The Guru Report: Saint Joseph’s Takes A-10 Opener and Big Five Second Place Edging La Salle While Princeton Upset at Harvard Opening Ivy Race

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PHILADELPHIA — Outdoor fireworks had to be endured locally by a New Year’s Eve rainfall Saturday night but hours earlier there were plenty of fireworks involving the last three area Division I teams to play as part of the closing moments of 2022.

In a thriller here at La Salle, in the first of two between the Explorers and visiting Saint Joseph’s, the Hawks continued their renaissance performance rallying from a slow start and holding on at the finish for a narrow 68-64 victory at Tom Gola Arena.

Up north in Cambridge, Mass., Princeton’s ongoing 42-league win streak in the Ivy League got shredded in a 67-59 lost at Harvard in a league opener that for the moment blasts the regular season race wide open. The Crimson also ended a seven-game losing streak in the series.

And in an in-state New Jersey rivalry in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Rider snapped its three-game losing streak start in the conference winning 87-52 at St. Peter’s in Jersey City.

And to insert here in a local D-2 note, junior Haley Meinel scored 31 points in a 90-63 Jefferson win over Felician at home to become the 36th player in the Rams program  and in 77 games to reach 1,000 points extending the current win streak to nine games. 

Meinel has played in the Philadelphia/Suburban Women’s Summer Basketball League. 

Jefferson is now 12-1 and 4-0 in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC).

And since we’re discussing briefly the small schools, all seems to be going well for Jackie Hartzell, the former USciences D-2 coach, landing at the D-3 school Arcadia, currently still on break but currently 9-3 overall and 3-1 in the MAC Freedom Conference.

As for a special note here in the City of Brotherly Love, the Saint Joseph’s-La Salle contest, the earliest the two locals have faced each other, featured several sister acts.

The return of Saint Joseph’s grad star Katy Jekot, sidelined from an ankle injury suffered during a game last month at Rider, put her on opposing sides from from sophomore sibling Julie on a team that now has three sisters from Australia in seniors Claire, Amy, and season addition Mia, a freshman who got her first start.”

La Salle was also without its starting point guard Molly Masciantonio, whose mom Sue lost her battle with cancer Thursday night.

Katy Jekot had missed the three previous games, that included the two Saint Joseph’s losses at Villanova and to James Madison in the title game of the Hawk Classic, though the number was mitigated through long idle stretches in the final exams period and holiday break.

In those two setbacks, the question was asked how much Katy Jekot’s absence impacted both games so on Saturday the question was asked in reverse whether the closely-fought game might have gotten away if she was still on the bench.

“No,” Katy said and then veteran Hawks coach Cindy Griffin said, “Good thing we didn’t have to find out,” followed by Katy, “My team is prepared. But it sucks sitting out. I was happy to be back on the court with my teammates.”

The win by Saint Joseph’s (11-2, 1-0 A-10, 3-1 Big Five) returned the Hawks to their breakthrough season ways and with this one being the counter game and last of the City Series round robin for this season gave the Hawks outright second place, the sole setback to repeat champion Villanova.

Penn finishes third at 2-2, Temple fourth at 1-3, and La Salle at 0-4 to go with the Explorers’ overall mark at 8-7.

“Very proud of the way we battled back after a tough start,” Griffin said of an early ten-point deficit. “I thought midway through that first quarter we began to get our composure.

“We started to get our confidence, we started to roll, kj did an unbelievable job as she does, (Emma) Bostlet coming off the bench and Jaden Walker coming off the bench, and (Talya) Brugler did what Brugler does, and she did an unbelievable job, too.”

The fact that the Explorers off last season’s sweep had been on a three-game win streak in the series, “that served as a carrot, too) Griffin said.

The team had a brief scare when sophomore Mackenzie Smith went down with what seemed to be a serious injury but she returned to action later in the game.

La Salle came back to take a brief lead but Saint Joseph’s, forcing 11 steals and on the low side of a 21-10 turnover differential leading to 17 points by the Hawks, helped determine

 the outcome.

Still, the Explorers would not go away and it came down to the final minutes when the Hawks’ Jekot fed Brugler for a 63-60 lead.

The home team hit a pair of foul shots but on ensuing plays only up one, Walker forced a turnover, and then out of a timeout Jekot got loose for the Hawks to put them up three.

