The Guru Report: No. 1 South Carolina and No. 2 UConn Reach Battle 4 Atlantis Title Game Causing Second Ever Delay in AP Poll Release

Today’s report drawn on wire and school reports spiced with Guru knowledge

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

On Sunday afternoon the organizers of the inaugural Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis on Paradise Island in the Bahamas got what they wanted when No.1 South Carolina blasted shorthanded No. 9 Oregon 78-49 while No. 2 UConn outlasted No. 23 South Florida 60-53 in the semifinals setting up an early showdown and for the second time in the 46-year history of the Associated Press weekly women’s poll a one day delayed release to timely reflect the outcome of the ESPN telecast at noon Monday.

The first time, with the decision proving right, occurred in January 1995 when UConn, then No. 2, hosted top-ranked Tennessee in their first-ever meeting and pulled the upset that sent the Huskies to No.1 where they remained and finished unbeaten, topping the Lady Vols in their second meeting in the NCAA title game in Minneapolis.

This year’s newly-expanded 68-team field will also lead to the Final Four in Minneapolis.

When the delay occurred in 1995 so the outcome would be in synch with the voting no other games of significance were played that day. 

On Monday, No. 13 Michigan will play, while in the Bahamas, Oregon and South Florida will play for third.

The 1-2 matchup will be the poll’s 61st, ironically repeating the last confrontation when UConn, then No. 2, upset the No. 1 Gamecocks in overtime st home last February in Storrs.

“Due to the timing of this 1 versus-2 matchup it made sense to hold the release of the poll this week," said Barry Bedlan, AP's Global Director of Text and New Markets Products.

The No. 1 team is 37-23 in these matches but Connecticut is 22-3 out of the 25 the Huskies have played in this games.

Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma recalled to AP that first one on Jan. 16, 1995, his Huskies were involved.

"It's fun for the fans, the players, everybody," he said.

After finishing the deal, beating Oregon, Gamecocks Hall of Fame coach Dawn Staley said, “We’re excited. We chose to play in this tournament because we got an opportunity to play top teams in the country.

“That’s been our theme all season long, so why not? UConn has always been on our schedule the last couple years and still are on our schedule. It’s great for women’s basketball.”

Bueckers  and Fudd Lead UConn Over South Florida

The Huskies (3-0)  got the day started in the tropics in a competitive match, even falling behind to the No. 23 Bulls (3-2) but prevailed.

Sophomore Paige Bueckers, the consensus national player of the year as a rookie and held to single digits by Minnesota in the opening round, scored 21 but the focus was freshman Azzi Fudd’s coming out party scoring 18 points shooting 6-for-9 from beyond the arc.

“If God ever gave anybody a better shooting stroke in the world, I don’t know who it is,” Auriemma said.

As for the challenge from USF, he observed, “lf  we wanted to play teams where we never got challenged, where we never got smacked, never had to come back, find out a little bit about ourselves during a timeout, then there’s no point in being here. So we got exactly what we wanted< that game, exactly what we round

“This is (South Florida coach) Jose’s (Fernandez) best team since he’s been at South Florida.  They’re going to win a lot of games. That’s a better win than people are going to give it credit for. 

“I was really proud of our guys, especially the way we came out after the time out and they took the lead.”

South Carolina Handles Oregon

The Gamecocks (5-0) added another Top 10 opponent to their collection after previously opening at NC State with a win as Zia Cooke scored 20, Laeticia Amihere scored 18, and Aliyah Boston scored 16 to complete the 1-2 showdown coming Monday at noon on ESPN.

Chanaya Pinto scored 12 for Oregon (3-1), which suffered its first loss a day after Kelly Graves gained his 600th victory combined with the Ducks and previously Gonzaga.

Oregon had another sidelined player with Nayara  Sabally resting after tweaking her knee in the opening round when she had a career high 30 points. She is considered day to day.

“I don’t mess with trainers and doctors,” Graves said. “If she can go, she can go. We were fortunate to get her yesterday.

