The Guru Report: Rider Tops Siena While Fairfield and Bucknell Pull Upsets and Michigan State’s Clouden Scores 50

By Mel Greenberg @womhoops guru

The only local of the Guru’s Division l group was victorious Monday as Rider quickly evened its Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference record by topping host Siena 59-43 going wire-to-wire with the lead on the road in Loudonville, N.Y. , near Albany to spoil the Saints’ (0-9) conference debut for the season.

The Broncs (3-8) quickly sprinted from a 3-2 edge to a 15-0 run shooting a perfect 5-for-5 from the field, including four from deep.

Siena threatened with a 9-0 outburst at the start of the third quarter to trim the deficit to eight before Rider regained control to turn aside any more challenges.

‘It’s a good win for us,” said Rider coach Lynn Milligan. “Road wins are hard to come by in the MAAC. Any time you can go on the road in this league and come away with a win, it’s a good win.

Having four kids that can score on any given night is nice. Their teammates are getting them open. The person getting the shot is the easy part, it’s all the work we do before that to put them in the right spot,” she continued.

“Our bench is a little tighter right now and when we get them healthier there will be other opportunities.’

Of Anna Ekerstedt’s debut as a starter, Milligan said, “We started Anna to get her length and athleticism in the starting lineup and she was great tonight. It was a step in the right direction when we win the rebound battle. Anna and Vic (Victoria Toomey) did a great job in our zone tonight.

Lenaejha Evans led Rider with 18 points.

The Broncs meanwhile now take a Xmas break till returning home to host Niagara, Dec. 30, in Alumni Gym in Lawrenceville, N.J.

Elsewhere in the MAAC, Rider’s cause and suggestion the race may become more open than suggested came from Hamden, Conn., where Fairfield on the road upset preseason favorite Quinnipiac 66-62, in the Bobcats’ Peoples United Center.

The Stags tore away from an early fourth quarter tie on a 7-0 run and then relied on their defense to secure the win.’

Lou Lopez-Senechal had a game-high 26 points for Fairfield (5-5, 2-0 MAAC), while Sydney Lowery had 13 points and a career-high 10 rebounds for her first double double.

Mackenzie DeWeese had 14 points for Quinnipac (6-5, 1-1) and reserve Sadaja Bonner scored 12.

“Obviously, l’m thrilled for the girls,” said Fairfield coach Joe Frager. “To come back on one day prep and beat an outstanding, well=coached Quinnipiac team. We knew they were going to come after us strong in the second half but l was happy the way we responded in the fourth quarter.

The victory was Fairfield’s first in eight years at Quinnipiac.

Bucknell Upsets Buffalo: The Bisons made it nine straight season wins beating the Bulls 80-69 in gaining an upset of the 12th-ranked team in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major poll.

Three players reached career-highs for The Patriot League contenders (9-2) in Cecilia Collins with 21 points, Carly Krsul with 17, and Tai Johnson with nine.

Buffalo (6-4), which had won 5-of-6 and is a Mid-American contender, got 22 points from Georgia Woolley as a reserve while Dyashia Fair used four from deep to propel her way to 20 points.

Nationally Noted: Nia Clouden set a Michigan State record and nation-high for the season scoring 50 points but the Spartans fell to Florida Gulf Coast 85-84 in double overtime in the West Palm Beach invitational in Florida. 

Kierstan Bell had 28 for FGCU (10-1), including the last five in the final 58 seconds after Michigan State (7-5) led by five. Her game-winner game with 48 seconds left in the second overtime. 

Opponents are pre-determined in each round of the event. In Monday, in other event results showed No. 22 LSU over Clemson 70-56; Dayton 71-64 over High Point; No. 16 South Florida 77-55 over West Virginia; Ole Miss 65-50 over Texas Tech.

When Monday’s AP Poll came out, besides UConn dropping out of the top 10 for the first time in 16 seasons, and Michigan making it’s Top 10 debut, Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer joined the late Tennessee legend Pat Summitt with at least 600 appearances. 

Summitt retired with 614, missing just 14 weeks at the time.

Looking Ahead: Speaking of Stanford, the defending NCAA champs moved up a spot to second, setting up Tuesday night’s second season showdown between poll 1-2 teams when the Cardinal visit South Carolina.

Locally, Vanderbilt under new coach and former UConn star and assistant Shea Ralph visit Saint Joseph’s at noon; A Big Five collision is at 1 p.m. when Villanova (2-1) visits La Salle (1-0). The Wildcats clinch a tie with a win while the host Explorers winning keeps alive a 4-0 sweep with Temple and Saint Joseph’s left on the schedule.

Lehigh is at George Washington at 2 p.m. and Drexel is at Delaware State at 1 p.m.

On Wednesday, No. 12 Texas is at Princeton while Old Dominion is at Temple, in the front end of a women’s/men’s doubleheader in the Liacouras Center, both at noon.

The VCU at Delaware and Towson at Penn State games are both cancelled due to covid positive tests involving both visiting teams.

And that’s the report.