The visitors then got a stop and made 1-for-2 at the line to end it.

The Hawks’ Jekot had 11 assists and moved to 10th on the program charts at 369, ahead of Erin Shields, who had 366.

Brugler shot 9-for-15 from the field and scored 20, while Boslet reached personal bests with 11 points and nine rebounds.

Laura Ziegler scored 11 for the visitors.

On La Salle, Claire Jacobs scored 17 points with seven rebounds, Mia Jacobs scored 14 with 10 rebounds, her first double-double, Jaye Haynes had 13, and Charity Shears scored 11.

“Our real goal was to come out competing at a much higher level than we’ve competed at physically, rebounding, loose ball, toughness,” La Salle coach Mountain MacGllivray said. “I’m disappointed that we lost but not disappointed how we played.

“I don’t think anybody thinks that we shoot 44 percent and out rebound them by fifteen and lose a basketball game, like that is just not something that we would do, but we did. We found a new way to lose.”

La Salle’s back-up point guard Fiona Connolly, who played when Masciantonio was out earlier with an injury, was absent due to recent wisdom tooth surgery.

“You’re going to have nicks and people out,” MacGillivray said. “You’re gonna have tragedy in your family. Stuff is going to happen and I thought we responded today and we’re looking to the next challenge and doing it again.”

On Monday, the Explorers will play their last non-conference game here at 2 p.m. on ESPN+ hosting Hartford, soon to migrate out of the Division I level.

The Hawks on Wednesday head to George Washington in the Smith Center in the nation’s capital, playing at 6 p.m. on ESPN+

Harvard Upsets Princeton: New coach. New season. New Year. New Race?

That’s the story in the Ivy League right at the opening dive into the league competition for the four spots available to the women (also on the men’s side) for the tourney in March?

Running a string of 44 straight league victories, Princeton ventured up to Harvard’s Lavietes Pavilion to make its start in the season race and the Tigers ended up losing 67-59 to the Crimson (8-5, 1-0 Ivy) under former Princeton assistant Carrie Moore, who was hired following the retirement of longtime coach Kathy Delaney-Smith.

“”It’s a big win and it gives us confidence and if anything it fuels our engine and continues to prove to us that we are a very competitive team,” Moore said.

It also adds intrigue to the early weeks of the season because Columbia, runner up last season and hot to show more growth, goes through Princeton Friday night and Penn Saturday, also giving the Quakers a chance to make their early statement.

McKenzie Forbes and Harmoni Turner each scored 17 points, while Lola Mullaney scored 12, and Turner also grabbed nine rebounds.

The series between the two schools is now a tight 46-45 in favor of the visiting Tigers, whose appearance for the anticipated high-powered matchup drew 1,278, the largest crowd since the pre-pandemic era.

Harvard gets Brown on Friday at 6 p.m. on ESPN+.

Kaitlyn Chen scored 21 for the Tigers (8-4) while Ellie Mitchell had eight points and 14 rebounds.

Columbia visits Princeton, Friday at 7 p.m., in Jadwin Gym on ESPNU, former assistant Megan Griffith looking to be the next former Tigers assistant looking to pin a defeat on the longtime Ivy powerhouse.

Cornell will visit at 5 p.m. on Saturday, on ESPN+.

Columbia, meanwhile, made its season Ivy debut on the road crunching Yale 97-53 in the Lee Amphitheater in New Haven, Conn., as the Lions (12-2, 1-0 Ivy) program-record win streak to nine. 

Following a 22-point lead at the half by the visitors, the closest the Bulldogs (6-8, 0-1) got the remainder of the game was within 18 points.

Averaging a nation’s best 11 threes, Columbia only made four but the Lions scored 62 points in the paint and outscored Yale 25-4 on fast break points.

 “It shows we can execute our game plan,” Griffith said. “We didn’t need to shoot the three today. Teams are going to guard us because we have the propensity and ability to shoot. I also think our team is really skilled and super athletic.

“We can get to the rim and I was proud of us for getting the ball inside inside today to show that we can score in and out.”

Duke transfer Jaida Patrick scored 18 for Columbia with nine rebounds and a career-high seven assists. Kaitlyn Davis scored 16, Kitty Henderson scored 15, while Abbey Hsu scored 13, and Hannah Pratt scored 10.