In the consolation round, Minnesota topped Syracuse, 70-63, and Oklahoma beat Buffalo, 93-72.

In the Minnesota game. Kadi Sissoko had 23 points and 13 rebounds for the Gophers (4-2) against her former team, while Sara Scalia added five more threes to the five against UConn and finished with 17 points.

Deja Winters added 16 points against the Orange (2-3), which got 18 points from Chrislyn Carr, and 16 from Christianna Carr.

In Oklahoma’s win, the Sooners (4-1) got 27 points from Taylor Robertson, courtesy of nine 3-balls against the Bulls of Buffalo (1-2), which got 26 points and 12 rebounds from Summer Hemphill and 12 points and 13 rebounds from Adebola Adeyeye.

Hemphill aleo scored her 1000th career point.

In consolation games following the championship Oregon and South Florida will meet at 2:30 p.m. for third on ESPNU, Oklahoma and Minnesota will play for fifth at 5 p.m., and Buffalo and Syracuse will play for seventh at 7:30 p.m.

Upsets and Near Upsets: No. 16 Tennessee Rallies Over No. 12 Texas in Overtime While No. 7 Stanford and No. 3 Maryland Pull Narrow Escape

After recently pulling a stunning upset at then-No. 3 Stanford, the defending national champion, No. 12 Texas got caught the other at No. 16 Tennessee in Knoxville, seeing a 12-point lead in the third quarter die on a slew of miss shots the rest of the way and ultimately succumbing to a 74-70 loss in overtime.

The home team (4-0) tied a program-record with 15 blocked shots in the game, which has been a regular non-conference matchup over the decades.

Tamari Key produced the fifth triple double in Tennessee history with 10 points, 18 rebounds, and 10 blocked shots. The rebounds are second best in the annals of the Lady Vols .

Furthermore, with two triple doubles, Key is the sole Lady Vol to have multi-performances.

“I thought she was the difference in the game,” said Texas coach Vic Schaefer, and it was not with her scoring. I thought she controlled the game, defensively. I thought she commanded and had a presence in the paint, and that it was makes her so special.”

Jordan Horston, who engineered the Tennessee rally, had a career-high 26 points and also had a personal best 15 rebounds.

Alexus Dye, with key foul shots in crunch time, finished with 13 points, while graduate guard Jordan Walker also scored 13.

In helping to bring the program back to its loftier heights, alumna coach Kellie Harper in her three seasons has seven Top 25 wins, including six last season.

“Obviously, it’s a big win for our program and showed a lot of guts by our team, and they’re excited about how we were able to pull it out,” Harper said. “Can’t say enough  that it was pretty, but you can definitely say it’s gutsy. We had some people step up and make some big plays when we had to make them.

“I’ll be honest with you, I don’t know if we win this game if we hadn’t already faced some close games down the stretch. You learn from it.

“Our defense got tight down the stretch, and we’re able to come out of here with a good one.” Right now Tamari is playing with a toughness that’s different.”

Overall, Tennessee dominated the boards 56-41 on the ‘Horns (3-1), who suffered their first loss.

Tennessee made 13 free throws in the final quarter of regulation.

The Lady Vols also honored fabled alum Tamika Catchings, part of the delayed Naismith Hall of Fame last Spring, who is now a front office exec with the WNBA Indiana franchise she starred for over a decade.

Aliyah Matharu had 27 points for Texas, Joanne Allen-Taylor scored 11, and Rori Harmon scored 10 and dealt 11 assists.

In the other upset among ranked teams, unranked Auburn won at No. 18 Georgia Tech 59-51 in Atlanta. It was the Tigers’ first road win over a ranked team in eight seasons.

The Yellowjackets’ coach Nell Fortner once coached Auburn.

“We just wanted our kids to go out and fight,”  said first-year Tigers coach Johnnie Harris. Her Tigers opened the game making the first seven shots.

