The Guru Local Report: Temple Takes Big Five Thriller at Villanova And Throws Race Wide Open

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

VILLANOVA, Pa. — Just less than a week after Temple suffered a disappointing loss at home to Ivy favorite Princeton, the Owls snapped back and turned the Big Five race into a wide-open affair, rallying from an early deficit Saturday afternoon and eventually moving in front of host Villanova for a 68-62 victory at the Wildcats’ Finneran Pavilion.

The triumph gave Temple an improved overall mark of 3-3 and 1-0 in the City Series competition in the Owls’ opener while Villanova dropped to 2-3 and 2-1 in the Big Five which just La Salle left on the Wildcats’ local schedule.

“What a game,” beamed Temple coach Tonya Cardoza. “That was really exciting. We knew coming in here it was important for us to really play well on the defensive side because how they run their offense and how they can make us look bad on the defensive end.

“But I felt we really did a good job of staying focused and, yes, we made some mistakes but we didn’t get down on ourselves like we had in the past. We stayed in the moment and let those things, we let it go.

“And that is what we talked about before the game, like not getting hung up on things that happened in the past but staying focused in the moment. And we had guys step up and we made shots today,” Cardoza said. “That’s the big thing. We had to make shots on the inside and Mia (Davis) knocking down shots from the perimeter. Obviously that gave us that extra boost on the defensive side.

“Down the stretch it got a little crazy. We go up nine and ended up being down six but in the past I felt we would have lost the game by twenty but we actually stayed within the moment and withstood that run and closed out.”

Davis scored 10 points but along the way moved past Alliya Butts (2014-19) into second place all time with her fourth point and now has 1,943 behind Temple all-American great Marilyn Stephens, the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Famer (1980-84), who leads the program with 2,194. Playing in her extra fifth season allowed by the NCAA in this pandemic era, Davis needs 252 points to become the new leader by averaging 10.5 points across the remaining 24 games on the regular season schedule.

If she hadn’t done that by then, there’s a chance to complete the differential in the American Athletic Association tournament in March and perhaps a few more in NCAA or WNIT participation.

Freshman Aniya Gourdine, out of Baltimore, off the bench lead Temple with 17 points, shooting 5-of-6 from the field, including 2-of-3 from deep, and 5-of-6 from the line.

Alexa Williamson was .500 from the field, shooting 6-of-12 for 16 points, while Jasha Clinton scored 11.

Though Maddy Siegrist continues to be sidelined with a hand injury, Lior Garzon had her third straight offensive explosion, this time scoring 22, while Brianna Herlihy scored 14 and was a trio of Wildcats each grabbing seven rebounds along with sophomore Bella Runyun and reserve Anahi-Lee Cauley. 

Runyan, shooting 6-of-7 from the field, also scored 13 points.

“We just needed more movement,” Cardoza said of ways to overcome the focus on defending Davis. “And guys were stepping up and made shots. We just let the ball go wherever it needed to go.”

Villanova jumped to an 8-0 lead from the outset until Temple began to regroup and by the end of the first quarter was within range Gourdine fired a three-ball at the buzzer.

“I just felt we all stuck together. There was never a time when we got down on ourselves,” Williamson said.

It was a one-point lead to the Wildcats and then tied after three, though the Owls had bolted to a nine-point advantage during the period.

Runyan’s shot with 8:09 left in regulation spurred Villanova to a six-point lead but the Owls then rallied again and Williamson’s two foul shots tied it at 58-58 with 4:12 left as the game had taken on the essence of a local City Series war.

Gourdine’s shot with 2:42 left put Temple in front but Cauley brought the home team back to another tie at 60-60 with 1:39 left.

Gourdine answered for Temple from outside the paint on a pull up jumper with 1:24 left.

Williamson blocked an attempted tie with 24 seconds left, then Herlihy fouled Davis, who made both free throws for a four-point lead with 14 seconds left.

Cauley then missed a layup for Villanova, grabbed her own offensive rebound, then missed a second chance and Gourdine grabbed a defensive rebound and went to the line and clinched it on Cauley’s foul.