Rider Tops St. Peter’s: Two days after suffering a lop-sided home loss to Siena, the Broncs woke to down host St. Peter’s 87-52 in Jersey City, N.J. with five players scoring in double figures in a game a 23-0 run across the first two quarters took care of business.

“It’s always about our mindset,” said veteran coach Lynn Milligan on Rider (4-9, 1-3 MAAC). “Understanding when we are good, why we’re good, and today, we did a really good job of playing the basketball that we want to play. We give up the shot we can make for the shot we can’t miss.

“Defensively, we really followed the game plan today, too. We wanted to have a new beginning when we took a break over Christmas, and we had a couple days of practice then didn’t get it done on game day. So for us to come back today, and win the way we did was important.”

On the play of Amanda Mobley against St. Peter’s (0-12, 0-3), Milligan said, “This was one of the best games she’s ever played. Not just putting her teammates in good positions, but taking a charge and rebounding on defense and making open shots herself.”

Mobley knotted a personal best 12 assists and scored 11 points, while Jessika Schiffer scored 17, Makayla Firebaugh scored 16, while Victoria Toomey and Ralphaela Toussaint each scored 12.

The 35-point differential is the largest in three seasons, while the productive air attack of 13 from deep are the most in the longtime Milligan era.

Rider hosts Iona on Thursday at Alumni Gym in Lawrenceville, N.J.

Nationally noted: No. 2 Stanford stayed on top-ranked South Carolina’s heels, dominating visiting Arizona State 101-69 at home in Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto, Calif.

Cameron Brink celebrated her birthday with 17 points, 14 rebounds, four assists, and a pair of blocks, while Haley Jones scored 16 for the Cardinal (14-1, 2-0 PAC-12) in the league game. 

Hall of Fame coach Tara VanDerveer extended her Division I women’s win record to 1,171, while UConn’s Geno Auriemma, off the No. 8 Huskies’ 61-48 Big East win over visiting Marquette (9-5, 2-3 Big East), moved his number in second place to 1,159.

Lou Lopez-Senechal had 22 points for UConn (11-2, 4-0) , while Caroline Ducharme scored 19 with seven rebounds, Dorka Juhasz had nine points and 10 rebounds.

Liza Karlen scored 15 for Marquette.

In the Arizona State (7-6, 0-2) loss to Stanford, Ty Skinner had 20 points, while Kentucky transfer Treasure Hunt scored 19.

Elsewhere Cate Reese scoring six of her 13 points in the fourth quarter helped No. 18 Arizona (11-1, 2-0 PAC-12) down host California 62-56, dropping the Golden Bears to 9-4 and 0-2 in the league.

In the Big East, No. 21 Creighton won at DePaul 92-82 in Wintrust Arena in Chicago as the host Blue Demons (10-5, 3-1 Big East) got 33 points and 10 rebounds from Aneesah Morrow, while th Bluejays  (9-4, 3-2) got 22 points from Emma Ronsiek and 21 from Lauren Jensen.

In the Big Ten, No. 3 Ohio State beat No. 14 Michigan 66-57 at the Covelli Center at home in Columbus in front of a sellout crowd giving the Buckeyes (15-0, 4-0 Big Ten) a tie for best start in program history. 

Taylor Mikesell had 16 points for Ohio State, while Rikki Harris scored 14, and Cotie McMahon scored 12. Taylor Thierry grabbed 10 rebounds.

Cameron Williams had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Wolverines (12-2, 2-1).

Looking Ahead: On Sunday as the 2023 top gun on the calendar takes over, just three games, locally, Villanova visiting Xavier in Cincinnati at 1 p.m. on Flohoops, as is the 2 p.m. CAA game between visiting Towson and host Drexel, while Delaware, also on Flohoops, at 2 p.m. in the CAA hosts Hofstra at the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark.

National looks to be aware, Louisville in the ACC is at Duke at noon on RSN; North Carolina is at Virginia Tech at 4 p.m. on the ACC Network in Blacksburg.

And that’s the report in the wee arrival hours of 2023. Happy New Year.

