The Guru Report: Temple’s Mia Davis Set to Make Owls Scoring History Hosting Wichita State

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PHILADELPHIA — Back when Marilyn Stephens, the Public League sensation from Gratz High recruited to Temple by then-coach Andy McGovern, was enclosing on the existing career scoring record in program history, she did not have to spend much time on North Broad Street to become number one.

But when she got there, she had a lot of time to keep going until her last game in 1984 when she finished on top with 2,194 points, 1,519 rebounds, 356 free throws, and 919 field goals.

That was good enough to earn all-American status on the Kodak All-American team with her good friend and University City rival Yolanda Laney, who starred at Cheyney State, and who’s daughter Betnijah is now a star on the WNBA New York Liberty.

“And remember, we didn’t have the three-point shot in the rules when I played,” she quipped recently.

Stephens’ final number stood the test of decades, considering that of the current top 10, all but two individuals, Pam Balough (1,636 1989-No. 7) and Lynn Blaszczyk (1,329 1983, No. 10) began and ended their careers 19 or more seasons, beginning 2003, after her 2,194 total were recorded.

And until Wednesday night, barring something unusual, all but one fell short, including WNBA All-Star Candice Dupree, who finished with 1,698.

However, early in the first half in the American Athletic Conference game in McGonigle Hall that tips at 7 p.m., grad student Mia Davis, who threatened to cause the stats history to be flipped on the road, Monday afternoon, with 20 pints in a tough loss at UCF, will likely score her fourth point to tie and fifth to become the new leader 38 years later.

Davis passed Stephens a while back and  Feyonda Fitzgerald to lead in career made free throws at 496, but the rebounds appear safe for Stephens 1,5119-1,103 from Davis, as likely do made field goals 919-811. 

Cardoza is said to plan to call a timeout when the record is set but athletic officials said the game won’t be stopped for any special celebration.

A congratulatory video is in the works for the next game. Unfortunately, Kevin Copp, who has been the lead announcer on most telecasts during Davis’ career will be on the men’s detail on the road, but Temple senior broadcast major Lindsey Moppert, whose academic career parallel’s most of Davis, will be sideline reporting on the ESPN+ telecast.

Due to COVID protocols, the postgame interviews by media will be on a zoom software connection.

The game, coincidentally, is also coming on the nationwide honoring of National Girls and Women in Sports Day.

But first and foremost, Davis, the pre-season AAC player of the year who was part of a zoom interview Friday in case the record occurred on the road, noted that helping the Owls win is where her radar is focused. And at the moment, that means snapping a two-game losing streak, the first a narrow loss at Memphis and then a loss to UCF that had been competitive.

“Usually I don’t know about this other stuff until I watch the game and then hear the announcers talking about it,” Davis, a native of Baltimore, said. “Or mom, she’s always hyping me up.”

The fact that the mark is now likely to come at home, makes Davis pleased because her parents, living not far away, are usually at her home games.

It’s not just floor production that veteran Temple coach Tonya Cardoza likes about Davis.

“She’s the glue that keeps everyone together. She’s the leader,” Cardoza has noted in several recent interviews.

Wednesday starts a three-game home stand Temple could make up some ground. And, unlike the past when the AAC on the women’s side was UConn and the rest, the Owls have shown to compete with the frontrunners.

Rutgers Still Winless in Big Ten: Only one local team of the Guru’s 11 D-1 squads played Tuesday night, Rutgers buried in a 50-38 loss at Nebraska at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

On one hand the Scarlet Knights (7-16, 0-11 Big Ten) held the Huskers (16-4, 5-4) to a season-low in scoring, but on the other, the blowout result is the largest for Nebraska in the history of the series.

Home team freshman Alexis Markowski had a double double, game-high 16 points and career-high 15 rebounds. Sam Haiby had 12 points and despite the final score, it was a two-point game early in the fourth quarter when she nailed a shot from deep and a few minutes fired another triplet on a 13-0 run.

Osh Brown was the sole Rutgers player in double figures with 13 points and 11 rebounds, her 57th double double, which is tops among active leaders. Tyia Singleton grabbed 13 rebounds.

In two days, Penn State will be visiting Nebraska on Thursday at 8 p.m. while Rutgers is at Ohio State Monday at 6 p.m. on the B1G network.

Nationally Noted: It was makeup Tuesday, though no licensing deal appeared to exist for teams grabbing back postponed games because of the COVID protocols.

There was plenty of excitement, however, in narrow contests in the ACC, where No. 20 Notre Dame at home in South Bend, Ind., upset No. 3 NC State 69-66, while the score flipped the other way at 69-66 to No. 4 Louisville to edge Miami at home.

