The Guru Report: Princeton Clinches Ivy Title Tie While Penn Stays in the Race and La Salle Wins an A-10 Thriller

By Mel Greenberg @womhopsguru

PHILADELPHIA — Though Courtney Banghart has moved on to build a new force at North Carolina in the Atlantic Coast Conference, the force she built at Princeton in the Ivy League continues to thrive under Carla Berube who previously gained her familiarity with powerhouses playing for UConn at the start of the Huskies’ domination of the Big East Conference and then as a Division III coach at Tufts for 17 years before Banghart’s departure three seasons ago.

The Tigers claimed a sweep with its second lopsided triumph over the new kid on the block Wednesday night, a 73-53 lopsided win over host Columbia at the second-place Lions’ Levien Gym off Broadway in New York’s Upper West Side to claim a share of the regular season Ivy title and the No. 1 seed in the four-team each league men’s and women’s tourneys in two weeks at Harvard in Cambridge, Mass.

Columbia this season had replaced Penn as the prime challenger via standings record and having previously spent a long stint on Banghart’s staff prior to returning to her alma mater, Lions coach Megan Griffith, a native of King of Prussia, Pa., knew what was necessary for the New Yorkers to claim arrival of the equal to Princeton (20-4, 12-0 Ivy).

The rebuild has been impressive but unless the third time is the charm in the tourney, the best at the moment for Columbia (19-5, 10-2) to claim is best of the rest of the Ancient Eight.

Princeton bolted away from the outset and led by as many as 30 points in the first half.

In this one, Kaitlyn Chen scored 27 for the Tigers, while Grace Stone scored 19 points while Ellie Mitchell grabbed 13 rebounds. 

It’s the 16th time Princeton will finish ahead of the Ivy pack, a status that was good enough for an NCAA automatic bid until six seasons ago when the Ivy presidents became the last to ok a conference tourney. It’s also the 14th time the Tigers reached 20 wins on the season.

That span saw the Tigers several times become the only Ivy team to ever earn a ranking in the Associated Press women’s poll as well as become the sole league team to receive an at-large NCAA bid.

Columbia’s Kaitlyn Davis scored 17 points, while Abbey Hsu scored 13 and the Lions to come within 15 points in the third period but no more.

A huge crowd of 1,1913 filled Columbia’s venue at the game nationally televised on ESPNU.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t show up today,” said Griffith. “It’s a shame in this environment. Everyone came out supporting us. That’s a very good team. I’ve always supported that team. They have a lot of talented players but it’s not about talent, it’s about discipline, intelligence, and teamwork.

“We got the shots we wanted. For me it’s a lack of discipline. When you win, you walk around at a different level. Princeton’s players know that. All they’ve known is winning.”

The Lions on Saturday will host Brown at 2 p.m.

Penn, meanwhile, after a roller coaster season, is not going to go quietly.

The Quakers, playing a makeup game as did Princeton, used a 19-7 fourth quarter to win at Cornell 70-57 and stay in the playoff hunt.

Three of the spots are now claimed by Princeton, Columbia, and Yale.

Princeton can likely temporarily help Penn’s cause by winning at Harvard (Saturday 2 p.m.) with the Quakers’ needing to win at home the same day and time in The Palestra against Dartmouth.

That would give Mike McLaughlin’s team a one-game lead with one remaining.

Unfortunately, Penn’s last game the following week will be at Princeton, though a win in Jadwin Gym would gain the fourth and final seed if the Tigers swept the Crimson, even if Harvard beats Dartmouth in its final game.

Looking back when it’s all over, leads that got away in a recent home game with Yale as well as one with Harvard will have been where the damage occurred.

As for the details Wednesday in the Penn (11-13, 6-6 Ivy) win, Kayla Padillia scored 25, nailing four shots from deep against Cornell (9-14, 4-8), while Kennedy Suttle matched a career high with 17 rebounds, 11 on the offensive end, and Mia Lakstigala scored 16 points.

The game had 10 lead changes and six ties, while Penn led by as many as 13 in the contest.