Getting back on track in general was Temple’s goal, but Cardoza knew a ‘Cats win would put Villanova in the driver’s seat for local honors.

“I feel like we’re a good team,” Cardoza said. “In the summer we were this awesome team, we worked extremely hard, and then something happened. We’re just trying to get that back and have fun, enjoying … paying attention a little more and focusing on the defensive side.”

Comparing Saturday to a year ago when Temple was run out of its McGonigle Hall in the Owls’ delayed season opener by Villanova, Cardoza said of signs of progress, “We were more locked in defensively. When we did the way we were supposed to, it worked well. When we didn’t they got wide open shots. We stressed, `follow the game plan. Follow the game plan. Defend the way we’re talking about.

“‘Yes, they may get open shots but the shots we want them to take, not the shots they wanted to take.’”

Cardoza explained how they imparted her players what she had said to the media after the Princeton loss about needing to get in the gym.

“We showed them the stat sheet. It doesn’t lie. When the stat sheet says, `you’re shooting 10 percent, you need to get in the gym.’ I think they want to do it, but it was, like, `Yes here it is in print. I’m talking about it but stats don’t lie. See what it is we’re talking about it and hopefully you’re embarrassed by it and want to do something different. If you put in the work, eventually you’re going to make shots.”

Cardoza tried to keep the pressure off in terms of the needs to win Saturday to become a Big Five contender but understood the stakes going into the game.

“We already knew coming in here, they already played two Big Five games. If we don’t win this game, there’s no chance of us winning the Big Five. So this was really, really important. I didn’t say that to them because I don’t want to put that stress on them, but I’m looking at it like if we don’t win this game, we can’t win the Big Five so we have to come here and focus and get this one to give ourselves a chance because they had the lead of 2-0,” Cardoza said.

“We talked about it yesterday but I didn’t tell them we had to win, I didn’t say that part. We want to win the Big Five. It’s important to us to get that. We want it outright. We want to win so today was a good step in that direction.”

As for the ‘Nova side of things, coach Denise Dillon said, “We knew we were in store for a battle. Obviously disappointed with the loss. I felt Temple stuck with their game plan and what they wanted to do on the defensive end, obviously take us out of our rhythm. And it worked in their favor for the duration of the game. It’s a learning experience for our young group and continue to move forward.”

She noted the lack of killer instinct with her youthful group.

“I’ve watched Temple, that’s kind of their thing going with the highs and lows. And they just have enough weapons this year and score power to make up for some of those deficits. They can score quickly. But I would say more so down the stretch when we had the lead. That’s what we’re lacking on the floor in terms of leadership,” Dillon said.

“We need everybody. It’s not just one-man basketball. We do recognize when everyone is engaged and ready to go, good things can happen for us. Now, the question is, can we sustain that?”

Dillon credited Runyon in her second season and developing.

“When a player comes in and wants a little bit more, it’s only great things.”

Temple moves on to travel to Villanova’s Big East traveling partner Georgetown Tuesday at 5 p.m. at McDonough Arena in Washington, D.C.

The Wildcats host Lehigh on Wednesday at at 7 p.m. and then hit the road next weekend to begin conference play, visiting Providence on Friday and Creighton in the Midwest on Sunday.

By virtue of the conference package, all four games will be on the Flohoops streaming service.

Delaware Keeps Rolling: The Blue Hens completed a two-day sweep of predetermined opponents, downing Chicago State 72-63 at the FIU Thanksgiving Classic at the Ocean Bank Convocation Center in Miami as the win streak for Delaware (6-1) reached five games.

“Our goal when we left Newark was to win two games,” Blue Hens coach Natasha Adair said. “And we talked to the players about defending, rebounding, making sure we were able to limit their paint points.

“Chicago State (1-6) is another opponent and I am thankful for the competition that we’ve had in this tournament because it will continue to prepare us for what we need to do in conference play.”

The opposition kept the Blue Hens in check every time they threatened to break the game open, but Delaware used a 12-5 run at the finish to gain the win.

Jasmine Dickey, the reigning Colonial Athletic Association player of the year and preseason pick, followed up her program second-best mark of 48 points in the opener by scoring 23 and grabbing 10 rebounds. Ty Skinner scored 20, while Ty Battle had her fifth double double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Chicago State’s Aaliyah Collins scored 19.