 

The Guru Report: Temple Tops Memphis to Take AAC Opener; No. 10 UCLA Wins PAC-12 Visit Over No. 17 Oregon

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PHILADELPHIA — As 2022 was dwindling down to its final 48 hours before departing from activity duty on the planet, Temple celebrated the phasing of a turn of the schedule, competition, month, and year Friday afternoon by rallying from a struggling start at home in the Liacouras Center to down Memphis 80-69 and grab its league opener in the American Athletic Conference.

Down by as many as ten points to the Tigers (8-6, 0-1 AAC) early, a 30-11 second period sent the Owls (6-7, 1-0) on their way, never trailing again and building as much as a 21-point lead midway in the third period.

Most of the Guru’s D-1 locals who played Friday also enjoyed victories as Penn got the rust off a long layoff dating to prior to the break and finals to down D-3 Gwynedd Mercy 95-38 at The Palestra to get ready for the Ivy League wars, while Penn State downed longtime rival Rutgers 90-72 in a Big Ten game at home in the Bryce Jordan Center.

 Delaware launched its Colonial Athletic Association slate 77-65 Friday night at home in the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark, while Lehigh at home in the Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa., whipped Army 90-68 to take its Patriot League opener but in the same conference Lafayette fell short on the road to American U. 75-65 at Bender Arena in the nation’s capital.

On Saturday several hours before New Year’s Eve ends at the stroke of midnight, Saint Joseph’s will visit La Salle at 2 p.m. at Tom Gola Arena on ESPN+ as both launch play in the Atlantic 10 while at this game, the first of two meetings, the squads will complete the annual Big Five round robin to determine the final standings behind repeat champion Villanova.

Rider will be at in-state rival St. Peter’s in Jersey City at noon on ESPN+ to snap the Broncs’ 0-3 start in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) while Princeton at 2 p.m. will launch its Ivy schedule and defense of another league crown visiting Harvard in Lavietes Pavilion in Boston on ESPN+.

Several hours after 2003 reports for its 365-day duty on Sunday afternoon, New Year’s Day does not equate to time off for some teams as preseason favorite Drexel launches its home slate in the CAA at 2 p.m. hosting Towson in the Daskalakis Athletic Center on the Flohoops streaming network; Villanova finishes its weekend road trip in the Big East visiting Xavier at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati on Flohoops, and Delaware completes its opening weekend home slate in the CAA hosting new member Monmouth at 2 p.m. on Flohoops.

Back here at Temple, the Owls ultimately countered Memphis long-range shooting, completing 9-of-20 from deep while the Tigers were 7-of-18.

Herself off to a slow start, Temple’s Aleah Nelson, who followed first-year Owls coach Diane Richardson from Towson, scored 20, including 6-of-12 from beyond the arc, while grabbing eight rebounds, one off her career mark, and dealing six assists.

Jasha Clinton was a sizzling 7-for-11 from the field and scored 17, while Tarriyonna Gary, who also came from Towson, was 4-of-8, scoring 12 points as did reserve Tiarra East.

Memphis got a hot hand from Madison Griggs, who was 7-of-14 from the field, including 4-of-8 from beyond the perimeter for 20 points, reserve Destiny Thomas scored 10, and Tanyuel Welch grabbed 11 rebounds.

“Much better mood today, ready for me?” smiled Richardson, whose squad had its ups and downs through a challenging non-conference schedule.

“It was a great way to open the conference,” she said. “We played team defense. We played well together. Memphis is a very athletic team. They pushed the ball but we did a great job, defensively.”

As for the cause of Memphis opening burst, Richardson revealed that all has yet to be where programs were before the pandemic struck. 

“We were actually coming off of Covid, so we were trying to patch … minutes,” she said in terms of the fatigue level affecting her squad. “I think we pulled it out. We did a great job, first conference and they stepped up.”

Richardson said the pre-league schedule was by design to see all kinds of tests as opposed to playing lesser opponents that could leave her squad more vulnerable going through The American.

 A 13-0 run in the second period put the Owls in control the rest of the game.

Now Temple goes to the deep end of the conference pool, visiting preseason favorite South Florida at 5 p.m. on Tuesday on ESPNU, and then continues away a week from Saturday at 2 p.m. visiting Cincinnati on ESPN+ before returning here for a noon game on January 11 on ESPN+.

