The Guru Report: Near Local Sweep With Wins By Penn, Princeton, La Salle, Rider, and Lehigh While Temple Dismantled by AAC-Leader UCF

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PHILADELPHIA — The way things played out in the Ivy League Saturday night, Penn may not be willing to cry over spilt milk but there are tears to be shed over Friday’s loss here in The Palestra to Yale.

That’s because Harvard got upset at Cornell 52-49 in Ithaca, New York. So playing out what’s left of the regular season in a two-way fight between the Quakers and Crimson It looks like the two are likely to land in a fourth-place tie at 7-7 with Penn having put Brown away 67-53. The top three berths are already claimed by Princeton, Columbia, and Yale. 

But had Penn topped the Bulldogs, the Quakers could finish a game in front of Harvard, possibly two if you want to take it a step further involving the loss here in a game that got away down the stretch several weeks ago to the Crimson. 

Stranger things have happened but if in the remaining games wins come at Cornell Wednesday and Dartmouth here Saturday, the remaining path is a win at Princeton.

Yes, that seems daunting but if Villanova was able recently to snap a UConn string of 169 straight conference triumphs hope should not be abandoned. Heck, maybe the Crimson lose their last game besides the expected one to those front running Tigers.

But having avoided making you wait for the implications part of this opening section of the Sunday morning edition let’s turn to how things stood on the court at the Cathedral of Basketball Saturday night following a near-total collapse Friday and the answer was pretty good, all things considered.

With the old-fashioned Friday-Saturday quick turnaround in the Ivy League that’s no longer a weekly operation, it was in play Saturday against the Bears.

Mia Lakstigala had a career-high 21 points for Penn (10-13, 5-6 Ivy), helped by her matching career high of -5-for- 10 from deep.

“We came out with a lot of energy, especially after losing yesterday,” Lakstigala said. “We came out hungry, and ready to defend our home court. Everybody came out and played really hard.”

She also had seven rebounds and two assists.

While Lakstigala became the dominant scorer on a night of personal bests, Kayla Padilla switched roles, performing as a dominant helper with a personal best 11 assists. That’s the most helpers since Erin Ladley handed out 13 against Dartmouth in 2001.

Penn coach Mike Mclaughlin revealed a change in strategy the staff used with Padilla.

“She is getting so much attention with the ball, so we tried to get Kayla to be in action when she does not have the ball,” he said. “She gave herself up and facilitated the ball pretty well. We needed the other players to get involved and she has the ability to make them better in a lot of areas. She can shoot it, score it, pass it, dribble it effectively. She was good tonight.”

Lakstigala talked about the change with Padilla from her perspective.

“The other teams guard her really hard,” she said. “She is good at passing and scoring. She did a great job of giving us a lift the entire game.”

Penn forced Brown (6-18, 1-11) into 18 turnovers, 11 by steals, and mined the effort into 21 points. The Bears had a lowly four points off Quakers errors. On the offensive glass, Penn dominated 18-2 earning a lopsided 14-0 second chance points advantage. Kennedy Suttle and Jordan Obu each had four oballs on the offensive glass. 

McLaughlin also noted the work of McGurk and Suttle.

“Mandy and Kennedy are two that you won’t talk about statistically,” McLaughlin said. “Mandy put pressure on the ball but stole the ball. 

“You look at Kennedy. She competes for every ball that is in the air and on the ground. That’s why we have won over the years because our grit has been tough. They’re the ones who won’t get the headline. But they are the ones who win games.”

McGurk scored 10 points, a season high tying against previous Division I squads. Suttle grabbed seven rebounds while swiping a pair of steals.

With 19 points and 11 rebounds, Obi picked up her sixth double double and three in her last four. 

Brown’s Isabella  Maurico scored 21 points and Kyla Jones scored 16 with four steals. Maurico made all six foul shot attempts and was 6-of-11 from the field.

“In this league anything can happen,” McLaughlin said, discussing the turnaround from Friday and prospects for the postseason Ivy affair at Harvard. “We have to go to Cornell on Wednesday, a make-up game from earlier in the year when we had Covid. A quick turnaround, but I think they’re enjoying what they are doing.”

