City. 

The bracket has not been announced.

Cal Baptist and Bucknell Still Unbeaten: The Lancers almost got burned, narrowly beating host Seattle 66-64  to go 21-0 on the season and 13-0 in the Western Athletic Conference. Bucknell, which plays a quarterfinal Patriot League game Sunday, is 8-0 going against Loyola of Maryland.

If the Lancers win Saturday, they will be the first to run the regular season table since Mississippi State and Connecticut achieved the distinction in 2017-18. In the history of the regular season under the NCAA, which began sponsoring women’s events in 1981-82, a total of 23 teams had perfect records.

UConn has 10 of those 23 seasons.

A win Saturday makes Cal Baptist the first WAC member to claim an overall perfect record and the sixth to run the conference table. 

Conference Tourney Roundup:

Big East: First round play began at the Mohegan Sun in Ucasville, Conn., with three games, No. 8 St. John’s edged No. 9  Xavier 65-57; No. 7 Providence beat No. 10 Butler 63-61, and No. 6 seed Creighton beat No. 11 Georgetown, 56-42.

In the opener Friday, the Red Storm’s Leilani Correa had a game-high 20 points for St. John’s (8-14), while A’riana Gray had 18 points for Xavier (5-10). St. John’s Kadaja Bailey and Xavier’s Aaliyah Duerham each grabbed seven steals.

“What a tale of two halves,” said Xavier coach Melanie Mooere. “We felt at halftime we didn’t come out like we should.”

Meanwhile, in taking the win Red Storm coach Joe Tartamella said, “I thought we played a great effort basketball game and gave us a good enough cushion to kind of hold on. I thought we made the game a little more exciting than it had to be. “

In the second game, Providence (7-13) got 19 points and nine rebounds from Alyssa Geary, while Mary Baskerville got 10 points, and Kyra Spiwak scored 11.

Okako Adika had 17 points and 10n rebounds for Butler (3-17), while Upe Atosu scored 11,

“We had a rough second quarter with some foul situations, as well as missed some good look. And then Butler bumped it back up to start the third quarter,” Providence coach Jim Crowley said. “But our kids, I think their voices were really strong.”

In the final game of the day, Temi Carda scored 26 for Creighton (8-10) including a near-perfect 11-12 at the line. Carly Bachelor added 13 points and Emma Ronsiek grabbed 12 rebounds.

Georgetown (2-15) got 11 points from reserve Shanniah Wright, while Jillian Archer and Kelsey Ransom each scored 10 points.

“We knew it was going to be difficult to score,” Georgetown coach Jim Flannery said. “We had two low-scoring games — one kind of low scoring and one super low scoring game against Georgetown. We know it’s tough to score.

“I think the difference was we did a better job getting to the free-throw line. We attacked a little more off the dribble and off the cut.

“Temi was outstanding, I thought. We had some younger players I thought were a little nervous, first time in a conference tournament. But I thought she was rock solid like she has been all year.”

Atlantic Coast Conference: No. 5 Louisville, the No. 1 seed in the conference, took the floor in Greensboro in North Carolina and downed ninth-seeded Wake Forest 65-53 in the quarterfinal opener as the Cardinals (22-2) got 24 points from Hailey Van Lilth, a freshman. Dana Evans, the ACC player of the year, scored just eight points, but also dealt eight assists.

Ivana Raca scored 13 for the Deacons (12-12) while Christina Morra scored 11, and Jewel Spear scored 12 for the Deacons (12-12).

Van Lith was on fire from outside making 6-for-10 from deep.

“I was expecting this for sure,” said Louisville coach Jeff Walz. “Jen (Hoover) has done a great job with that group. I said it a few weeks ago, they are, without a doubt, an NCAA tournament team, and I think it’s a team that’s going to win some games in the tournament.

“I was really pleased. Had some kids step up, and that’s what you’ve got to do in March. Hailey played really, really well for us. She’s been really grinding day in and day out, and I was excited thar she was able to get her feet set and knock down some shots.”

In a real barn burner, fifth-seeded Syracuse edged fourth-seeded Florida State 68-67 as freshman Kamilla Cardoso grabbed an airball and slipped in a follow shot as the game ended to send the Orange (14-7) into the semifinals.

Syracuse recovered from a 15-point deficit in the first half.

Cardoso had a double double of 16 points and 13 rebounds, while Bianca Jackson had 25 points for the Seminoles (10-8).

Syracuse’s Tiana Mangakahia missed another game with a lower body injury.

“What do you day,” reacted Syracuse coach Quentin Hillsman. “Just toughness by our team. Same result, different day. “Our kids just came our and played really hard.”

In another game in which No. 3 and second-seeded North Carolina State topped seventh-seeded Virginia Tech 68-55, the Wolfpack (18-2) had it easier than a narrow rally win and four days later upset loss in overtime to the Hokies (14-9), as Elissa Cunane scored 27 points for the winning side.          

