The Guru Report - Local: Sweep Saturday for Temple, Penn, Princeton, Rider, and Lehigh

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PHILADELPHIA — Temperatures may have hit the frigid marks outdoors here in the East on Saturday but inside the locals turned up the heat with winning performances.

Temple reversed a bad outcome in McGonigle Hall a year ago beating Houston 62-54 in the American Athletic Conference.

The Cougars’ left the building that date with an 89-52 victory.

The other four locals were on the road. 

Penn and Princeton prepared for Monday’s Ivy rivalry day at The Palestra in the first of two between the host Quakers and Tigers by taking league victories up north, Penn winning at Dartmouth, 55-31, while Princeton hopped on Brown 72-39 in league games.

A near-local also triumphed with Columbia winning at Harvard 72-64.

Rider completed a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference road sweep to Western New York in a 92-70 win at Niagara while Lehigh won 72-62 at Loyola of Md. in Baltimore in Patriot League action.

Team Effort Carries Temple over Houston: Everyone got into the act for the Owls (7-6, 2-0 American) in this one, though the leader of the band as most days was graduate star Mia Davis with 22 points and nine rebounds.

The native of Baltimore is now within 112 points of busting the all-time career scoring mark of 2,134 set by the fabled All-American and Philadelphia Sports Hall of Famer Marilyn Stephens leaving as a senior in 1984.

No, when the big moment comes, though none have stated anything yet on the subject, the folks in the athletic department aren’t likely to apply an asterisk with the achievement. It likely will be simple to note that Stephens got there faster in four years.

We’ll return to the topic in a bit but let’s not hold up the rest of Davis’ teammates for getting accolades on this victory.

Alexa Williamson scored 10 and grabbed six rebounds, besides grabbing three steals. Aiya Gourdine had 8 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and a pair of steals. Jasha Clinton hit the boxscore with 7 points and 3 assists, while Emani Mayo collected five points.

“It helps a lot, obviously starting with Mia,” Temple coach Tonya Cardoza of the afternoon’s performance. “She was tough for them to defend and started us off. It might not have been double figures, but we had a lot of guys get on the boxscore.

“That was important because it was hard for them to key off on one because other guys stepped up. We did a good job of taking care of the ball, getting downhill when we needed to. We had a lot of guys get offensive minded.”

Cardoza briefly discussed Davis’ attributes, noting off the court, “she’s the leader, she’s the one who keeps all her teammates together.”

Laila Blair was the lone player in double figures, scoring ten points for Houston (9-7, 2-2), though Cardoza noted she got there because “we did a lot fouling in the end, but, still, that’s the first time this season she was probably that low.”

The game was just the second one played in a month since a loss next door on Dec. 22 to Conference-USA heavyweight Old Dominion.

In that time because of different parties coming up with positive test results involving the coronavirus and the omicron variant two Big Five games involving hosting La Salle and visiting Penn were postponed, the others in conference with a visit put off to UCF and one from SMU. The UCF game has already been reset by the AAC to be played in Orlando, Fla., on January 31.

Prior to the Penn situation, Temple broke a long period of idleness getting a delayed conference opener on the books with a winning visit to Cincinnati 75-68 last Saturday.

Cardoza admitted to concern of acquiring rust, but not a whole lot of contemplation.

“We were going hard in practice. I know it’s not the same as a game. For us, it was good because guys get to rest their bodies or the ailments and get to take it easy. I also feel like it made them a little hungrier to want to get out there and compete. Especially, because it was against Houston, a team that is really tough.

“Based off what happened last year our guys were hungry to want to get out there and prove to them that we’re a different team that we were.”

Maybe even the team she thought she saw and got excited about during the summer workouts.

Meanwhile, Cardoza said it is difficult to try to re-schedule the postponed Big Five games because of the conference schedule the rest of the way, but the possibility exists afterwards.

It’s possible to get in at least one game prior to selection Sunday and one after, pending La Salle and Penn’s situations.

Several times during the two-week break a while back in time and the start of NCAA play North Carolina scheduled a team to stay fresh, so it’s not an NCAA no-no.

But at the moment, it leaves two situations to be addressed.

First, the Big Five final standings.

A key game on Martin Luther King rivalry day Monday, originally set by the Atlantic 10 but also once settled also a Big Five game has La Salle visiting Saint Joseph’s, weather and protocols not withstanding, at Hagan Arena at noon. It will be televised on ESPN+

At the moment, Villanova is done and has clinched a tie at 3-1, the one loss on the Main Line to Temple, which is 1-1, losing at home to the Hawks.

If Saint Joseph’s (2-1) beats La Salle (1-1), the Hawks get a piece of the trophy pie. If the Explorers win, they could share the hardware with ‘Nova by beating Temple and the Owls can share in either a two-way or three-way tie, pending Monday, by sweeping the two postponed games.

Once in the distant past if you gaze at the year-by-year standings, last year there was no formal record keeping because of Penn’s shutdown for the season by the Ivy presidents, you would see a missing game.