Princeton, meanwhile, continued to slice and dice the rest of the league.

Playing an Ivy team the Tigers could see again in the league playoffs, Princeton completed another weekend sweep burning Yale 74-36 at home in Jadwin Gym.

Unlike the previous meeting when Yale lead as late as 40-36 with 8:44 left before the Tigers rallied for a 61-49 triumph in New Haven, Conn., in this one, the Bulldogs got an early 2-0 lead and no more with Princeton up 21-11 after one period, 38-19 at the half, and 20 points was the closest the opposition got the rest of the way.

Kaitlin Chen and Abby Meyers each scored 14 for the Tigers (19-4, 11-0 Ivy), while Grace Stone scored 12 and Julia Cunningham had 11 points.

On Friday, Princeton forced Brown into 31 turnovers while the defense was just as tough on Yale (14-10, 7-5) forcing 25 errors. 

Next up is the second Ivy 1-2 showdown at Columbia Wednesday at 5 p.m. on ESPNU.

The Lions stayed a game behind, routing Dartmouth 60-42 on Schiller Court at Levien Gym on New York City’s Upper West Side as reserve Sienna Durr scored 15 points, shooting 7-for-11 from the field.

Columbia (19-4, 10-1 Ivy) had another program first, reaching 10 wins in Ivy competition for the first time in 36 seasons as a member of the Ancient Eight. The Lions can pull into a tie at the top beating Princeton Wednesday when the Tigers visit.

Victoria Page’s 10 points were the only double digits collected by anyone on the Big Green (3-21, 2-10). 

Abbey Hsu had 13 points behind Durr while Kaitlyn Davis had eight points and nine boards.

Columbia led 30-20 at the half, reached 20 points differential in the third and grew it to 27 along the way to the final score.

“I’m happy everybody got in the game today,” said Lions coach Megan Griffith. “It’s always good when you can have players six through 15 get onto the floor and have the first five cheering for them just as hard as those guys every day. I’m really proud of our team and just love our culture.”

Of course the native of King of Prussia in suburban Philadelphia saw plenty of bench clearing nights on the staff of Courtney Banghart at Princeton before returning to her alma mater to build the renaissance in New York City.

“It’s really cool, we haven’t been in this position before,” Durr said, anticipating Wednesday’s showdown. “It just shows how much hard work and dedication that we put in ever since before I was a freshman and since I’ve been here and over the year we were off.”

Harvard, meanwhile, with a chance to put some distance from Penn, did the opposite, being swept on the weekend on the New York leg following up Friday’s loss at Columbia by being edged at Cornell 52-49 in Ithaca, N.Y.

Harmoni Turner had 19 points for the Crimson (12-12, 6-6), while Lola Mullaney scored 11, and freshman Elena Rodriguez had 10 against Cornell (9-13, 4-7).

Next up is the last home game for the regular season hosting Princeton Saturday at 2 p.m. on ESPN+.

La Salle Tops Saint Louis: A 40-21 halftime lead on the Bilikens almost got away in a big third quarter by the opposition but the Explorers subdued Saint Louis over the final ten minutes to gain a 73-65 win in an Atlantic 10 game played at home in Tom Gola Arena.

The advantage did sink to a point with 8:13 left in regulation before Claire Jacobs and Molly Masciantonio hit consecutive shots from deep for La Salle (14-11, 7-6 A-10).

It was a fine afternoon for the Explorers offense, with Kayla Spruill scoring 17, Claire Jacobs 13, her twin sister Amy and Jaye Hayes, and Masciantonio  with 12 each while Masciantonio had six rebounds and seven assists without any turnovers against Saint Louis (8-16, 4-8), which had a three-game win streak in the series between the two. Spruill and Amy Jacobs each connected on four shots from deep.

It’s the first time in three seasons five La Salle players scored in double figures.

The Explorers’ last home game of the regular season is Wednesday when Duquesne visits at 6 p.m.

La Salle is currently in sixth place down the stretch before the A-10 tournament in Wilmington next month with a chance to land a fifth seed while Saint Joseph’s is seventh with the same chance as the Explorers to earn a sixth seed.