La Salle Beats the Clock: A put back with less than a second on the clock by La Salle’s Claire Jacobs gave the Explorers a 67-66 victory over Duquesne at home in Tom Gola Arena, boosting them into fifth place ahead of Fordham, which was upset on the road by Richmond.

Precious Johnson had given Duquesne (11-16, 6-9 A-10) a one-point lead with seven seconds left in regulation. 

The Explorers (15-11, 8-6) advanced the ball and Gabby Crawford shot an attempted three-pointer but it missed. Jacobs got the rebound in the center of the lane, an d put the ball on the rim. The ball rolled on the rim then dropped through the net with the game winner with 0.1 second left.

“I saw the ball coming to me, and there was not much time to get a shot up either way,” Jacobs said. “It was exciting.”

Following the score the clock was reset to 0.2 but as the ball was thrown toward the rim, Jacobs caught the pass for her third steal as the final horn sounded.

With 20 seconds remaining, Duquesne led 64-63 but Molly Masciantonio stole the ball from Tess Myers, who fouled Masciantonio.

She hit both attempts from the line to put the Explorers up by win with 19.9 seconds left.

  

“We were going to foul, but I knew when the girl was coming using her left hand, I used my right to kick it out,” Masciantonio said. “And it was a good play if I made my foul shots and I did.”

La Salle, which finishes Saturday at George Washington in the nation’s capital, have won three straight.

“I think we are playing our best basketball right now,” said Explorers coach Mountain MacGillivray. “I think we are in a good spot. The team is supporting each other. They’re together, and that means a lot this time of year.”

Kayla Spruill scored 17 points, Jacobs scored 16, and Masciantonio 13, while reserve Crawford scored 12.

Duquesne’s Libby Bazelak scored 25 and Amaya Hamilton scored 16.

Meanwhile, the game we were at here in Hagan Arena in the A-10, Saint Joseph’s battled league-leader Dayton but eventually slipped away allowing the Flyers a 59-43 victory in the Hawks’ final home game of the regular season.

Dayton (22-4, 13-1 A-10) closed strong scoring 13 of the final 17 points in the game with the Hawks (10-16, 6-8).

Talya Brugler scored 14 points, shooting 5-of-9 for the Hawks, while Laila Fair grabbed nine rebounds. Lovin Marsicano and Mackenzie Smith each scored seven points.

The Hawks will finish Saturday afternoon against Duquesne in Pittsburgh.

Temple Falls in Houston: The host Cougars in Texas used 50 percent shooting from deep to down the Owls 80-60 in an American Athletic Conference that followed Temple’s blowout loss back in Philadelphia Saturday though in this one Mia Davis was back in scoring form collecting 24 points, while Caranda Perea scored 13.

Temple (12-12, 7-6) was within eight with four minutes to play when Houston (13-13, 6-8) took off on a 13-4 run to gain permanent control.

The Owls return home Saturday in McGonigle Hall at 2 p.m. for Senior Day and to host Tulane on ESPN+ before finishing up next week with two games back to back at SMU in Dallas, one a makeup from a postponed game earlier in Philadelphia.

Lehigh Swept by American: Following a second-half scoring drought in the first of two against the Eagles in the nation’s capital, the Mountain Hawks in this one jumped to an 18-8 lead and then got outscored in each of the next three quarters in Bender Arena and fell to American the second day in a row in the Patriot League, this time 61-52.

Frannie Hottinger scored a game-high 18 points for Lehigh (18-9, 10-6 Patriot), which has lost three of its last four. Emma Grothaus had 13 points and 10 rebounds against American (18-8, 11-5).

The Mountain Hawks struggled beyond the arc shooting 2-for-22 from deep. 

Riley DeRubbo scored 11 for American, while Ivy Bales, Jade Edwards, and Emily Johns each scored 10 and Edwards also grabbed 15 rebounds.

The second in the long-running rivalry in the season series with Lafayette will be home Saturday at 7 p.m. in Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa.