One cold winter night in the middle of a Saint Joseph’s game at Villanova, the power went out across campus and after 90 minutes it was decided to call the game and there was no need to restore it because the title was decided elsewhere and neither team had a chance to get in the mix.

There are reasons for the parties to want to play depending what happens between now and March Madness — getting a game into getting ready for participation in postseason play if it comes about. Of course, why bother could also go in play, though then it’s a question of should it be do-able how much Big Five pride is a factor.

The other is Davis’ move to the record. 

At the moment it is a small concern but still one to be on the books with radar should it be that she would be in need of a game or two at the end.

When she scored her 2,000th point early in the season and moved into second place behind Stephens without regards to the extra number small or large coming out of the American tournament, the conservative projection was what would Davis have to average to the final game of the regular season.

Before postponements and protocols returned to be part of the overall collegiate season, the conservative estimate taking the number of games divided into the point differential said about 10.

Revisiting that exercise before Saturday’s game, Davis has scored way above that clip so before learning perhaps only 15 games, not 18 remained, the UCF re-scheduled, the SMU assumed to get re-scheduled, prior to her cleaning up on Houston, the number was a little over seven. 

Consider that she scored 22 in one of them, perhaps the mark will come quicker and once it’s down to 50 on the differential, radar will be possible to see if the magic moment can occur at a home game.

None of this is of a concern to Davis, she just wants to win and get to the NCAA tournament like the rest of the squad.

So in that light, returning to the normal business of finishing this portion of the report, Temple goes to East Carolina on Wednesday at 6 p.m., and then to defending AAC champion and nationally-ranked South Florida Saturday before returning here on Jan. 26 to host Cincinnati.

Penn and Princeton Tune Up for Clash I: Until recent times in the Ivy wars on the women’s side in the last decade dominated by Penn and Princeton, the first time they met each season, they opened 0-0 on the front end of league play at either here or up at Jadwin Gym in central New Jersey, and whichever hosted first, the other hosted at the finish and then vice versa the following season.

The coming of the Ivy tournament changed the back end to not necessarily the last league game because neither side had the taste of playing each other twice in the same week, especially with the latter being the all the Ivy marbles for an automatic bid involved.

The overall format was set to change last season until there was no season.

Preseason, what didn’t change were the forecasts at the top, Princeton was picked first for what would translate to the No. 1 seed and Penn was picked second.

But that was before the protocol-causing cancellations and Penn being disrupted from setting a playing rotation because of the several weeks-long penalties assessed the seniors and juniors on the roster for breaking a university rule.

Along with the disruptions already in the postponement hopper are previously scheduled Penn and Princeton visits to Columbia, which now has moved ahead of Harvard as the other wheel in the battles under alum and now coach Megan Griffith, a native of King of Prussia.

But it looks like the rest of the way is settling, though now the problem off the protocols for Monday is Penn for the moment is only allowing friends and family to campus events, so part of the energy will be missing Monday.

Both teams, however, were energized in New England playing pieces of the northern end of the Ancient Eight, Saturday, as was, for that matter, Columbia, which had the tougher chore visiting Harvard.

In the game involving Penn at Dartmouth, won by the Quakers (7-7, 2-0 Ivy) for the 13th straight time in the series dating to 2014-15, and seventh straight time at the Big Green’s Leede Arena, the home team (1-13, 0-2) was forced into 23 turnovers, the third straight game coach Mike McLaughlin’s bunch has caused 20 or more disruptions.

This one was good for 19 points.

Kayla Padilla scored 13 for the visitors while Jordan Obi scored 12.

Off depth advantage on Penn’s side 21-10, Sydnei Caldwell and Stina Almqvist combined for 16 points and each player shot 50 percent from the floor.

Obi grabbed six rebounds while Padilla, Kennedy Suttle, and Silke Milliman, who is from Dartmouth’s campus town of Hanover, N.H., each had five boards.

No one on Dartmouth scored in double digits, the leader being Rosie Jennings with nine points, and Emma Koch had 10 rebounds.

“We did a really good job throughout the game with good ball pressure,” McLaughlin texted your Guru. “Our effort on the defensive end of the floor was really good. It certainly helped us get out in transition.

“Overall, it was a really solid road win for our team.”

Meanwhile, Princeton continued to roll, winning at Brown’s Pizzitola Center in Providence, R.I., delivering points literally by the dozens.

Ellie Mitchell, Julia Cunningham, Abby Meyers, and Kaitlyn Chen each scored 12 points, while Mitchell made it a double double day with 11 rebounds.

The Tigers (11-4, 3-0 Ivy) forced 21 turnovers by the Bears mining 21 points.

It was also the fourth time Princeton led from the opening tip without needing to do any reclaiming the advantage.

The only double figure performance number by Brown (5-10, 0-3) came from Isabella Mauricio scoring 11 points.

A little further north continuing to make a statement as a difference maker on the two Ivy stalwarts, Columbia topped Harvard 72-64 at the Crimson’s Lavietes Pavilion in Cambridge, Mass.

The Lions (11-3, 2-0 Ivy) took control at the end of the third quarter with a 9-0 run.

The advantage quickly built to 14 points at the start of the final period.