A former assistant to the retiring Gary Blair, Harris noted. “I won a national championship (at Texas A&M) being an underdog, but no one knows what’s in your heart.” She said to Auburn Undercover. 

Honesty Scott-Grayson had 18 points, fueled by 4-of-8 three-pointers, while Aicha Coulibaly had 14 points.

Auburn (2-2) recently ended a 19-game losing streak, longest in program history, as the Tigers won a pair of consecutive games. 

Georgia Tech (4-1) got 12 points from Lotta-Maj Lahtinen and 11 from Nerea Hermosa.

Stanford and Maryland Escape Artists

Meanwhile,  missing a bunch of foul shots down the stretch and trailing a large portion of the road game, No. 7 Stanford turned it around at the finish as Lexi Hull sank a pair in regulation with 2.7 seconds left and the Cardinal emerged at Gonzaga with a 66-62 win in Spokane, Wash.

Hall of Fame coach Tara VanDerveer called the 8-for-18 line effort for the game, “frightening.

“We have real good free-throw shooters,” she said. “It’s disappointing we did not make free throws.” 

On the other hand, while Stanford (3-1) had its trouble, the Zags (3-1) in suffering their first season loss was 1-for-9 from the floor in the final minutes.

“We battled and it was exciting to see our team be down and come back,” VanDerveer said. “I credit Gonzaga. They payed really well and really hard.”

Substitutes Hannah Jump and Francesca Belibi each scored 14 points, while Cameron Brink scored 12, and Hull 11.

Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier took no consolation from the near-upset.

“We are too good now. We are among the best teams in the country.”

VanDerveer extended her Division I women’s record all-time win total to 1,127, with UConn’s Geno Auriemma keeping pace behind her at 1,121.

While he plays No. 1 South Carolina Monday, VanDerveer is sailing into a head wind this weekend in a tournament that next has the Cardinal playing No. 4 Indiana and No. 3 Maryland is also on the slate.

Speaking of the Terrapins, at home in the XFINITY Center, Maryland got enough ahead to hold off No. 6 Baylor 79-76 in the first of three Top 10 matches this week.

On the Bears’ side, the game was the first tough test under new coach Nicki Collons. 

Ashley Owusu had a season high 24 for the Terrapins, including her 1,00th career point, while dealing six assists with four rebounds. She is the 35th in program history to top 1,000.

Angel Reese added 17 points and nine rebounds, and also hit a key three-pointer with 1:08 left to answer Baylor closing the differential to three.

It’s just the second time the two programs have met.

Chloe Bibby added 16 points, while Mimi Collins had 10 points and eight rebounds.

The Terrapins built a 13-point lead in the third quarter thought the Bears later got within three and looked for a game-ending three to force overtime but Sarah Andrews missed and Reese ended it with the rebound.

Before the game,  Maryland coach Brenda Freese received the Nell and John Wooden Excellence in Coaching Award. The win was her 24th over Top 10 teams and 81st against all ranked teams.

Maryland (6-0) has now won 28 straight in the XFINITY Center, tying for the longest home streak in the nation.

Baylor’s NaLyssa Smith had 30 points and 14 rebounds, though the Bears dropped to 3-1.

With fans allowed back in the arena, Frese noted, “It’s been so long since we’ve had a crowd like that and you see here at Maryland what we’re able to draw.

“We’ve made it known what our goals are and I thought tonight, today, we absolutely took a step toward that today within our journey. I thought we showed tremendous resiliency, especially down the stretch. It was great to be about to learn a lot about your team and how they were going to respond.”

In the only previous meeting, on the way to the NCAA title, Maryland in 2006 ousted the then defending-champion Bears as Willingboro’s (N.J.) Crystal Langhorne had 24 points and 15 rebounds.

The WNBA great was inducted into the Maryland Athletics Hall of Fame Friday night.

On Thursday in the Bahamas, Maryland will face No. 5 NC State.. a former ACC rival before the Terrapins left for the Big Ten, and then the Stanford game Saturday.