Chestnut Hill Upset By Georgian Court: The magic of the season for the D2 Griffins, who had moved up to second in the NCAA East Region Rankings earlier, vanished in a 62-55 home loss in their final home game of the season, the first home setback after nine wins.

Coupled with USciences’ win over Jefferson, the Devils and Chestnut Hill are tied for first in the Southern Division of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference. (CACC).

They play each other Saturday at USciences  1 p.m. with the winner gaining the top seed in the conference tournament.

Bri Hewlett was the only player in double figures for Chestnut Hill (22-5, 15-2 CACC). Georgian Court is 12-12 overall and 9-8 in the league.

USciences is facing its final days as a program with the school set to merge at the end of the semester with Division I Saint Joseph’s.

Nationally Notable: No. 7 UConn, climbing further back to its long residency in the top five in the weekly Associated Press women’s poll, unintentionally teased its fan base prior to hosting Marquette in a Big East women’s contest in Hartford’s XL Center when Paige Bueckers, out with a knee injury since December, was out with the team and dressed going through pre-game warmups. The school discounted an appearance saying the action was part of her rehab program.

Then the Huskies went out and smashed Marquette 69-38 claiming the top seed in next weekend’s Big East Tournament at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., which comes with claiming their 28th regular-season conference crown — 19 in the old Big East, seven in the American Athletic Conference, and now two in the reconfigured Big East.

“Winning is a difficult thing,” said Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma, who temporarily moved within one closer but still nine away from Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer’s Division I women’s record of 1,148. The second-ranked Cardinal play Thursday night with one more before the PAC-12 tournament.

UConn (20-5, 13-1 Big East) hosts St. John’s Friday and Providence Sunday to finish the regular season.

“Sometimes here in Connecticut, we’ve made it look like it’s easy, and people get the impression that winning is easy, and it’s not. … I’m proud of this team, and everybody involved with the program should be proud.”

Freshman Azzi Fudd had 13 points, 11 of which came in the second half, against the Golden Eagles, while Olivia Nelson-Ododa had 10 points, and Aaliyah Edwards scored 10.

Auriemma said Bueckers has a meeting with the team doctor Thursday. “Then we’ll see what happens.”

Hope is high she could be ready for the tournament.

Elsewhere, most of the action Wednesday involving ranked teams occurred in the Big 12 where No. 5 Baylor on the road won at Oklahoma State 65-58, No. 11 Texas won at Kansas State 62-51, No. 20 Oklahoma won at TCU, 92-57, and No. 9 Iowa State won at Kansas 85-59.

However, in a mkeup game, Colorado upset visiting No. 25 Oregon in double overtime after the Ducks had just moved into a tie for the last poll spot on Monday.

Looking Ahead: Locally on Thursday No. 21 Iowa is at Rutgers at 8 p.m. in Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, N.J., in the Big Ten on the conference network, while Penn State is at No. 17 Ohio State.

In the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Rider is at Iona in New Rochelle, N.Y. at 7 p.m.

Elsewhere in the Big Ten, No. 6 Michigan trying to finish first is at Michigan State at 6 p.m.

In the SEC, top-ranked South Carolina is at Texas A&M at 8:30 p.m. on the SECN; as is No. 15 Florida at Vanderbilt at 6:30 p.m., while No. 16 Tennessee hosts Mississippi State at 6:30 p.m.; No. 8 LSU hosts Alabama at 8 p.m.; No. 25 Georgia is at Arkansas.

In the ACC, No. 4 Louisville is at Pittsburgh at 6 p.m.; No.; 22 Georgia Tech is at Florida State at 6 p.m.; No. 23 Virginia Tech hosts Miami; No. 18 North Carolina is at Virginia; No. 14 Notre Dame hosts Clemson.

In a 1-2 showdown in the ASun No. 24 Florida Gulf Coast is at Liberty while in the PAC-12 No. 12 Arizona hosts UCLA; Stanford hosts Washington State, and in the West Coast No. 19 BYU is at Santa Clara.

And that’s the report. 

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