No. 12 Georgia Tech beat previously ranked Duke 59-46 in Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C.

In a makeup game in the PAC-12 Tuesday afternoon, No. 19 Oregon beat Arizona State 72-58 at Matthew Knight Arena in Euguene, Ore.

In the game won by the Irish, the first over a Top 5 team under Niele Ivey since  Hall of Famer Muffet McGraw retired, Maya Dodson had 20 points and 10 rebounds for Notre Dame (17-4, 8-2 ACC), while Olivia Miles had 13 points, six rebounds, and five assists, and Sam Brunelle scored 10.

The Wolfpack (19-3, 10-1) got 13 points from Elissa Cunane.

Meanwhile, Kianna Smith had 21 points while Olivia Cochran scored 18 points and completed a layup with 32 seconds left that enabled Louisville (19-2, 9-1 ACC) to go one up before the Cardinals got a steal from Mykasa Robinson on an inbound pass and Smith fired down two foul shots with 11 seconds left to down the host Hurricanes (11-8, 4-5) in Coral Gables.

Miami’s attempt to tie it with a three before the buzzer from Kelsey Marshall went off the rim.

“It’s a tough loss for them, there’s no question about it, but we figured out a way to make some plays toward the end,” said Louisville coach Jeff Walz.

Miami had taken a 66-65 lead on Marshall’s shot from deep with 47 seconds left.

Ja’Leah Williams had 16 points and Destiny Harden scored 13 for the Hurricanes, who were looking to pull an upset of the visitors for the second time since a 79-73 win over then-No. 2 Louisville on Feb. 17, 2019.

The Cardinals trailed by nine midway through the final period before launching a comeback for a brief lead on Chelsie Hall’s triple with 56 seconds left.

Smith also dealt seven assists for Louisville.

“Really, really pleased with how we finished the game tonight,” Walz said the 23-point attack in the fourth quarter.

“Obviously, it was a high-level basketball game,” said Miami coach Katie Meier. “Players were making plays on both ends of the court.

“At a certain point you have to give Louisville a lot of credit. They executed down the stretch.”

On Thursday, Louisville will be at Clemson while Miami will host Syracuse.

In another ACC game, No. 12 Georgia Tech won a road game at Duke, whose coach Kara Lawson was out for the third straight contest due to COVID protocols, Lorela Cubaj scored 15 points, while Eylia Love with 14 points, Nerea Hermosa with 12, and Lotta-Maj Lahtinen with 10, also scored in double figures for the Yellow Jackets (18-4, 9-2 ACC).

Freshman Shayeanne Day-Wilson had 17 and Lexi Gordon scored 11 for Duke (13-7, 4-6), which on Thursday will be at Pittsburgh, its fourth game in eight days. The tip is at 6 p.m. on ACCNX.

Out West in an afternoon PAC-12 makeup game, No. 19 Oregon drew 6,950 fans to Matthew Knight Arena to watch the Ducks beat Arizona State 72-58, making it almost a month being unbeaten since the squad regained its health.

A 17-0 run in the opening period took care of the outcome, but not quickly, for Oregon (14-5, 7-1 PAC-12), which didn’t wrap things up until the final period when Nyara Sabally, Te-Hina Paopao and Endyia Rogers scored 19 of the home team’s 23 points.

“We’re starting to execute,” Oregon coach Kelly Graves said. “You can tell our team is playing well together; they’ve had some time together ad they’re playing well together.”

Sabally scored 22 points and grabbed six rebounds, Paopao scored 19, and Rogers got all 10 of her points in the second half.

“Let’s face it, Nyara, she’s coming of age right before our eyes,” Graves noted. “She’s really turning into a dominant force out there …

“I think Te-Hina and Nyara were both really on point tonight. They were both really tremendous. We ran a lot of specials with just those two late in the game.”

Mael Gillies had 16 points for Arizona State (9-8, 1-3).

Oregon will be looking for a sweep of  No. 8 Arizona when the Ducks head to the desert for a road trip weekend. The Friday game tips at 10 p.m. on the PAC-12 Network. Arizona State will be back in its Arena Sunday hosting the Ducks.

Looking Ahead: The only other local on the card Wednesday among Division I teams has Saint Joseph’s looking to avenge a combo Atlantic 10-Big 5 loss when the Hawks travel to La Salle for a conference meeting in Tom Gola Arena at 6 p.m.

Nationally, No. 10 Connecticut is at Creighton in the Big East at 7:30 p.m. in Omaha, Nebraska, while in the Big 12, Oklahoma is at Baylor while Kansas State is at Iowa State in games involving four ranked teams. Buffalo is at Eastern Michigan at 7 p.m. on ESPN3 in a key Mid-American game.

And that’s the report.