The Guru Report: Drexel, Penn, and La Salle Score Big Wins While Delaware Falls to Columbia; Tennessee Edges Massachusetts Following Upset Loss

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PHILADELPHIA — The all-new video scoreboards brought a special energy here to the Daskalakis Athletic Center Thursday night but it was a golden not-so-oldie, graduate star Keishana Washington, who exploded all over them with 34 points, spurring Drexel to break open a tight game after one quarter and spur the Dragons to an 84-58 season and home opening victory, besting Rider.

Hannah Nihill was still around, but now as a spectator and esteemed alum, watching with several other former stars of recent seasons past, seeing how coach Amy Mallon at the onset of her third season  after Denise Dillon’s move to her alma mater out in the burbs at Villanova retrofitted the team to move forward.

They got answers quickly because alongside the combo of Washington and now healthiest in a while Maura Hendrixson was the performance of Kylie Lavelle, a 6-2 freshman forward from the suburban Scranton town of Moosic, who poured down 20 points and grabbed six rebounds in her collegiate debut. 

Grace O’Neill, another newcomer, this one from West Chester and Archbishop Carroll, collected nine points, while Hendrixson had six points, six rebounds and dealt seven assists.

Washington of course is the preseason player of the year in the Colonial Athletic Association and Drexel the preseason favorite in a year that is a major revamp for the conference but those wars don’t begin until later down the road.

“I think just looking to to score kind of sets the tone, and then once I’m settled in, my teammates start looking to score,” Washington explained her role as the leader of the DAC. “My mindset going into the games is to start off aggressive, instead of waiting to see how they’re guarding me, instead I’m the attacker and go at them and make them be the ones to adjust tp me playing.

“I think I did a great job of that tonight.”

Mallon said Washington is playing in the moment, but agreed the potential certainly is there to draw attention of WNBA scouting coaches, who appears might have several reasons at local schools to check out the action in the area.

“”She’s a special player,” said Mallon. “The one thing about Keishana I know, and I told her this year, is that you’ve done everything you need to do, you’ve proven it, you’ve done it, so now just to show up and bring those others with you when you’re on the floor.”

Henrixson suffered an ACL two years ago but  feels she’s finally returned to her own existing before the injury.

As for Lavelle, when discussing her newcomer Mallon drew on the superstar of yesteryear for comparison.

“For a freshman to come, especially the first game of the season, I don’t think we’ve had somebody do that since Gabriela Marginian was the CAA rookie of the year.”

The foreigner became Drexel’s first WNBA draftee and finished as the all-time scorer in the area in the women’s game.

“…she’s really getting comfortable and I’d say for as much as we do on the floor as a team, she’s coachable and that piece right there, you just know she’s going to continue to get better. I’m really impressed.”

Rider had come into the game off a tough opening night loss at home Monday to NJIT on a night that the Broncs retired WNBA draftee Stella Johnson’s number. In that one the team from Lawrenceville, N.J., halfway between Trenton and Princeton, got off to a slow start and played catch-up the rest of the way with a rally that died in the final minutes.

This one looked to be more competitively at the end of the first quarter until the Dragons began to roar, forcing the Broncs into 17 turnovers over the course of the game.

Rider’s Jessika Schiffer scored 13 while Victoria Toomey scored 12.

“We’ve got to be a lot tighter with the basketball,” said Rider veteran coach Lynn Milligan. “We’ve got to pay attention to our details and our fundamentals a lot more. Right now, I’m more concerned with our defense.

“Our offense will be fine. We’ll click. We’ll execute. We did some great execution tonight. We didn’t give ourselves enough opportunities because of the turnovers but we’ve got to get some stops.”

Rider next on Sunday goes to St. Francis of Brooklyn of the Northeast Conference at noon before heading to Ireland the following weekend with Marist to represent the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) in the MAAC/ASUN Challenge against North Florida and Eastern Kentucky.

Back in the states here in the area, Drexel heads for a Philly Six game Tuesday at noon against La Salle. Highlights ahead of the CAA portion of the season include visits from Lehigh and Penn State and a game at Saint Joseph’s.

Padilla Powers Penn Past Marist 65-61 in Road Season Opener

Thanks to two Philly teams paying visits to Poughkeepsie, N.Y., this week, Marist is now 0-2 at the start of longtime coach Brian Giorgis’ season on the sidelines.

