The Guru Report: Chestnut Hill Extends Win Streak While South Carolina and Michigan Prevail on the National Scene

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PHILADELPHIA — Division Two Chestnut Hill College on Monday evening took a break from competition in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC), from which the Griffins hold a perfect record high atop the standings but didn’t rest on any laurels to date rolling over new region member College of Staten 68-34 at home in Sorgenti Arena in the northwest corner of the city.

The winning streak reach a program best nine straight for the home team (15-3).

The squad showed its depth by the size of victory considering coach Jim Connolly afforded his regulars some rest but each participant got in at least 10 minutes of action.

Bri Hewlett had 13 points for the winners, while Morgan Sterner had a career-high 10 points, while a personal best nine points were picked up by Emily Sekerak. Emily Chmiel only played 11 minutes, but picked up seven points.

The Griffins’ Lindsay Lane grabbed seven boards, while Abbey Spratt dealt five assists. In the third period overall the team tossed a shutout while moving the differential to 55-20.

Two players on the Dolphins (3-12) scored in double figures, Gia Esposito collecting 14 points and Jenalyse Alarcon scored 12.

On Wednesday, it’s back to conference competition when Northeast Philadelphia’s Holy Family comes across the top of the city for a 6 p.m. tip for the game between a pair of South Division rivals.

South Carolina Blasts Vanderbilt: Top-rated South Carolina and No. 8 Michigan upheld their ranking status in the most recent Associated Press women’s poll released Monday afternoon.

The host Gamecocks in CAA action won under 2022 gold medal USA Olympic coach for the 14th time this season, beating Vanderbilt 85-35 at home in Colonial Life Arena in Columbia in a Southeastern Conference victory in Columbia.

Needing a substitute for Zia Cooke, sidelined with an injury, Staley went to Lele Grissett, who responded with a burst of energy with seven of her season-high 14 points in the first period over the visiting Commodores (10-10, 1-5 SEC), who are under first-year coach and former UConn star and assistant Shea Ralph.

“It’s going to be a long ride home,” the Commodores coach said of the wipeout that included SC’s 48-19 domination on the board.

Playing against a former Huskies star would be as close as South Carolina (18-1, 6-1) would get at home this week opposed to making it a two-game sweep on UConn after Staley and Geno Auriemma announced Sunday they would forego the originally scheduled meeting in Columbia so the Gamecocks could make up a postponed SEC contest on Ole Miss (17-2), which landed in Monday’s Associated Press women’s poll at No. 24 for the Rebels’ first ranking in 15 seasons.

With Staley needing that game to help win an SEC title, UConn similarly off the COVID protocol-caused postponements that have occurred nationwide is heading to Chicago Wednesday for a makeup Big East game against powerful DePaul in Wintrust Arena.

As for Grissett, a fifth-year graduate who is normally a prized burst of energy for Staley as a substitute, the Hall of Fame coach tapped her for just her seventh start.

“She’s moving a lot better,” Staley said of her veteran who missed the first nine games still recovering from a lower right-leg injury suffered last March in the SEC tournament. “Knowing that she’s healed up and knowing the things she can do out there for us.”

Grissett helped get the home team off to an 11-3 lead and putting the opposition far behind in the rear-view mirror the rest of the way.

“It just felt really easy,” Grissett said of her performance from the outset. “We’d been working so hard and the work actually paid off.

Aliyah Boston scored 11 and grabbed 12 boards for her school-record 12th straight double double while also dealing four assists, four steals and two blocks.

The compassionate Staley when her squad quickly had the game under control made a tough decision to keep Boston on the court, considering her double double didn’t get fulfilled until later in the game, but Staley related the when Boston was finally substituted, she told her coach “thank you” as she returned to the bench.

It was the Gamecocks’ first game since beating Arkansas a week ago Sunday but no rust appeared to accumulate during the long, idle, nine-day stretch.

Brinae Alexander scored 10 points for Vanderbilt, whose overall 30 were the lowest ever yielded in an SEC contest by South Carolina and lowest overall in five seasons dating to 30 by Savannah State scored 30 on Dec. 21, 2016.

Cooke was sidelined in this one due to an injury suffered in that win over Arkansas and it broke a streak of 82 consecutive starts, tied for second with Boston behind Tiffany Mitchell’s school mark of 103 straight games being announced ahead of opening tipoffs.

Boston is now tied with Texas A&M’s N’dea Jones and Auburn’s Unique Thompson for second most consecutive double doubles by an SEC player over the last 20 seasons.

Thursday’s game with Ole Miss, which has been revived under coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin, will air at 6 p.m. on ESPN. The Rebels recently upset Kentucky, knocking the Wildcats out of the poll after 65 straight appearances over the last three seasons.

