The Guru Report: Drexel, Villanova, and Delaware Sweep While UConn Wins Big Celebrating the Return of Paige Bueckers and No. 15 Maryland Edges No. 10 Indiana

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PHILADELPHIA — When Drexel met William & Mary in the first of two down in Williamsburg, Va., at the end of last month, the Dragons escaped with a double overtime victory to keep alive their long win streak at that time in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA).

The second time around up here in the Daskalakis Athletic Center Friday night things went much better against the Tribe and the outcome was decided much quicker on the way to a 63-43 victory to hold Drexel’s re-gained one-game lead at the start of the final two weekends of regular season competition.

“I was really happy with our start tonight, to come out and set the tone defensively from the tap as a goal of ours,” said Drexel coach Amy Mallon. “Drexel basketball, what we do on the defensive end is we limit and contest the looks they are getting, but on the offensive end we get a good shot.

“We do that by moving the ball and making sure we hit that open person.”

Drexel (22-3,l 14-1 CAA) gained a season sweep on Delaware and back to sole possession of first place down in Newark last Sunday and needs to win two of its remaining three games earn the No. 1 seed in the CAA tournament the Dragons will host in two weekends to pursue a second straight championship and automatic bid to the NCAA tourney.

The home team defensively smothered the Tribe (10-16, 5-10) in the second and third period, holding them to five points and eight points consecutively.

“When you play defense like that and have that be the result, that’s what you’re looking to do,” Mallon explained. “That sets the momentum for you. When we start out not on the right tone defensively, you can see it affect our offense, and vice versa. When we are not making shots, our defense tends to lack in areas.

“In the second and third quarter, to give up five points and eight points, that was something we talked about even at halftime.”

William & Mary’s top scorer Riley Casey was held to four points and failed to hit one from deep, a far cry from the earlier meeting between the two teams when Casey scored 24 points.

Hannah Nihill was one short of her career steals with four steals, while Tessa Brugler blocked three shots.

“I like to protect the rim and like my teammates to know they can trust me if they get beat on defense, help them when they need it,” Brugler said. “It makes them more comfortable defending the perimeter.”

Brugler was 8-for-12 for 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while Keishana Washington, who reached 40 in their last meeting, scored 20. Nihill scored 12, and dealt eight assists, one short of her career-high. 

“We got off to a really good start,” Brugler said. “That helps with our confidence by being able to keep moving on offense, and that makes it harder for the other team to guard all five of us when we are moving.”

The disparity enable Mallon once again to give the full roster playing time and increase the experience of the bench.

Sunday is Senior Day at 2 p.m., hosting Elon and while it is bittersweet, with the CAA tourney coming here it’s not farewell.

“I think we are right where we need to be,” Mallon said. “And I said to the seniors I am going to squeeze every ounce of whatever you have in you, out for the tournament before your careers are over, every say.”

Elon will be coming here Sunday having given Delaware a handful before the Blue Hens prevailed 65-61 Friday morning at home on Education Day.

The Blue Hens’ (19-6, 13-2) only two losses in CAA play were the ones here and down in Newark to the Dragons.

The Phoenix (15-10, 7-8) had a five-game win streak snapped Friday morning.

“We put 40 minutes on our board today, from start to finish!” said Delaware coach Natasha Adair. “For Elon, they had some people back — Evonna McGill and Ariana Nance are back — those are two key starters for them that provide instant offensive for them. We knew this was going to be a dog fight.”

The game was tight down the stretch with Delaware outscoring Elon 10-5 over the final 1:19 to claim the four-point triumph.

Jasmine Dickey, a semifinalist for the Becky Hammon mid-major player of the year award, scored 25 points for the Blue Hens and grabbed 11 rebounds, while Lizzie O’Leary had 15 points and a pair of steals, and while Ty Battle scored 11 and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Elon’s McGill scored 21 points, while Brie Perpignan scored 12 points.

Tyler Treadore scored 11 points.