After Villanova zipped through the Red Foxes in what was star Maddy Siegrist’s homecoming in Monday’s season opener for both teams, Penn opened its season in McCann Arena with senior Kayla Padilla having one of her all-time games, scoring 31 points.

The one one dint is an unspecified knee injury to Jordan Obi, a 6-1 junior and all Ivy second-team selectee last season considered by coach Mike McLaughlin, who looked at the native of Cupertino, Calif., as the Quakers’ second scoring option behind Padilla.

The veteran Penn coach, though, praised Padilla’s performance in a text to the Guru following the game.

“We really played all 40 minutes on both ends,” McLaughlin said. “We had some struggles on both sides of the ball but battled really hard. We found a way to get the win.

“Kayla was simply incredible, carrying the team at times. Special performance was understate how well she played.

“It’s a great feeling for this team to win the first one,” said McLaughlin, whose squad had all kinds of hurdles to deal with in an uncharacteristic season in 2022 that saw the Quakers miss the four-team Ivy playoffs following appearing in the first three, winning the initial one held at The Palestra.

“They have worked incredibly hard,” he said of his squad. “It’s great to watch them get rewarded for that tonight!”

Though held to 1-for-10 from the field, Mandy McGurk was 7-for-8 on the line to go with her three-ball and reach double figures with 10 points.

Stina Almqvist, a native of Sweden, had eight points and eight rebounds.

Marist’s Kendall Krick had 18 points, Zaria Shazer scored 12, both each grabbing eight rebounds, while Kiara Fisher also scored 12. Shazer also dealt five assists.

Penn Sunday goes to Northwestern, coached by Father Judge grad Joe McKeown, with a 1 p.m. tip in the East on the B1G+ subscription network. The Quakers are then back in the city Tuesday night visiting Saint Joseph’s for the first Big Five game of the season for each at 7 p.m. on the ESPN+ network.

La Salle Gets the First Season Win Following Monday’s Opening Setback

It was one thing when Mountain MacGillivray was at the outset of what is now his fifth season coaching the Explorers at the the lower rungs of the Atlantic 10 ladder trying to rebuild the program to prominence. 

But now as the preseason second pick of the conference, harkening into when he helped build Quinnipiac into a feared opponent, the Explorers are a draw on the road to help the home.

That was done in Monday’s opening loss at Howard in the nation’s capital but on Thursday La Salle overcame a similar atmosphere in Fairfield, Conn., at Sacred Heart where the Explorers balanced the start to their season with a 69-48 win over Sacred Heart of the Northeast Conference.

“Another amazing environment,” MacGillivray texted back here. “Two games, two packed houses with hundreds of students.”

The visitors never trailed in this one, launched with a a shot from deep by Kayla Spruill. The lead grew to 9-0 before the Pioneers got on the scoreboard in the non-conference game.

Sacred Heart, which fell to 1-1, is now 0-5 in the series. 

La Salle’s Charity Shears got all of her team-high 12 points for the Explorers off four three-balls. Molly Masciantonio and Spruill each scored 12 points.

Ny’Ceara had a game-high 15 points for the home team, while off the bench Afia Owusu-Mensah scored 14 with Amelia Wood grabbing eight rebounds and Kelsey Wood scoring seven.

On Saturday the Explorers head to Niagara in upstate New York at 5 p.m., the game on ESPN+, which also airs Tuesday when La Salle finally makes it to Tom Gola Arena to host Drexel.

Delaware Falls to Columbia

The Blue Hens came home for the first time since capturing last season’s CAA championship at Drexel with a road opening win for new coach Sarah Jenkins, but Columbia, the second pick in the Ivies and runnerup for last season league crown, ruined the festivities with a 64-56 win.

Now 2-0 after Monday’s opening win at Memphis, Columbia stopped a late Delaware rally in the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark finishing on an 11-5 spurt to prevail.

Tara Cousins scored 12 for the Blue Hens, while Jewel Smalls scored 11, and Makayla Pippin grabbed nine rebounds.

Columbia’s Hannah Pratt had a solid double double with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Kitt Henderson scored scored 15 and grabbed eight rebounds.

“I thought both played more solidly than everybody else tonight,” Lions coach Megan Griffith, a native of King of Prussia, said. “For both of them to hit shots when we needed them was huge and their rebounding and presence was huge.”

Griffith also cited Henderson’s lack of turnovers while praising her strong finish to help Columbia prevail.