The rest of the Top 25 that played had it easy as No. 14 Iowa State beat visiting Southern U., 96-55; No. 17 Florida State beat visiting Grambling State 76-53; No. 19 Kentucky beat visiting Winthrop 92-47; No. 22 West Virginia topped visiting Radford 92-47; and No. 20 UCLA beat visiting Virginia 69-57. No. 8 Iowa, as previous reported, cancelled Sunday’s game hosting Drake and appearing in a Thanksgiving Tournament this weekend because of positive test results in the program concerning the COVID-19 virus.

Nationally Noted:  Columbia Hometown Girl Makes Good in D.C.

Carly Rivera snapped a double overtime tie in the nation’s capital with three straight three-balls to keep Columbia unbeaten at 5 -0 for the first time in program history following a 66-56 double overtime win at Georgetown’s McDonough Arena as a crowd of family and friends from nearby Arlington, Va., watched.

“My team really fueled me for that and kept telling me to shoot,” she said after the Lions dropped the Hoyas to 2-2 on the season.

Rivera off the threes had a career-high 12 points.

“Unreal. I will say this, Carly has ice in her veins,” said Columbia coach Megan Griffin. The kid loves the moment. She is totally built for this and she’s thinking ahead of even us. She’s so locked in and she’s been a great leader for us. I’m really proud of her.”

Abbey Hsu added a game-high 18 points, while Kaitlyn Davis had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Milan Bolden-Morris had 14 points for the Hoyas. 

Meanwhile host Fordham edged Michigan State, 71-68 at home in Rose Hill Gym as Anna DeWolfe and Kaitlyn Downey each scored 24 points for the Rams (3-1). Downey equalled a career-high while  Asiah Dingler chipped in with 13 points.

“An incredible win over a really good Big Ten team,” said Fordham coach Stephanie Gaitley. 

Nia Coulden had 22 points for Michigan State (4-1), while Alyza Winston scored 13, and DeeDee Hagemann scored 11, and Tamara Farquhar grabbed 10 rebounds.

In the Midwest, DePaul outlast Northwestern 78-75 in Wintrust Arena in Chicago as Lexi Held scored 13 of her 16 points in the fourth quarter. She also had eight assists.

Sonya Morris scored 20 for DePaul (3-1), while Aneesah Morrow had 15 points and 17 rebounds, while issuing four blocked shots.

Deja Chruch had 12 points and seven assists.

Jillian Brown had 16 points, Veronica Burton 15, and Courtney Shaw for Northwestern (3-1).

It was an ACC sweep in the Maggie Dixon Classic in Fort Worth Texas as Duke topped Alabama  74-71 rallying at the finish while North Carolina beat TCU, 79-46.

In the Duke Game, the Blue Devils (4-0) grad student Jade Williams got all 14 of her points in the second half, while Celeste Taylor had a season high 21 and grad student Lexi Gordon scored had 11 back in her hometown.

Alabama coach Kristy Curry is winless against Duke. The Crimson Tide (2-2) got 27 points from Megan Abrams.

In the other game, North Carolina also stayed unbeaten at 4-0 as Deja Kelly scored 25, Alyssa Ustby had 16 points and 15 rebounds, Carrie Littlefield scored 14, and Eva Hodgson scored 11.

No one scored in double figures for TCU (1-2).

Maine edged host Boston U. 59-57 in a game between contenders of America East from the visitors and the Patriot League’s Terriers.

VCU won over visiting Old Dominion  71-48 while American contender UCF beat Ohio Valley favorite, visiting Belmont  57-45. Marist fell in the desert again, this time 82-53 at Arizona State.

The Local Report: Lopsided Wins for Delaware and Lehigh and a Faded Finish at Clemson for Penn State

What might have been a three-game local sweep was foiled down the stretch in South Carolina as Penn State fell to Clemson on the road in South Carolina. 