Delaware finishes up Sunday with its Senior Day hosting William & Mary at 1 p.m.

Towson continued to hold the third spot, on Friday defeating Hofstra 73-50 at home in suburban Baltimore as Alie Kubek scored 18 points and Aleah Nelson scored 16, while Kylie Kornegay-Lucas had eight points and 11 rebounds.

The triumph set a season-win record for the Tigers (21-5, 12-3 CAA), while Hofstra fell to 6-17 overall and 3-12 in the conference.

Siegrist Passes 30 Again as Villanova Romps: The Wildcats did it with offense and defense finishes up its last regular season on the road this weekend beginning with a 72-36 win over Butler in the Big East Friday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Maddy Siegrist exploded again for Villanova (20-7, 14-4 Big East) this time scoring 31 points, shooting 13-of-18 from the field, and five for eight from beyond the arc. Lior Garzon scored 19.

Celena Taborn scored 12 for Butler (1-25, 0-17), which had yet to win a Big East game with one game remaining Sunday.

Villanova has won 12 of 13 and 17 of 19 with 21 seasons of 20 wins before the Big East tournament and Denise Dillon has combined win seven 20-win seasons in 19 years as a head coach at Drexel and her alma mater at Villanova, the last two with the Wildcats.

Siegrist has scored 30 or more points in six of her last nine games. On Friday she moved into third place on the Wildcats career scoring charts past Trish Juhline with 1,688 points, below just the late Nancy Bernhardt and Shelly Pennefather, which baring injury or other mishap will likely come next season.

On Sunday Villanova finishes at Xavier at 2 p.m. in Cincinnati ahead of next weekend’s Big East tournament at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn.

Meanwhile, DePaul was upset at home by Seton Hall 94-90 in Wintrtust Arena in Chicago dropping the Blue Demons to 21-9 overall and 13-6 in the Big East. This means the worst Villanova can finish is third and if DePaul wins at Creighton on Sunday the Wildcats will finish second by a half game.

Sonya Morris had 28 points celebrating her Senior Night for DePaul will freshman Aneesah Morrow had 16 points and 15 rebounds, her 22nd straight double double and 25th overall, best in the nation.

Only three other players have scored 20 or more double doubles in a row in NCAA history though a fourth came through this week with Aliyah Boston of top-ranked South Carolina.

Lexi Held had 11 points and seven assists and Deja Church had 11 points.

Lauren Park Lane had 31 points, 17 in the third quarter, for Seton Hall (16-11, 11-8).

DePaul is Creighton at noon on Sunday at noon.

Meanwhile, the other Big East and national news Friday night was the return of No. 7 UConn’s Paige Bueckers, the consensus national player of the year as a freshman who missed all but six games this season after a knee injury.

The native of Minneapolis scored eight points in 12 minutes in a 93-38 wipeout at home in Hartford over St. John’s in the XL Center.

“It’s been a mental challenge for sure, a physical challenge as well,” Bueckers said. “But I’m just so excited and I don’t think words can explain how excited I am to be out there.”

Freshman Azzi Fudd had 19 points for UConn (21-5, 15-1), while Aaliyah Edwards scored 16, and Christyn Williams, Olivia Nelson-Ododa and freshman Caroline Ducharme each scored 13 points.

The Red Storm (11-17, 7-11) got nine points each from Camree Clegg and Kadaja Bailey.

“I thought it was what it was,” Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma said of Bueckers’ performance after he improved his runnerup all-time victory total to 1,140 just nine behind the record 1,149 held by Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer, whose Cardinal finishes its Pac-12 season Saturday. UConn hosts Providence Sunday.

“I expected what I expected. I didn’t expect her to go out there and be bad. I think it was great. I didn’t expect her to play for 30 minutes. I knew there were going to be some plays that she was going to make that other kids on our team have a hard time making. She got just enough feet back under her. We see how she does (Saturday) and Sunday.