Penn Routes Gwynedd Mercy: The long 19-day layoff called for a sparring partner on Friday afternoon ahead of the Quakers’ Ivy opener Monday afternoon when Brown visits The Palestra at 2 p.m.

Since coming to Penn (7-5) from where he had made D-2 Holy Family in the city’s Northeast a national power Penn coach Mike McLaughlin has done a two-fold act this time of year after extended down time, give the opposition the thrill of playing in the fabled arena and seeing that his squad is ready to look like the favorite it is in this types of matchups.

The 95-38 final made the statement needed as Penn starts the campaign to returned to the Ivy tourney, which the Quakers missed for the first time last season for multiple reasons.

“I thought they reacted well,” he said of his group. “I think one of the goals was to see we can come out and not struggle through that, and I thought we did a pretty good job.”

With a dominating inside presence, the home team advantage in points in the paint was 58-8 while the defense forced 22 turnovers to just three on itself.

The Griffins were 7-of-26 from deep.

Speaking to what was alluded here above, the Penn coach said, “We’ve done this, playing Division III at this time because it’s easier for us to control the schedule of the game, but it also gives these young ladies who are passionate about their game to come to this place and play, their parents and families here.”

Jordan Obi had 12 points and seven rebounds for Penn, while Stina Almqvist scored 11, and Sydnei Caldwell scored 10 as did Iyanna Rogers.

McLaughlin noted the other ulterior motive.

“The other things was to see how we can build depth and who could get on the floor,” he said. “The bench kids got a chance to play, and I thought they handled themselves well.”

Ava Casale had seven points for Gwnedd Mercy (7-6) which hosts Immaculata on Wednesday to start league play.

As for the start of Ivy play, McLaughlin said, “I think we will be ready for Brown. This team is ready for league play, and this team is getting better and better.”

Helpful is the front-loading at home the league in terms of the schedule did with Penn currently on a ten-game home stand whose previous game was also in the area at La Salle.

Penn State Trounces Rutgers: The long-running rivalry between the host Lady Lions and Scarlet Knights dates way back to the days both teams, loaded with Philadelphia-area players, battled in the Atlantic 10 and were simultaneously getting ranked in the Associated Press women’s poll, often in the Top 10.

Both teams have not done well in recent seasons in the Big Ten but Penn State appears to finally getting traction under Carolyn Kieger. 

Ironically Friday night, the visiting coach was Kieger’s predecessor Coquese Washington, whom Rutgers hired from her assistants job back at Notre Dame, her alma mater, in the wake of longtime Hall of Fame coach C. Vivian’s Stringer retirement, making Friday having a homecoming accent.

But most of the home in the game belonged to the host team (10-4, 1-2 Big Ten), as Makenna Marisa had a game-high 32 points, just two off her personal best, reaching the 1,500 career milestone for points. 

This one was over quick with the Lady Lions jumping to a 16-2 lead.

Notable was Marisa tying assistant coach and former great Maggie Lucas of Narberth in terms of now having seven 30-plus points career games.

Leilani Kapinus had six steals to earn her 100th, while scoring 14 points, and dealt five assists, while Taniyah Thompson had 11 points.

Ball handling was one-sided with PSU forcing 38 to commiting nine.

Rutgers (6-9, 0-3) got 18 points from Kaylene Smikle, while Chyna Cornwell and Kassondra Brown each scored 13 points, and Erica Lafayette scored 10.

Penn State owned the boards 41-29.

It doesn’t get easier for Rutgers with nationally ranked Maryland visiting Jersey Mike’s Arena Monday at 2 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.

Penn State is at No. 14 Michigan in Ann Arbor Tuesday at 1 p.m.

Delaware Tops Hofstra: The Blue Hens opened defense of their CAA championship won in the conference tourney by defeating Hofstra 77-65. 

The visiting Pride (6-6, 0-1 CAA) was ahead 42-36 with 5:33 left in the third before Delaware (8-4, 1-0) erupted on a 12-0 run to take the lead.

The game stayed tight early in the final period but following a Blue Hens 59-58 advantage with 5:08 left, the Blue Hens exploded on a 16-0 lead to put the game out of reach.