Delaware stays on the road for the next one, traveling to Columbia in New York on Thursday to face the Lions of the Ivy League at 7 p.m. in Levien Gym. The game will air on ESPN+.

Drexel Takes Third Beating Fresno State: The Dragons bounced back from their opening night loss to Nebraska to beat Fresno State 63-46 in the Dana on Mission Bay Holiday Tournament hosted by San Diego on the West Coast as Tessa Brugler shook off first-half foul trouble to finish with 13 points and 14 rebounds.

Hannah Nihill scored 15 for Drexel, moving into sixth on the all-time list off three assists to reach 386 career helpers. Keishana Washington scored 13 and dealt seven assists.

“Today I think was a great example of people being ready on the bench,” second-year coach Amy Mallon said. “They came in, especially Bri Borcky and Jasmine Valentine did such a nice job when Tessa got into foul trouble.

“That’s what you expect when you’re ready to play a game.”

The Dragons will be back in the Daskalakis Athletic Center Tuesday night at 7 to host Dartmouth of the Ivy League.

Nebraska, who beat Drexel in Friday’s opener, won the tournament, beating San Diego 64-56 at Jenny Craig Pavilion as Jazz Shelly scored 16 points for the Huskers (7-0) of the Big Ten and the Toreros of the West Coast Conference fell to 4-2.

Padilla Sets Record in Penn Overtime Loss to Memphis: The good news for the Quakers in their predetermined opponent game with Memphis in the Loyola Marymount Thanksgiving Classic in Los Angeles was the play of junior Kayla Padilla, who set a career high 36 points on 13-for-26 from the field, the 10th best performance in program history behind the 42 up front scored by Diana Caramanico in 2001 against Albany.

The bad news was a game Penn held a slight lead on the Tigers throughout got away down the stretch  and the Quakers (4-2) fell in overtime, enabling Memphis (6-1) to emerge with a 73-68 victory, causing a split in their weekend West Coast trip.

Padilla’s night was aided by a program-record three-pointers. The previous mark was seven, set four times, most recently by Phoebe Sterba at Brown in 2019. She also had five assists, four rebounds, and a steal while playing all 45 minutes.

Jordan Obi had another fine effort with 12 points and blocked three shots.

Silke Milliman set career marks in her junior season with 11 rebounds and four points.

Padilla’s eighth three-ball to set the mark gave Penn a 60-59 lead with 16 seconds left in regulation.

But the Quakers were hit with a foul with one second left and Memphis tied it to force overtime on 1-for-2 from the line.

The Tigers then took control over the extra five minutes.

Penn returns to the Big Five wars Tuesday night in the Palestra hosting La Salle at 7 p.m.

Lehigh Routs Rider in Tournament Opener: The Mountain Hawks made the most of bringing back their Christmas City Classic at Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa., for the first time in two seasons, blasting Rider 69-44 in the opener, while Missouri of the Southeastern Conference beat Columbia of the Ivy League, 87-80.

Lehigh will meet Missouri at noon on ESPN+ while Rider and Columbia will play at 2:30 p.m.

In the win by the Mountain Hawks (5-1), Mackenzie Kramer scored 21 points, while Megan Walker scored 12, and Frannie Hottinger scored 10 and grabbed seven rebounds. 

Lehigh of the Patriot League has made it to the title game of its own tourney 14 times of the last 15 dating back to 2004.

The third period was fatal to the Broncs in which the home team outscored them 28-11 and kept the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference reps from success on the perimeter holding them to 11.1 percent from deep for the game.

“We didn’t make a lot of shots (in the first quarter), honestly, Lehigh coach Sue Troyan said. “We were especially struggling in the second. In the second half, we got a little more patient in terms of working the ball inside and outside and got a little more into the flow of our offense. It turned into a really successful third and fourth quarter for us. 

“Kenzie played really well today and I’ll give our guards and post players a lot of credit for finding her.” 

Rider (0-4), still looking for its first victory, was competitive in the first half, trailing 30-23 at the break before Lehigh erupted the rest of the way.

