The Guru Report: Rutgers Rally Falls Short to DePaul While Ranked Teams Again Escape or Win Close

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

Thursdays may be for rallies when it comes to the Rutgers women’s basketball team.

A week after pulling a stunning fourth-quarter, 18-point, comeback and then eventual victory over Harvard in overtime the Scarlet Knights were at it again on on Thanksgiving, against DePaul.

This time, however, down in the Virgin Islands, they nearly wiped away the same size deficit earlier but did not extend far enough and fell to the Blue Demons, 77-74, at the University of the Virgin Islands in St. Thomas in the opening day of the Paradise Jam.

Elsewhere in the tropics a bunch of ranked teams which decided to do a combination of holiday travel and work from home had mixed results, especially Maryland, which shot up to No. 2 this week in The Associated Press women’s poll but got wiped out 78-60 by its former rival from the Terrapins’ rivals in their old Atlantic Coast Conference wars, No. 5 NC State in the Pink Flamingo Classic at Nassau, The Bahamas.

No. 17 Florida State got ambushed by unranked but West Coast Conference favorite BYU 61-54 in the opening of the St. Petersburg Showcase in St. Petersburg, Fla., where No. 22 West Virginia in the other round beat Purdue 65-57.

Defending champion and No. 7 Stanford in a tight competition edged No. 4 Indiana 69-66 in the Pink Flamingo, where all rounds will be predetermined, while back in the Paradise Jam in a similar format, No. 9 Arizona edged unranked Vanderbilt 48-46, when Shaina Pellington scored a layup before time expired.

In the Cancun Challenge over in Mexico, No. 6 Baylor got threatened early at the start of several days of predetermined action, but eventually controlled Fordham, 68-45. Elsewhere in that event, Houston surprised Arizona State,68-60, Toledo beat Idaho State 79-58, and Southern Cal finished strong over Seton Hall 79-65.

The event had to do some rescheduling when No. 8 began cancelling appearances last weekend when several members of the Hawkeyes program became tested positive under COVID-19 protocols.

Other scores on the Guru’s special tracker saw Washington State beat Miami 62-47 in the Pink Flamingo, in the Paradise Jam, Northwestern beat Summit favorite South Dakota favorite 73-57, No. 23 Texas A&M top Pittsburgh 57-46, in one-game played in the Goombay Splash saw VCU with a 60-47 win over Washington in in Bimini, the Bahamas, in one-game played on Thursday, Mississippi State beat Dayton 65-54 in the Daytona Beach Invitational in Florida, and Seattle edged SMU 70-66 in one game in the South Point Shootout in Las Vegas, Nevada.

These events will continue, while Multi Team Events (MTE) will also occur elsewhere with more of the Guru 11-team Division I programs involved.

Rutgers Loses Second: In Rutgers’ game, the Scarlet Knights (4-2) used a 27-point eruption in the third quarter before flaming out at the finish against DePaul (4-1).

Osh Brown in a losing effort had a 20-point double double with the same number of rebounds, the first such feat since Betnijah Laney, a current star of the WNBA New York Liberty, had 24 points and 24 rebounds against North Carolina on Dec. 4, in double overtime after finishing a tie game in regulation with 21 points and 20 rebounds.

Playing almost even in the final period, Rutgers trailed 72-70 but the Blue Demons held on and could breathe again at the finish when the Scarlet Knights missed a game-tying three-pointer.

They also got a season-high 19 points from Victoria Morris, while Brown is the active Division I leader with 1,179 rebounds.

“I want to give DePaul credit,” said Timothy Eatman, acting coach while Hall of Famer C. Vivian Stringer has stepped away for the season over coronavirus concerns. “They were aggressive andthat kept us on our heels, and we couldn’t attack.

“In the second half, we fought back and competed. We played with spirit and heart once again, but we have to rebound the basketball better all over the floor.”

As for the play of Brown, he observed, “Osh is a warrior. She plays hard and relentless going downhill. I’m so happy for her because she’s reaping the benefits of how hard she works at practice. 

“Anytime a player works that hard, that consistently, you’re going to have a great chance to find success.”

DePaul, which tied the series 5-5 from the time both were in the old Big East before Rutgers moved to the Big Ten, got 16 points from Lexi Held, while Dejah Church, who was in foul trouble, scored 12, and Sonya Morris scored 10. Aneesah Morris, who eventually fouled out, scored 8, but Drake transfer Kaitlyn Collier came off the bench and scored 12.

Rutgers was forced into 20 turnovers.

In the game between Arizona, which fell just at the finish to PAC-12 rival Stanford in the NCAA championship game last April in San Antonio, and Vanderbilt, which is under new coach and former UConn star and assistant Shea Ralph, Pellington hit an off-balanced layup to enable the Wildcats (5-0) avoid an upset.

“We were running different action, but then she saw an open lane because the pass wasn’t open,” Arizona coach Adia Barnes said. “She hesitated for a bit, but I thought she was just going to go, she made a great play.