The Lady Lions (3-1), who lost their first game, wasted a great effort from Makenna Marisa, who scored 29 points, while Niya Beverly had nine points.

Kelly Elliott hasd 19 points and eight rebounds for Clemson (2-2), which also got from Delicia Washington 15 points and 12 rebounds.

The Lady Lions built a 10-point lead in the second quarter but a 9-2 run near the end of the third gave host Clemson () it’s first lead.

The score was tied 63-63 with 1:57 left but the home team scored twice for a four-point advantage, enough to finish out with a win.

Penn State next heads to the Gulf Showcase Friday in Estero, Fla.,, opening with St. John’s and then meeting either Iowa State or Charlotte Saturday in the winners or losers’ bracket and then playing for final position Sunday.

Delaware and Lehigh continued to score big among the two other locals of the Guru’s 11 who played Sunday.

A big third quarter fueled Lehigh to an 85-64 win over visiting Merrimack at Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa.

Frannie Hottinger and Mackenzie Kramer each scored 17 points for the Mountain Hawks (4-1), while Emma Grothaus scored 11 and Megan Walker 10.

Kate Mager scored 16 for the Warriors (1-3) while Teneisia Brown scored 14, and Paige McCormick 10.

Coming out of a one-point lead at the half, Lehigh pulled away at the start of the third with a 27-9 attack to hold a 19-point lead with 10 minutes left.

“I thought we were a little flat coming out of the first half,” veteran Lehigh coach Sue Troyan said. “We really challenged our team to come out and set a tone.

“There was a lot less one-on-one stuff in the third and fourth quarters and more of the way we play.”

In the fourth, an 11-1 spurt grew the advantage to 25 at 72-47 with 6:44 left in regulation.

The Warriors came back within 19 and then a trey and layup off a turnover led to the 85-64 final.

Kramer had 15 of her 17 off five three-pointers.

“I told the team that the thing I liked most is that we had 25 assists and cut down on our turnovers. We had nine in the first half and four in the second,” Troyan said.

Next up is the three-year absence of the Lehigh-hosted Christmas City Classic ends this weekend when Rider plays the Mountain Hawks at 1 p.m. on Friday and then the winners and losers will face either Columbia or Missouri from the other side of the bracket on Saturday.

“We’re excited to have really talented opponents next weekend,” Troyan observed.

Down at Delaware’s Bob Carpenter Center in Newark, the Blue Hens rolled to a 73-57 victory over Charlotte (1-4) as Jasmine Dickey scored 31 points.

“We are always talking about defense, that is our identity, we want to defend and we want to rebound,” said Delaware coach Natasha Adair. “We didn’t know how much we were going to run today because we were short-handed.

“We wanted those two things — defend and rebound, and that was going to dictate the tempo.

“We wanted to show our fans what Delaware basketball is about and how hard we want to compete. I am so proud of them because they respond night in and night out.”

Chsarlotte moved to within three with 5:04 left in the third but Delaware (4-1) then exploded on a 14-0 run to gain firm control.

Ty Skinner added 16 points in the attack, while Ty Battle produced another double double with 15 points and 13 rebounds, while Makayla Pippin had a personal best 16 rebounds.

Charlotte got 22 from Octavia Jett-Wilson.

The Blue Hens next head to Miami for the FIU Thanksgiving Tourney facing Eastern Michigan, a Mid-America contender, at 2 p.m. in the Ocean Bank Convocation Center. On Saturday, they’ll meet Chicago State in a predetermined matchup.

Just ahead, locally, Villanova plays its second Big Five game in 48 hours traveling to play Penn in the Palestra 7 p.m. Monday night as the Quakers meet their first City Series foe in two seasons after being shut down by the Ivy League last winter because of the corona virus pandemic.

Ivy favorite Princeton is back in the area coming off a loss at Rhode Island that snapped a 25-game win streak as the Tigers are at Temple in McGonigle Hall at 7 p.m. on Tuesday night.

We’ll give you the holiday tourney lineup later in the week.

And that’s the report.