The Guru Report: Drexel and Delaware Victories Set Up CAA Battle of Unbeaten Duo Sunday; Rider Stunned and D2 Chestnut Hill Pulls Another Upset

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PHILADELPHIA - Drexel and Delaware turned aside formidable opponents at their respective venues in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Tuesday night setting up the first season’s battle between the longtime area and conference rivals Sunday that will lead to the winner being the last unbeaten in the league..

Drexel, which will host the CAA tourney they won over Delaware last March, engaged in a track meet with Towson most of the evening here at the Daskalakis Athletic Center until going ahead one more time in the final minute and holding on for a 58-54 victory.

The Blue Hens, meanwhile, at home in the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark, withstood several James Madison rallies to claim a 64-57 victory.

Towson took down James Madison Sunday to make it three teams with no CAA losses until Drexel (13-2, 5-0 CAA) removed the Tigers’ from that category, continuing the best start in program history and extending their current victory string to ten straight.

Newcomer Tessa Brugler’s layup with 42 seconds left in regulation snapped a 54-54 tie that came about just before on reigning CAA player of the week Allie Kubek’s three-ball from the corner for the Tigers (12-3, 3-1).

The Dragons then defensed the visitors from suburban Baltimore over the remaining time. Games by six points or less has happened six times for coach Amy Mallon’s squad this season, the sole setback 52-50 here on opening night to Marist, and also including a pair of narrow wins launching CAA player earlier this month at Charleston 61-60 and at UNCW 71-68 in overtime.

“Our team is very experienced out there,” said Mariah Leonard, who had a double double with 13 points and 12 rebounds while being free of committing fouls. “We learned how to maintain composure in tight situations such as this one. We wanted to keep this streak that we have going.”

Leonard was 4-for-5 from the field, made 5-of-6 free throws, and kept the ball alive with five offensive boards.

“If you are there, you witnessed what fight this team has starting with Mariah Leonard out there on the floor doing whatever it took for us to win the game,” Mallon said of her graduate forward.

“Coming up with rebounds and the little things.”

Drexel held Towson 23 points under their 77 points average, Kubek held to 13 points, three under her average, but six came shooting free throws.

Towson’s Aleah Nelson scored 12 and Gary Tarriyonna scored 14, shooting 5-of-7 from the field, of which 4-of-5 were three balls.

“We took away a lot of their options,” Leonard said. “When they got shots we made sure we boxed out and really went after every rebound.”

Drexel had a balanced attack with Leonard’s performance. Keishana Washington had 13 of her 17 points in the first half, while Brugler had 11, including the game-winner, and graduate senior Hannah Nihill had 10 points and dealt three assists.

The Dragons also maintained ball control, committing just nine turnovers, far less than the 18.9 miscues Towson usually forces.

“To hold a team that scores as much as Towson does was one of our goals,” Mallon said. “That set the tone for everything.”

Maura Hendrixson just missed a double, scoring nine points, while dealing six assists and grabbing four steals.

Meanwhile, also playing a third game in five days besides Drexel — Tuesday was used by the CAA to get makeups in from postponements caused by the pandemic — Delaware (10-4, 4-0 CAA) stayed in  front the whole game, though James Madison (6-9, 2-2) made several thrusts.

“The word today was to outwork them,” said Delaware coach Natasha Adair, whose squad won the regular season before losing to Drexel. “That’s what it was going to take, we said that we know this game, there’s so much on it and they are a top team in this league.”

The Duchesses are also a lame duck headed for the Sun Belt Conference this summer and as such JMU has been barred from the conference tourney it was originally designated to host. 

“We knew it was going to be a game of runs, we knew they were going to crash the boards and we were trying to keep them out of the paint and have second chance opportunities,” Adair said. “Despite all of what they did, I felt like down the stretch when we needed to get the stop, we did.

“Games like this are preparing us for something bigger and we know that in this league every night we are going to get everyone’s best.”

Delaware’s Jasmine Dickey, who reached her 1,500th point in a program that contains the magic name (Elena) Delle Donne in its history, scored 26 points to get to the eighth slot in the Blue Hens record books with 1, 520. She also grabbed 14 rebounds, blocked five shots, and dealt four assists.

Ty Battle scored 17 and grabbed 11 rebounds for her ninth double double on the season. Ty Skinner scored 10.

JMU’s Kiki Jefferson scored 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds Jaylin Carodine grabbed 14 rebounds.

The big Sunday showdown here will tip at 2 p.m. and air on the Flohoops streaming service.

Rider Stunned by Niagara Rally Leading to Victory at the Finish Makayla Firebaugh had a career-high 31 points but it all went to waste Tuesday night just three days after routing Niagara on the road at Niagara Falls, N.Y., when the Purple Eagles came to Lawrenceville, N.J. At the Broncs’ Alumni Gym and rallied for a 75-74 win in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC).

Rider (5-11, 3-4 MAAC) clung to a dwindling slim 74-71 lead in the final minute when the Broncs fouled Ally Haar. Just 12 seconds remained as she went to the line and made the first but must the second, however, the ball went out of bounds off Rider.