Rider Wins Second Straight: The Broncs celebrated Senior Day, beating Canisius 71-57 at Alumni Gym in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) game in Lawrenceville, N.J., the second straight for Rider (8-16, 6-9 MAAC) and a chance for a season sweep of Marist when the Red Flashes visit Monday at 7 p.m.

“Really strong home win,” said veteran Rider coach Lynn Milligan. “Overall, defensively we were pretty locked in today, and offensively we were in a flow, scored in a bunch of different ways.

“We moved extremely well in our zone and took away some of the looks they wanted to get.

“I wanted (senior) Theresa (Wolak) to put her jersey on and hear her name because she deserves that. She’s been a big part of the program the past four years.

“You can get more shots at the basket and in turn you get more points,” Milligan said. “Amanda (Mobley) and Jess (Jessika Schiffer) did a really good job running the offense, Nay (senior Lenaejha Evans) was really clean coming off screens. Mick (Mikayla Firebaugh) was turning and going to the basket instead of looking to pass.”

“I just wanted to go out and put on a show for my family, and we were able to go out there and get a win for them,” Evans said. “I just think about the good times I’ve had at Rider and want them to continue.”

It was the first season sweep of the season for Rider, which honored its two seniors before the game.

Raphaela Toussaint had 18 points, while Firebaugh scored 14, and Evans and Anna Ekerstedt each scored 10 for the Broncs.

Lehigh Rains Three-Balls: The Mountain Hawks set a program record as well as one for the Patriot League connecting on 17 three-pointers on the way to a 73-49 win over Loyola, Md., at home at Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa. 

The victory in a tight race at the top of the Patriot League earned Lehigh (18-7, 10-4 Patriot) a bye to the quarterfinals in next month’s tournament in which the Mountain Hawks were upset winners last season earning a bid to the NCAA tournament.

In sweeping the Greyhounds, Lehigh has won six straight in the series.

Mackenzie Kramer had 23 points tying a personal best connected seven shots from deep, while while Emma Grothaus scored 13, Ella Stemmer collected 11, and Megan O’Brien scored 10. Clair Steele had eight assists.

“Kenzie set the tone for us right from the get-go today,” said Lehigh coach Sue Troyan. “She was 3-for-3 within the first two minutes of the game and set the tempo for how we wanted to play and how we wanted to hunt 3’s. I’m really proud of the team, honestly, if you look at our 25 field goals and 23 of them were on assists, we talk a lot about sharing the basketball with our program.

“Our team did a great job of that today and identifying shooters on the perimeter.”

Lex Therien scored 16 ad grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds for Loyola, while Devyne Newman scored 15.

The Mountain Hawks on Tuesday travel to Washington, D.C., to visit American University at Bender Arena.

“It’s a big week for us,” Troyan said. “We have four games in an eight day stretch. We’re a little injured, so we purposely held out Megan Walker today, with the hopes we can get her back on Tuesday and Wednesday. (American) is the only team we haven’t played yet this season, so it’ll be a strange back-to-back, but also fortuitous to get to play down there two days in a row and get comfortable with what we’re doing.”

UCF Stymies Temple: A golden opportunity to play the top team in the American Athletic Conference rusted quickly in a lop-sided 68-31 loss to UCF, holding first.

A contingent of alumni players from the program were in the house at McGonigle Hall, including former all-American Marilyn Stephens, who held the all-time career scoring record that was recently surpassed by Mia Davis.

The native of suburban Baltimore wasn’t passing anything Saturday being held to just 1 point.

Kyra Wood had seven points and six rebounds for the Owls (12-11, 7-5 AAC), while Shantay Taylor had six points and four rebounds against the Knights (20-3, 12-1), who came as recently advertised.

“That was really embarassing,” said Temple coach Tonya Cardoza. “That’s not the kind of product I want to put on the floor. Obviously UCF had a lot to do with that, they’re trying to win a championship, and they came in ready to play. But that’s not the product I want to put on the floor.”

When it came down to Davis’ low production, Cardoza said, “They just didn’t us find her.”