The home squad is off until a visit from VCU of the A-10 but former CAA rival Tuesday at 7 airing on the Flohoops subscription network.

Columbia makes its home debut Sunday hosting Vanderbilt of the SEC at 2 p.m. on ESPN+.

The National Scene: Tennessee Stops UMass in Home Opener to Highlight Unbeaten Night for Ranked Teams

Following its opening stunning loss at No. 14 Ohio State on Tuesday night, the No. 5 Lady Vols came home to Knoxville and opened its season stopping a late rally to down reigning A-10 champ UMass 74-65 in Thompson-Boiling Arena.

Rickea Jackson’s strung second half resulted in 24 points, 18 on 6-11 from the field over the final two quarters, and she grabbed 11 rebounds.

The Tennessee defense forced 17 turnovers off 10 steals and blocked three shots.

Coach Kellie Harper’s squad got 40 of their points down low and center Tamara Key had 13 points and nine rebounds, along with three blocks.

Sam Breen, the mvp of last season’s conference tourney, had 18 points and 12 rebounds for UMass (1-1), while Ber’Nyah Mayo had 15 points, Sydney Taylor scored 11, and Destiny Philoxy scored 10.

Praising the opposition, Harper said, “They’ve got good solid players, they’re very well coached, and they’re disciplined and they’re tough. I’m proud of our team for finding a way to win.”

Elsewhere, No. 6 UUConn opened its season at home in its campus Gapel Pavilion in Storrs with a 98-39 win over Northeastern (1-1), Azzi Fudd scoring 26 points.

No. 7 Louisville had a lopsided 84-62 win over visiting IUPUI, while No. 10 NC State at home coasted over Elon 89-55.

No. 4 Iowa pounded Evansville 115-62; No. 8 Iowa State at home coasted over Southern 79-55; No. 18 Baylor routed visiting Incarnate Word 71-42, following a win between two ranked teams, No. 21 Creighton marched over South Dakota 74-51 on the road; and No. 19 Arizona at home romped to a 113-56 win over Northern Iowa.

Among unranked teams, Stony Brook, beginning CAA play soon, beat visiting Manhattan; and in a Beantown battle Harvard beat Boston College 68-59.

Dayton lost its second straight, falling to visiting Illinois State 74-70 at home, while Gonzaga beat visiting Long Beach State 80-54.

Looking Ahead: Villanova Travels to Princeton While Week 1 Showtime has No. 1 South Carolina at Maryland

Locally a dual test occurs at 7 Friday night when Villanova off its opening win at Marist becomes the second Big Five squad to visit No. 24 Princeton following Temple’s Monday night loss to the Tigers in Jadwin, while other action has Saint Joseph’s hosting Yale, both games at 7, both on the ESPN+ apps.

Penn State off its opening win over Norfolk State stays home at seven to host Fairfield, arriving with an opening win for new coach Carly Thibault-DuDonis. 

A North Jersey battle has Rutgers hosting Seton Hall at 7 on the BIG+ subscription network, Lehigh is at No. 23 South Dakota State at 8 on the host Jackrabbits’ network, while Lafayette is at NJIT at 7 p.m. on the ESPN3 network.

The national showdown at 6 on the ESPN2 network has No. 17 Maryland hosting No. 1 and reigning NCAA champion South Carolina.

Prior to the game, the network will have a half-hour show resulting in the revelation of the order of the top four lottery picks in this spring’s WNBA  draft. The four squads involved, failing to make the playoffs this past season, are the Atlanta Dream, the Indianapolis Pacers, the Los Angeles Sparks, and the Minnesota Lynx.

All but the Dream are past WNBA champions with the former competing in one finals series.

At halftime, under a revised calendar, the 12 finalists who advanced toward the next Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame induction class will be revealed, with the actual inductees made known on Sunday, November 27. This year’s induction in Knoxville is in a change from early June being held April 29, which allows a greater WNBA presence on the weekend since the 27th season will not have yet begun.

A year ago, Becky Hammon, who went on to lead Las Vegas to the league title as a rookie coach, could not attend her own induction as a former WNBA star player because the Aces had a game that night.

A quick word while her on coverage locally and nationally of the current newly under way collegiate season.

There will be nights when so much is going on the next day may have separate Guru local and national reports; and some nights like today there will be one simple just report reflecting unified coverage.

Some nights games being staffed will lead roundups and some they will stand alone and a separate file will roundup the action.

And that’s the way it is. To be continued.