“We got lucky because they should have won the game the way they played. … We should all run out of here and wipe our foreheads because we didn’t deserve to win that game.”

Sam Thomas scored 13 points, while Ariyah Copeland had 11.

Vamderbilt, which plays at Saint Joseph’s in Philadelphia next month, got 10 points each from Demi Washington and Ilyana Moore, which erased a 15-point deficit which existed midway through the second quarter.

“Obviously, when you lose a game like that you’re disappointed,” Ralph said. “I felt we could have won it. Our defense was so good all game. We just needed one stop at the end, and we couldn’t get it.

“There’s opportunities for us to learn from this. On the flip side, our team has grown so much over the last couple of weeks. There are no moral victories, but I’m happy to see how we’re coming together and maturing.”

Vanderbilt and Rutgers will meet 1 p.m. Friday on ESPN+/ESPN3, while DePaul and Arizona will play at 3:15 p.m.

Rutgers has previously won the Jam three-previous times when it was under a pure bracket format.

In the other two games, No. 23 Texas A&M (5-0) ran away in the final minutes to get its win as Destiny Pitts and Jordan Nixon each scored 12 points, and Kayla Wells scored 10.

Pitt (4-1)  got 16 points from reserve Dayshanette Harris and a double double of 10 points and 19 rebounds from Liatu King.

“When the shots weren’t going in, you have to be able to do other things to stay in the game,” said long-time Women’s Hall of Fame coach Gary Blair, who recently announced he will retire at the end of this season.

“Those things are rebounding, sharing the basketball and playing defense. It took us a while to realize what a good shot was. When you’re on the road and it is the first game of a tournament, it can lead to some poor shooting, which is exactly what happened tonight. Give Pitt credit, they fought hard despite missing their leading scorer.”

The Aggies will play South Dakota (2-3) at 8 p.m. on Friday, while Pitt will play Northwestern at 5:45 p.m..

The Wildcats (4-1) of the Big Ten in their win over South Dakota got a sparkling performance from Caileigh Walsh, who scored 20 points, shooting 9-for-15 from the floor, while Lauryn Satterwhite, filling in for the injured Sydney Wood, had a career-high 15 points, shooting 5-of-7 from the field, including 4-for-5 from deep.

Veronica Burton had 19 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, and four steals, while Courtney Shaw had 12 points and 13 rebounds.

Pink Flamingo Not For the Birds: NC State took advantage of Maryland’s depleted roster at the Baha Mar Hoops Convention Tournament in the Baha Mar Hoops tournament, missing Diamond Miller, Katie Benzan, and Faith Msasonius, who dealt the Terrapins their worst setback in two years, a Big Ten road loss at Northwestern, 81-58, on Dec. 31, 2019.

“When the fans started doing little chants and banging on the bleachers, I definitely felt like I was in an AAU tournament,” said Wolfpack all-American Elissa Cunane. “I think our team brought the juice themselves. But also we had a ton of fans out there. Maryland has a lot, and a lot of N.C. State people came here. We knew it was a top-five matchup, so we were prepared, no matter what the setting was.”

Benzan and Masonius didn’t go with the team due to unannounced illnesses while Miller has a sore right knee and not likely to play Saturday against Stanford, which tips at 3 p.m. on Flohoops.

“The first half, they punched first,” Maryland coach Brenda Frese said. “They were very, very aggressive. I think it put us on our heels. There’s no question how good N.C. State is, just such a deep team.

“Obviously, for us to come in here without five players and two that are starters for us, I love the fact, given what we didn’t have, just the fight that we had in the second half.

“But we talked about it. It takes a 40-minute game, and if we would have played like we did in the second half, it would have been a much more competitive game.”

By halftime the Wolfpack were up 49-27.

Angel Reese reached another career high for the Terrapins with 24 points and she grabbed nine rebounds. Ashley Owusu had 14 points and five assists. Shyanne Sellers scored 12.

Cunane had 20 points for N.C. State, shooting 8-for-9 from the field, while grabbing 10 rebounds, and Jakia Burn-Turner scored 12 with 11 rebounds. Diamond Johnson had 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

“We definitely want to push it,” Wolfpack coach Wes Moore said. “We definitely wanted to be aggressive.”

In the Stanford game, Cameron Brink had 21 points and 22 rebounds for the Cardinal (4-1) in the win over Indiana.

“Cam is a great weapon inside, drives well from the high post,” said Stanford Hall of Fame coach Tara VanDerveer. She’s a complete packege who can score. She’s very quick.”

Ali Patberg’s game-tying three-point attempt missed at the finish for Indiana.

“This will serve us well down the stretch once the Big Ten starts,” said Hoosiers (4-1) coach Teri Moren. “We didn’t shoot it great and we still had a chance of winning the game. The silver lining there is, we can compete with anyone in the country.”