Brittney Smith had 14 points for the visitors, Alisha Lewis scored 12, and Kaba Masseny scored 11.

Temple goes to Houston Wednesday for an 8 p.m. tip on ESPN+

D2 Chestnut Hill Keeps Streak Going: The Griffins continue to rack up victims on their historic season, the latest Saturday, a 69-46 win over Wilmington for a season sweep after a home game in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) in Sorgenti Arena.

Morgan Sterner had a career-high 12 points for Chestnut  Hill (22-4, 15-1 CACC). Despite the number of ones, the pressure is on from behind leading by one game over USciences in the Southern Division of the conference.

The Devils have their own motivation, wanting to go out a winner with the university set to merge with Division I Saint Joseph’s this spring.

The two schools have one game each before facing each other at the end of the regular season.

Sterner came off the bench to hit 5-of-6 shots.

Lindsey Lane also scored 12, while Emily Sekerak and Kaitlyn Carter were each perfect 4-for-4 from the field for eight points each.

Bri Hewlett and Brianna Rider each grabbed six rebounds against Wilmington (1-19, 1-14).

The Griffins and Devils will meet Saturday but Chestnut Hill first faces Georgian Court Wednesday at 6 p.m.

Nationally Noted: A major upset on the front end of a back-to-back weekend between the two teams in the Big Ten saw No. 22 Iowa upset No. 5 Indiana in a high-scoring 96-91 road victory at the Hoosiers’ Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana.

Caitlin Clark had 18 points and 12 assists for the winning Hawkeyes (17-7, 11-4 Big Ten), their first triumph at Indiana in 10 seasons since 2012.

All eight Iowa players, including five starters who played, scored in double figures, including Monika Czinano with 22 points, McKenna Warnock in her first game back from injury with 21, Kate Martin (13), and Gabbie Marshall with 10.

Warnock was 6-for-8 from the field, 3-for-4 from deep, and a perfect 6-for-6 from the line.

Iowa on Monday will host Indiana (19-5, 11-3)  at 8 p.m. on the B1G Network, likely with new ranking numbers with the release of the next Associated Press Poll Monday afternoon.

 The Hoosiers got 22 points from Aleksa Gulbe, Grace Berger with 21, Ali Patberg with 18,  Nicole Cardano-Hillary and Chloe Moore-McNeil with 11 each but Mackenzie Holmes was held to eight points.

In the Big 12, No. 6 Iowa State downed visiting No. 15 Oklahoma 89-67 and No. 7 Baylor beat host TCU 78-59 while in the Horizon Conference Green Bay upset visiting IUPUI 71-56.

Dayton beat host Fordham 48-47 in the Atlantic 10 while in the Mid-American Ohio U topped host Bowling Green 82-69.

In the West Coast Conference No. 20 BYU at home beat Gonzaga 68-39.

Looking Ahead: Only four local Division I games Sunday but all key as Villanova hosts DePaul in the Big East on Senior Day at 2 p.m., while at 1 p.m. tied for first in the Colonial Athletic Association on Flohoops Drexel goes for a season sweep meeting Delaware at 1 p.m. at the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark.

Saint Joseph’s looking to move up in the Atlantic 10 hosts George Washington on senior day at Hagan Arena at 2 p.m. and in the Big Ten, Rutgers going for three straight after an 0-12 start in conference play hosts Purdue at 1 p.m. at Jersey Mike’s Arena wearing throwback jerseys to the 1982 season when Rutgers won the last-ever AIAW national tournament the same season the NCAA women’s competition began.

Nationally, with Gameday from ESPN preceding on site, No. 1 South Carolina hosts No. 12 Tennessee at 1 p.m. on ABC in a Southeastern Conference showdown, while other games of note in the Big Ten, Maryland travels to Michigan, in the SEC Florida is at LSU, elsewhere in the Big East, Georgetown is at No. 10 UConn, in the ACC, Virginia Tech is at Louisville, and in the PAC-12, No. 2 Stanford is at Oregon at 4 p.m., and No. 8 Arizona is at Washington State at 3 p.m.

And that is the Sunday AM Guru report.