Carly Rivera, Sienna Durr and Hannah Pratt each nailed one from deep in the run on the Crimson (7-9, 1-3), whose longtime coach Kathy Delaney-Smtih is retiring at the end of this season.

“We’ve earned the right to call ourselves a good program and a program that people are preparing for,” Griffith said.

“We reiterated to the team how important it is to start games with a defensive identity in mind and not just let our offense dictate defense.”

Columbia’s Abbey Hsu had 21 points against Harvard (7-9, 1-3), while she also grabbed nine rebounds.

Pratt grabbed nine boards in the second half and overall had a personal best 14, while Nicole Stephens got all 12 of her points in the third and fourth quarters.

Two threes in the final period from Stephens stopped Harvard runs.

“That is the beauty of our team,” Griffith said. “We are just deeper than most teams in our league and we can go to people that might have played smaller roles in the past. If your number is called, you’ve got to step up, and I was really proud of those two specifically tonight.”

Durr scored 14, Kaitlyn Davis had 13 points, with eight rebounds, while Pratt and Rivera each dealt four assists.

Harvard freshman Harmoni Turner had 20 points, while Tess Sussman scored 14, and Lola Mullaney scored 11.

Like many teams across the nation, the previous weeks have not been action-packed for the Lions, having played one game in the previous 32 days heading into the Harvard battle.

The Lions are also involved in the rivalry games on Monday, hosting Cornell (6-8, 1-2) at 2 p.m. on Schiller Court at Levien Gymnasium.

Rider Rides Evans to Rout Niagara: The Broncs gave up an opening score by Niagara (5-8,  2-3 MAAC) and then answered with a barrage from Raphaela Touissant and Lenaejha Evans on a 9-0 run.

To say that the Broncs (5-10, 3-3)  flooded the Purple Eagles is an understatement considering the margin at one stage was plus 33.

Evans finished with a career-high 30 points as Rider reached 90 points for the first time since collecting 92 on Iona eight seasons ago in 2014 and first time in regulation since scoring 95 on Princeton two decades ago in 2002.

Molly Lynch, off the bench when Makayla Firebaugh got hurt, had a personal best nine points, 7 assists, and 24 minutes.

“I knew when Makayla went down, that I had to step up,” Lynch said, referring to veteran Rider mentor Lynn Milligan. “Coach knows I can perform that way and she gave me that confidence when I went in.

“Coach always tells me that I need to be ready. Not knowing when you’re going to go in, you have to be ready any time.”

As for Milligan, “I’m just really proud of the kids, it was a great weekend. Two great wins on the road, and two wins where we put a game plan in and executed it. We did a really good job of getting th looks we wanted today.”

Toussaint scored 23 points and Jessika Schiffer scored 12.

The two teams make it a quick home-and-home, Niagara Tuesday at 7 p.m. visiting the Broncs in Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville, N.J.

Lehigh Ends Skid:  A two-game losing streak overall and in the Patriot League came to an end for the Mountain Hawks (11-5, 3-2 Patriot League), propelled by rookie Ella Stemmer, who had 15 points, but 12 alone in the first quarter.

Mackenie Kremmer scored 15 points, Emma Grothaus Collected 12, and Megan Walker scored 10.

“I thought Ella Stepped in and gave us a huge spark off the bench today,” said veteran Lehigh coach Sue Troyan. “We’ve talked a lot about the importance of players stepping up in Frannie’s (Hottiger’s) absence and providing a scoring punch to our offense.

“We have a number of players who are capable of doing what Ella did today, it will be important for our continued development that players trust in their abilities in similar ways.”

Lehigh shot 14 from deep, within two of the program and conference record set against American last season.

“We are at our best and a pretty tough team to defend when all our players look at themselves as scoring threats in this offense,” Troyan said.

“I thought we played some pretty tough defense today and forced Loyola (3-11, 0-4) into tough shots. Defensive rebounding will also be a priority for us the rest of the way.”

Next up in the first of two games at home in Stabler Arena is a visit from Navy at 6 p.m. on Wednesday night in Bethlehem, broadcast on ESPN+.

Looking Ahead: On Sunday, Drexel and Delaware end their regular weekend two-game schedules at home, the Dragons hosting Hofstra at 2 p.m. on Flohoops at the Daskalakis Athletic Center, while on the same network, Delaware will host Northeastern at 1 p.m. at the Bob Carpenter Arena in Newark.

Then on Tuesday the two teams will attempt to makeup postponed games due to COVID protocols from New Year’s Eve, Drexel hosting Towson and Delaware hosting James Madison.

Then next Sunday, the two long local rivals will meet for the first of two games, playing at Drexel at 2 p.m.

Villanova finishes its Midwest road trip in the Big East, trying to bounce back from Friday’s loss at DePaul, visiting Marquette at 2 p.m. on CBSSN.

In the Big Ten, Wisconsin visits Rutgers at 2 p.m. in Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, N.J., while Illinois at the same time will visit Penn State at the Lady Lions’ Bryce Jordan Center in State College.

Both games will air on the B1G+ network.

And that is the local report.