Raphaela Toussaint had a double double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Lenaejha Evans scored 12, and Amanda Mobley scored 10.

“If we just made some more shots in the first half, it would have been a little bit different,” Rider coach Lynn Milligan said. “Offensively, particularly in the first, second, and most of the fourth quarter, we ran our offense pretty well and got wide open looks.

“I wasn’t disappointed with the looks we got today at all, we just didn’t make them.

“It’s going to take a little time, but it’s continuing to grow every single day. We have confidence in our process, and we just need to keep doing what we’re doing.”

In the other game, Columbia’s rally in the second half fell just short after trailing by 13 points at the half.

Missouri stayed unbeaten at 6-0 with the win while the Lions (5-2) dropped their second straight.

Columbia still had a chance, trailing 79-77 under the two minute mark and then the Tigers cut the rally.

“This team has a lot of fight and they really battle hard,” Columbia coach Megan Griffith said. “It was just unfortunate that we put ourselves in that position going into the second half.”

Hayley Frank scored 29 for Missouri, while Haley Troup scored 20, and LaDazhia Williams scored 15.

Abbey Hsu scored 17 for Columbia.

Saint Joseph’s Slump Continues: The Hawks fell short in the their second of three days of predetermined opponents in the Van Chancellor Classic in the Houston suburb of Katy, losing 51-48 to Stetson.

Olivia Mullins had a career high 11 points for Saint Joseph’s (1-5), which dropped their fifth straight. Alayna Gribble and Mackenzie Smith each scored nine.

The Hatters (4-2) outscored the Hawks in the paint 22-10 while being led by Yazz Wazeerud-Din with 18 points, while Ayanna Dublin scored 10.

Coach Cindy Griffin’s squad completes the Texas visit playing Ball State Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

Other results on Saturday saw Old Dominion top Texas Tech 59-45, Western Athletic Conference contender Stephen F. Austin top Ball State 87-66, and New Mexico top Louisiana Monroe 66-45.

The other games wrapping the three-day competition on Sunday have Old Dominion meeting Stetson at noon; Texas Tech meeting New Mexico at 5 p.m.; and Stephen F. Austin meeting Louisiana Monroe at 7:30 p.m.

La Salle Handled by Kentucky: The No. 20 Wildcats took an early lead and the visiting Explorers couldn’t score in the fourth all which lead the home team to beat La Salle 74-52 in a weekend visit to Lexington to play one of the Southeastern Conference powers.

Coach Mountain MacGillivray guided his troops to within nine after three quarters but Kentucky (4-1) used an 18-5 final period to secure the win.

Amy Jacobs was the soul player in double figures for La Salle (3-3) with 10 points in the first meeting between the two schools.

Dre’una Edwards scored 22 and grabbed 11 rebounds for Kentucky, while Rhyne Howard had 16, Robyn Benton scored 17, and Jada Walker scored 12.

The Explorers make their Big Five debut Tuesday visiting Penn at 7 p.m. at The Palestra and now besides Temple are the only two teams who mathematically are still alive to win the City Series round robin with a 4-0 sweep.

Rutgers Scoring Futility Results in Loss to No. 9 Arizona: While the Scarlet Knights’ women’s soccer team at home Friday night advanced to their second NCAA Final Four, things down in the tropics continued to be not so well for the women’s basketball bunch, who completed a three-day winless trip to the Paradise Jam at the University of the Virgin Islands in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, losing to No. 9 Arizona 80-44.

Osh Brown had nine points and five rebounds for Rutgers (4-4), which failed to have anyone score in double figures. Shug Dickson scored eight.

Unlike recent games, there was no slice an 18-point deficit in this one in which the Knights committed 30 turnovers, though they did score 20 in the final period.

The NCAA runners up claimed near first-quarter shutout leading 12-2 before the Wildcats erupted in the next 34-6 to go on and stay unbeaten at 9-0 and likely to rise higher in the next Associated Press women’s poll in the wake of setbacks above them.

Arizona is 3-0 in the series, though the last win occurred in 1999 and the previous one in 1988.