South Carolina will face another hot team Sunday, traveling to Florida in Gainesville. The Gators (15-5) upset then-No. 11 LSU, under new coach Hall of Famer Kim Mulkey, who previously headed the Baylor powerhouse she built in Waco, Texas.

Hilmon Carries Michigan Over Purdue: Having moved up a spot to seventh earlier in the day in the latest AP Women’s Poll, Michigan was carried by Naz Hillmon’s double double of 32 points and 12 rebounds to a 79-66 victory over visiting Purdue in a Big Ten game at home in the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor.

Emily Kiser came close to a triple double with 12 points, 12 rebounds and a career-high seven assists for the Wolverines (17-2, 8-1 Big Ten) over the Boilermakers (12-7, 3-5).

Leigha Brown had 13 points and six assists as Michigan never got its first double digit lead until late in the third quarter, though was back under it at the end of the period.

The home team finally darted away in the closing ten minutes.

Brooke Moore, off the bench, scored 16 for Purdue, while Madison Layden scored 13, and Rickie Woltman scored 11.

Michigan has a tough one, Thursday, traveling to Ohio State at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus at 7 p.m. on Thursday. On Monday, the Buckeyes (15-3, 7-2 Big Ten) returned to the AP Women’s Poll at 22, having been ranked earlier in the season, riding a six-game win streak including recent triumphs over preseason favorite Maryland and Sunday at Rutgers.

Norfolk State Stays Perfect in MEAC: In the only other game Monday on the Guru’s national tracker and that was because of the preseason picks in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, host Norfolk State topped Morgan State 64-52 in an afternoon contest in Echols Hall in the Tidewater area in Virginia.

Deja Francis scored 24 points, Camille Downs had 20, and Mahoganie Williams had 11 for the home team (7-7, 3-0 MEAC), while Morgan State (7-6, 1-2) got 15 points from Dahnye Redd and 12 from Ashia McCalla.

The Spartans forced the visitors into 30 turnovers and mined 25 points off the miscues.

The Lady Bears are back home Saturday in Baltimore hosting Delaware State (0-11, 0-2) in Hill Field House at 2 p.m. while the Spartans go to South Carolina State Saturday for a 2 p.m. contest.

Looking Ahead:  On Tuesday, locally, in a makeup game, Penn State will host No. 23 Iowa at 6 p.m. in the Bryce Jordan Center in State College, with the game carried on the B1G network, the prime Big Ten broadcast channel.

Five locals will play Wednesday, with Atlantic 10 action has Saint Joseph’s at Fordham in the Bronx at 7 p.m. while La Salle with a three-game win streak will be at St. Bonaventure at 5 p.m. in Olean, N.Y., both games airing on ESPN+.

Temple will try to get back on the winning track, hosting Cincinnati and going for a sweep of the Bobcats when they meet in an American Athletic Conference game at 7 p.m. in McGonigle Hall on ESPN+.

Owls graduate star Mia Davis is 71 points from the all-time career scoring record set in 1984 by all-American Marilyn Stephens and likely to break it during a three-game home stand early next month after a two-game road trip this weekend to Memphis Saturday and UCF Monday.

Delaware is at UNCW on Flohoops at 7 p.m. in a Colonial Athletic Association before the second place Blue Hens and first-place Drexel head south together this weekend playing Elon and William & Mary.

In a key Ivy contest that is a makeup from an earlier postponement Penn is at Columbia at 6 p.m. on ESPN+. 

The Quakers, picked second behind Princeton, is on a two-game losing streak and will face a Lions squad unbeaten so far in the league as is the Tigers, who routed Penn last Monday at The Palestra.

Penn will be back home Saturday at 2 p.m. hosting Harvard in another key game in the Ivies.

Some national games of note has Ohio U. hosting Toledo at 7 p.m. in the Mid-American Conference on ESPN3, while Kansas State, returned again to the AP Poll at 25, will visit No. 9 Texas in Austin in a Big 12 game at 8 p.m. on the Longhorn network. 

It will be the first game for the visiting Wildcats since Ayoka Lee broke the NCAA women’s scoring record with 61 points Sunday against nationally-ranked Oklahoma.

Two PAC-12 makeup games from postponements has at 2 p.m. Utah at Oregon, which returned to the rankings Monday, while No. 7 Arizona will be at UCLA at 8 p.m., both games on the PAC-12 network.

As mentioned earlier above No. 10 UConn will be visiting DePaul in Wintrust Arena in Chicago to make up a postponed Big East game. Other game details such as tip time and broadcast carrier will come in Wednesday’s Guru report.

But for now, that’s it for the Tuesday edition.