Maddy Yelle scored to tie it up on what became an old-fashioned three-point play then sinking a free throw for the Purple Eagles (6-8, 3-3) with five seconds left.

Firebaugh tried for the rescue but the shot was no good as time expired.

In the second quarter the Broncs ahead 23-18 took off on an 11-0 run and made it all resemble Saturday with a 34-18 advantage before Niagara knocked the differential down to 39-32 at the half.

It was still comfortable enough at 64-55 after three periods.

The visitors, however, exploded on a 7-0 run to start the fourth and suddenly it was a two-point game.

Rider got some padding with consecutive baskets for a six-point lead with 1:08 left when the Purple Eagles took over with an 8-1 advantage, including the final sequence for the winning outcome.

“Just a disappointing loss on your home floor,” said Rider coach Lynn Milligan. “We just didn’t finish.

“All we can do is grow from it. We needed a stop and a rebound and we didn’t get the job done. We gave them too many opportunities,” she continued.

“We’re a team that has to have all five pieces clicking together. We’re a team that is the sum of their parts, and when all five people are clicking we’re capable of being a very good defensive team.”

Noted Firebaugh, “It’s frustrating. We know we have to do better, especially at the end of games.

“I’d rather win,” she said discussing her big night. “If scoring contributes to that, then that’s what I want to do. I just played my game tonight, and it was coming to me.”

The win put Niagara back in front in the series lead 28-27. The back-to-back in home-and-home locations was the first in the program since a similar schedule setup with Loyola, Md., in the 2002-03 season.

Counting Lenaejha Evans’ performance on Saturday, Firebaugh became the 15th player at Rider to reach 30 points.

Raphaela Toussaint had 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Broncs, while Anna Ekerstedt had a career-high eight rebounds and blocked six shots.

Evans reached personal bests with five steals and four assists while Jessika Schiffer matched a career-high with seven assists and also scored 12 points.

Niagara led just 19 seconds the entire night.

Rider remains home Thursday night to go for a season’s sweep of Siena, whom the Broncs won the first game 59-43 on Dec. 20. The tip is 7 p.m. and will air on ESPN3.

Chestnut Hill Pulls Second Straight Upset Beating USciences: Less than a week after upsetting visiting Jefferson in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC), the Griffins took down USciences 51-41 at home in Sorgenti Arena after squandering a double double digit lead but outscoring the Devils 17-3 in the final quarter.

In the start of the third quarter, Chestnut Hill (13-3, 7-0 CACC) went up 33-23 before going cold with no points over the next 8 minutes, 26 seconds.

USciences (10-3, 4-2), whom the Griffins beat in the semifinals of the Philadelphia/Suburban Women’s Summer Basketball League, took advantage for a 15-0 run on Anna McTamney’s shot from deep.

Chestnut Hill, coached by Jim Connolly, then came back to life with a 6-0 run into the fourth period.

But the Devils came back one more time 40-39 on a pair of Taylor Hamm foul shots but after Isla Brennan connected on a free throw 20 seconds later USciences were held scoreless the rest of the game.

Hamm had 18 points and nine rebounds for USciences, the only player scoring double figures for the Devils, who school will merge with Saint Joseph’s University in Division I at the end of the spring semester.

Cassie Sebold and Bri Hewlett each scored 10 points for the Griffins and Sebold completed a double double with 10 rebounds.

The Devils are currently ranked 22 in the current D-2 WBCA poll.

Chestnut Hill has now won seven straight, all in CACC play with a two-game lead in the loss column on the Griffins’ previous two opponents.

Coming up the Griffins will stay home, hosting Post Saturday at 1 p.m., the College of Staten Island at 6 p.m. on Monday, and Holy Family on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

They’ll next hit the road on Jan. 30 visiting Nyack College at 6 p.m. in suburban New York City.

Nationally Noted And Looking Ahead: There was just one game on the Guru tracker other than the locals and No. 21 Duke won on the road 58-49 at Miami in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

On Wednesday, the only locals have Temple looking to stay unbeaten in the American Athletic Conference when the Owls visit East Carolina at 6 p.m. in Greenville, N.C., on ESPN+ while Lehigh is hosting Navy at 6 p.m. in Stabler Arena in Bethlehem in the Patriot League, also on ESPN+.

In the Big 12, No. 14 Oklahoma is at West Virginia at 7 p.m., and No. 15 Texas is at No. 7 Iowa State at 7:30 p.m.

In the Atlantic 10 preseason favorite Dayton is at Massachusetts at 7 p.m. on ESPN+. The host Minutewomen are coming off a loss at Rhode Island on Monday. Another A-10 game has George Washington at Fordham at 7 p.m.

On Thursday, Rutgers is at Nebraska in the Big Ten at 8 p.m., while Penn State is at Northwestern the same time.

In the showdown game of the night No. 3 Louisville is at No. 4 North Carolina State at 7:30 p.m. in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

And that’s the report.

In the Big East, St. John’s is at traveling partner Seton Hall at Walsh Gym in South Orange, N.J.

In other games of note,