Patberg scored 19 for Indiana.

In the one game in the event being played Friday, Stanford will meet No. 18 South Florida at noon.

Cancun Challenge: In the feature game, Fordham (3-2) seemed headed for a Mexican standoff with No. 6 Baylor (4-1) when the Rams took a 24-20 lead at the half. Then the Bears asserted themselves on the Rams.

All-American NaLyssa Smith had 19 points and 15 rebounds for Baylor, while Jordan Lewis scored 15 and dealt six assists. Ja’Mee Asberry and Sarah Andrews each scored 10.

Kendell Heremaia had  14 for Fordham, all came in the first half, including six rebounds, and Anna DeWolfe scored 10.

Houston (3-2) forced Arizona State (2-3) into 20 turnovers and the Cougars got 12 points each from Tiara Young, Dymond Gladney, and Tatyana Hill. Jaddan Simmons had 16 points for the Wildcats in their loss.

Southern Cal  continues to make progress under new coach Lindsay Gottlieb, starting the Cancun Challenge with a 79-65 win over Seton Hall.

Jordyn Jenkins scored 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for her first double double for the Trojans (4-1), while Alissa Pili scored 15, Angel Jackson had 14, and Jordan Sanders scored 13, while Alyson Miura scored 10.

BYU Pulls Another Upset: In the BYU win in the St. Petersburg tournament, coming after the squad gave Rutgers an early exit from the NCAAs last spring, the defense forced 25 turnovers to give Florida State (4-1) its first loss. Shaylee Gonzales had five steals. 

“The toughness that this team exhibited tonight was special,” BYU assistant coach Lee Cummard said. “The whole team was locked in and made an impact. We have another great opportunity on Saturday.

The tournament is idle on Friday but resumes Saturday as Florida State plays Purdue at 11 a.m., followed by the championship in which BYU meets No. 22 West Virginia at 1 p.m.

Looking Ahead to the Locals: Here is just a listing of the Guru Local 11 playing Friday. The more extensive look is in the previous body.

Saint Joseph’s meets Old Dominion at noon in the Houston suburb of Katy in the first round of the Van Chancellor tournament, while Delaware meets Eastern Michigan at 2 p.m. in the opener of the FIU tournament in Miami, Florida.

Penn plays UC San Diego at 6 p.m. in the opener of the Loyola Marymount tourney in Los Angeles, while just to the south Drexel meets Nebraska at 7 p.m. in the University of  San Diego tourney.

Rutgers, as mentioned, plays Vanderbilt  at 1 p.m. in the Paradise Jam, while Penn State starts against St. John’s at 7:30 p.m. in a Gulf Coast Showcase opener in Estero, Florida, on Flohoops.

On Saturday, Temple travels to Villanova at 2 p.m. for the Owls’ Big Five opener and Wildcats’ third game in the City Series at 2-0.

Rider meets host Lehigh at 1 p.m. on ESPN+ in the Mountain Hawks’ Christmas City Classic opener. 

Rutgers meets No. 9 Arizona at 3:15 p.m. in the Paradise Jam.

Saint Joseph’s in its second Van Chancellor tournament game faces Stetson at noon, while La Salle is at No. 20 Kentucky at 8:30 p.m.

Delaware in a predetermined match meets Chicago State at noon at Lehigh, while Penn’s predetermined match out West is against Memphis at 6:30 p.m.

Drexel meets either Fresno State or San Diego, time to be determined.

Penn State ahead of Friday on Saturday meets either Iowa State or Charlotte in the second day of the Florida Gulf Coast Challenge/

On Sunday, Princeton hosts Maine in a single contest at 1 p.m. at Jadwin Gym.

Penn State finishes its tournament in Florida while in Texas, Saint Joseph’s wraps up playing Ball State at 2:30 p.m.

Rider plays Columbia or Missouri in Lehigh’s tournament.

Looking Ahead to the Nationals: On Friday, for those not mentioned, Michigan plays Oregon State at 6:30 p.m., at the Daytona Beach Invitational, which has Georgia and Notre Dame meeting at 4:30 p.m., as mentioned, South Florida and Stanford play at noon in the Pink Flamino, Rhode Island is at Virginia at noon in the Cavaliers’ tournament in Charlottesville. 

And that’s the report.

Sydney Cooks had a game-high 21 for Seton Hall, and Lauren Park Lane scored 17, Mya Benbry had 16, and Andra Espinoza-Hunter finished with 10 points and nine rebounds.

Toledo’s Quinesha Lockett scored 20 in the Rocketts’ win and Sophia Wiard scored 14 and dealt eight assists.

Dora Goles had 16 for Idaho State.

On Friday, all airing on Fl,ohoops, Baylor meets Arizona State at 11 a.m., Houston plays Fordham at 1:30 p.m., Toledo plays Seton Hall at 4 p.m., and Idaho plays UCF at 6:30 p.m.