Elizabeth Kitley had 20 points and nine rebounds, while freshman Georgia Amoore had 12 points for the Hokies.

“I always worry about this first game,” N.C. State’s Wes Mere said.  “So I thought it was important to get off to a pretty good start, had a lead at halftime. Elissa Cunane, obviously makes a big difference, so having her in this game, obviously was really, really a big part of it.”

In the remaining game, third-seeded Georgia Tech edged 11th-seeded Clemson 60-57, though the issue wasn’t decided until a potential 3-point game-tying shot from freshman Weronika Hipp bounced off the rim just as time expired on the Tigers (11-13) attempted rally.

Kierra Fletcher scored 21 for Georgia Tech (15-7), while Lorela Cubaj grabbed 18 rebounds.

Freshman Loyal McQueen added 14 points to the Yellow Jackets’ cause.

“It wasn’t a pretty game, offensively, but boy we scored there at the end when we had to,” said Georgia Tech coach Nell Fortner. “I thought we made some really tough plays.”

PAC-12: The clock struck midnight on fifth-seeded Oregon State’s tournament run in the semifinals, triggered by fourth-ranked and top-seeded Stanford’s 79-45 rout and advance into Sunday’s title game for the 18th time. The Cardinal (24-2)  got a career-high 24 points and 11 rebounds from Cameron Brink, a freshman who shot 9-of-13 from the floor.

“I liked how aggressive she was,” said Hall of Fame Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer, whose Division I women’s record win total went up one more to 1,118 ahead of UConn’s Geno Auriemma, who is at 1,112 and on Saturday leads his top-ranked and No. 1 seed Huskies into the quarterfinals of the Big East tourney. 

“She brings great emotion. What wasn’t to like? It was very exciting to see her step up on the big stage and play so well.”

Kiana Williams scored 20 points, while Lexi Hull scored 12, and Hannah Jump scored 10.

Aleah Goodman had 12 points, while Taylor Jones grabbed 13 rebounds for Oregon State (11-7).

“It was obviously a tough game, but you’ve got to take what you’re handed., so we can’t use those circumstances as an excuse.”

Oregon State had played three games in three days.

“Stanford played a full 40 minutes. And we didn’t” 

Added Oregon State coach Scott Rueck, “Tonight they made us pay for everything. And I don’t know if fatigue caught up, or what, but obviously it wasn’t a great shooting night for us even when we did get good looks, and you know all those turned into transition points for them.”

No. 9  and third-seeded UCLA, which handed Stanford it’s second of the two-game losing streak in late January, will also be in the title game after eliminating No. 11 and second-seeded Arizona 58-49 in the conference tourney in Las Vegas.

It’s the 12th time the Bruins (16-4) advanced that far.

Michaela Onyenwere, the only UCLA player to score in 24 hours, collected 24 points.

The Wildcats (16-5) got 24 from Aari McDonald.

“I think we’ve proven we are a team to beat,” Onyenwere said. “Obviously Stanford is having a great year. We were able to get a win.”

“It was was extremely physical. Relentless. I’m sure as an official it was a difficult game to call,” said UCLA coach Cori Close. “But we new Arizona was going to be a great defensive team. They have great length, physicality. I thought both teams were great defensively. I’m just really proud of our team’s ability to stay really steady.”

SEC: Like Friday, Mike Siroky has the in-depth stuff being posted after this. But for the record, No. 2 ranked and top-seeded Texas A&M beat LSU 77-58, a second time this season after the Tigers handed the Aggies their only loss and home loss on the season.

No. 7 ranked and second-seeded South Carolina beat Alabama 75-63 while No. 16 Georgia beat No. 17 Kentucky 78-66, and No. 14 Tennessee barely edged Mississippi 77-72.

Looking Ahead: We’ve referenced the non-tournament and local teams so the rest of it is conference tourney action, let’s look:

ACC: It’s semifinals in Greensboro, N.C. At the Greensboro Coliseum. No. 5 Louisville and high seed Syracuse meet at noon on the ACC network before No. 3 and second-seeded North Carolina State and No. 3 seed Georgia Tech meet at 2:30 .m. On the ACC network.

Big East: It’s the quarterfinals at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., and new/old member UConn meets Saint John’s in Queens at noon, followed by Villanova and No. 25 DePaul at 3 p.m.; No. 3 seed Seton Hall and Creighton at 9 p.m., and No. 2 Marquette and Providence at 6 p.m. FS1 has the UConn game and the other three are all on FS2.

The PAC-12 is off ahead of the title game scheduled on Sunday.

SEC:No 2 Texas A&M in one semifinal meets No. 16 Georgia at 4 p.m. on ESPNU while No. 14 Tennessee and No. 7 and second-seeded South Carolina meet at 6:30 p.m. on ESPNU also.

And that’s report.