“At one point in the game, I asked her, `How is it? She obviously was excited, ecstatic, and beaming that she is back playing basketball. It was in a game that was a fun game to play in, for the most part.

“I don’t think there is any way that St. John’s is reflective of the type of team that they are. Tonight, was one of those games, that is what we were (reflective of the team.).

Added Bueckers, “It’s been tough. Mentally. Physically. I’ve never had to miss out on a season for an injury before so that was definitely new. I think with me, it doesn’t take a village, it takes villages with how hard and hard-headed stubborn I am.

“Both my doctors, our athletic trainer, our strength coach, all of my teammates and coaches, I am just super grateful for them and all they’ve done for me. Just keeping me positigve and just being there for me whenever I need them.”

Bueckers’ first basket came on a buzzer beater.

“It won’t be me if it wasn’t something extra,” she said. “It was a lot of fun. The way we’ve handled adversity has been really inspiring.”

Said Fudd of Bueckers’ return, “I really think that we have had a different kind of energy about us since Paige has been back.”

This is the first time UConn has been at full strength since early December.

Nationally Noted: In the one game of note beyond the return of Bueckers with UConn, in the logjam at the top that is the Big Ten, on Friday night, No. 13 Maryland upset No. 10 Indiana 67-64 at home in the IXFINITY Center in College Park, Md., and clinched a top four seed in next week’s Big Ten tournament, precise seeding within two through four to be determined Sunday after the final games.

Angel Reese had 20 points for the Terrapins (21-7, 13-4 Big Ten), while Diamond Miller scored 16 and Katie Benzan scored 10 and hit a baby jumper with 11.8 seconds left in regulation to seal the win over the Hoosiers (19-7, 11-15).

The win gained a split with Indiana and was Maryland coach Brenda Frese’s 25th win over a Top 10 team in 20 years coaching the Terrapins. The Hoosiers beat the Terrapins for the first time ever early this season.

Grace Berger scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Indiana, while Ali Patberg scored 13 in what was the third straight loss for the Hoosiers following a sweep in both arenas last weekend by Iowa.

“This game is going to be one we’ll always remember,” Frese said. “A really special one when that really sums up our season. When you talk about the adversity we had to play through this game, I thought we set the tone early with our defense, with our rebounding and really taking take care of the basketball and we had to do all that. This team is battled-tested. They didn’t even flinch when the game was close.”

Looking Ahead: Locally, on Saturday, Temple will try to snap out of a losing streak in its last home game Saturday on Senior Day when the Owls host Tulane at 2 p.m. in McGonigle Hall in an American Athletic Conference game. Penn likewise wraps up the Ivy home schedule hosting Dartmouth at 2 p.m. in The Palestra  and then finishes next Friday at Princeton, which on Saturday (today) hosts Harvard at 2 p.m. 

Rider hosts St. Peter’s at 2 p.m. in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, while on the road in the Atlantic 10 finishing up, St. Joseph’s is at Duquesne in Pittsburgh and La Salle is at George Washington. Lehigh hosts Lafayette in the Patriot League.

Nationally, in the Pac-12 Saturday, No. 2 Stanford hosts Washington at 3 p.m., while at the same time Oregon is at Utah, Southern Cal at 2 p.m. is at Utah, UCLA is at Arizona State.

In the Atlantic 10, Rhode Island is at Dayton for a chance to split the series and tie for first in the Atlantic 10 at 1 p.m.

Buffalo is at Kent State at 1 p.m. and Toledo is at Eastern Michigan at 2 p.m. in the Mid-American Conference.

In the Big 12, Texas Tech is at Iowa State at 2 p.m., Kansas is at Baylor at 3 p.m., and TCU is at Texas at 8 p.m.

Locally on Sunday some of which repeats, Villanova is at Xavier, Drexel hosts Elon while Delaware hosts William & Mary, in the Big Ten, Penn State hosts Minnesota, while Rutgers is at Illinois.

And that’s the report.