Cate Reese had 16 points for the Wildcats, while Gisela Sanchez scored 15, and Aaronette Vonleh scored 12.

“It was a great tournament for us,” said Rutgers acting coach Timothy Eatman, filling in this season, while Hall of Fame coach C. Vivian Stringer chose to step away to limit attracting the coronavirus. “We found out a lot about our team.

“Now we know what we got to do. We have to go back home and work on those things.

“But it was a great tournament for us. We played a team that presses in every possession - DePaul. We played a team that plays a zone in Vanderbilt. Then played an Arizona team that played a tough, tenacious half court defense.

“All those things we are going to have in the Big Ten,” Eatman said. “So now we have footage to show our players how to execute. I saw a group of players when I talked to them in the locker room, they’re hungry for it. And if they’re hungry for it, they can get it.”

Rutgers next heads to the Big Ten/Atlantic Coast Conference Challenge on Wednesday, playing its first true road game of this season when the Knights visit Pittsburgh for a 6 p.m. tipoff. 

The Panthers, who on Friday beat Northwestern at the Paradise Jam, fell in overtime to South Dakota 72-61 after Liatu King scored on a putback for them in regulation to force the extra period.

Other results from the final day of competition saw in a meeting of two long-time coaching colleagues, No. 23 Texas A&M topped Northwestern 77-68 to extend the Aggies’ unbeaten start at 7-0.

A&M is coached by Women’s Hall of Famer Gary Blair, who will retire at the end of the season, while Northwestern  is led by Joe McKeown, a Father Judge grad who grew up in Northeast Philadelphia.

The Aggies are on a 23-game win streak against regular-season non-conference foes dating to Dec. 1, 2019.

Jordan Nixon, who scored 25 points, was MVP of the Reef Tournament grouping at the Jam. She made all six three-point attempts against the Wildcats of the Midwest.

“Our kids again responded to adversity,” Blair said. “Jordan got two fouls early and everyone picked up the slack. Give Northwestern a lot of credit. 

“The key to the ball game was Sarah (Jones) and (Qadashah) Hoppie’s defense. They did a great job on Veronica Burton who went 4-for-14. Very proud of our basketball team. We had to adjust every single game because we were facing good teams.

Burton still scored 18 for Northwestern (4-3) helped by 9-for-10 from the line.

DePaul took the other game, dominating Vanderbilt 91-74 as Sonya Morris had a career-high 36 points for the Blue Demons (5-2) and Aneesah Morrow had 28 and 15 rebounds against the Commodores (4-3).

Jordyn Cambridge topped Vanderbilt with 17 points.

Penn State Drops Semfinal Game to No. 13 Iowa State: The Lady Lions ran into a team worthy of its nickname, losing to the Cyclones of the Big 12 93-59 to fall to 4-2 while Iowa State is still unbeaten at 7-0 in a Gulf Coast Showcase semifinal in Estero, Fla. 

Makenna Marisa scored 11 and Ali Brigham scored 10 for Penn State, which will play the third place game Sunday against Kent State at 5 p.m. on FloHoops.

Aubrey Joens scored 21 and grabbed 11 rebounds for Iowa State while Ashley Joens and Beatriz Jordao each scored 13, and Lexi Donarski added 12.

The Cyclones came roaring out of the gate, taking a 24-10 lead after the opening quarter.

They will play the championship Sunday at 7:30 p.m. against UMass, which downed Kent State 72-64 at Hertz Arena, to extend the Minutewomen’s start to 7-0.

Destiny Philoxy led the winners with 21 points, while Sam Breen scored 17, and Sydney Taylor scored 16.

In the other games in the consolation semifinals, Charlotte beat St. John’s 82-64 sending the Red Storm (3-3) into Sunday’s 11 a.m. game for 7th against No. 19 UCLA (3-2) which fell 76-66 to South Dakota State (3-4), which will play Charlotte for 5th at 1:30 p.m.

The only one of the Guru’s 11 local D-1 squad that didn’t play Saturday is Princeton, which in a single game Sunday will host Maine of the America East at 1 p.m. in Jadwin Gym.

And that is the local roundup.