Klarke Sconiers had 21 points propelled by 9-of-13 shooting for the home squad, while Kharis Idom had 16 points, Jewel Smalls and Makayla Pippin each scored 13, and Mays-Prince Nakiyah had 11 rebounds.

Hofstra’s Sorelle Ineza had 21 points, while Brandy Thomas scored 13.

Lehigh Shoots Past Army: Following having played a challenging non-conference schedule, the Mountain Hawks opened play in the Patriot League, beating visiting Army 90-68.

The conference win was the first for new coach Addie Micir, the former Princeton star moved up in the offseason.

“We started preparing what they were going to do to us both offensively and defensively a couple days ago,” Frannie Hottinger said. “I think we really executed on that, and it got them out of rhythm really early on in the game.”

Hottinger had a game-high 22 points and 13 rebounds while Mackenzie Kramer scored 18 points, Kaylee Van Eps scored scored 13, and Jamie Behar scored with 11 points.

Anna Harvey dealt six assists fsor Lehigh, 5-7, 1-0 Patriot).

Kamryn Hall scored 13 points and grabbed 13 for Army (2-9, 0-1)

Sabrina Hunter, who was averaging 13.8 points and 12.3 rebounds was held to five points and five rebounds.

“It played really well to our game plan,” Micir said. “I was really proud of the level of focus that we had coming into it. I couldn’t more proud of our girls.”

Lehigh next is at Colgate Monday afternoon in Hamilton, N.Y., with the tip time changed from 6 p.m. to 4 p.m. on ESPN+.

Lafayette Falls at American: Makayla Andrews tied a career-high with 23 points bur the Leopards were overcome by American 75-65 dropping their opener in the Patriot League.

Kylie Favors scored 12 and Kylie Favors had 11 for Lafayette (3-8, 0-1 Patriot).

American (2-10, 1-0) had a balanced attack with Emily Johns and Lauren Stack each scoring 14 points, Ivy Bales had 13, while Riley DeRubbo and Kayla Henning scored 12 points each.

The Leopards will be at Army in West Point, N.Y., at 2 p.m. on ESPN+.

Nationally noted: Just three games involving ranked teams, two in the PAC -12, were played on Friday, No. 16 Maryland at home in the Big 10 in College Park trounced Minnesota 107-85.

Diamond Miller had 22 points, Shyanne Sellers scored 19, Abby Meyers scored 17, and reserve Lavender Briggs scored 14 for the Terrapins (11-3, 2-1 Big Ten), who go to Rutgers Monday afternoon.

Minnesota (8-6, 1-2) got 22 points from Alanna Micheaux, reserve Maggie Czinano scored 16 with eight rebounds, while Mara Braun and Katie Borowicz each scored 10 points.

In the PAC-12 No. 10 UCLA won 82-74 at No. 17 Oregon in Eugene, while No. 11 Utah gained a 71-66 win at Washington State in Pullman.

An Oregon (10-3, 1-1 PAC-12) rally fell short late in the game with the Bruins (13-1, 2-0).

“They deserved that win, they played really, really hard,” Ducks coach Kelly Graves said of the opposition. “They were the aggressors most of the game. What I’m going to take away was the fight we had at the finish.”

Reigning USBWA national freshman of the week Grace VanSlooten had all 17 of her points in the second half for Oregon, while Te-Hina Paopao had 15 of her 17 also in the final two quarters.

Endiya Rogers had 18 for the Ducks.

Freshman Kiki Rice had 21 points for UCLA, while Charisma Osborne had 17, and Gina Conti had 11.

In the other game, Washington State (10-3, 0-2 PAC-12) played short-handed in its loss to Utah (13-0, 2-0) one of a dwindling number of teams yet to lose as the 2023 portion of the season schedule is about to arrive.

Kennady McQueen had 20 points for the Utes and Southern Cal transfer Alissa Pili scored 18.

Washington State’s Bella Murekatete, had 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Astera tuhina scored 12, and Ula Motuga scored 11.

 In another game of note, Southern Cal won at Oregon State 69-58 as Rayah Marshall had a career-high 33 points for the Trojans.

Looking Ahead: The local action on New Year’s Eve was all mentioned but elsewhere in games of note, No. 3 Ohio State hosts No. 14 Michigan at 1 p.m. on the Big Ten Network, while Columbia launches Ivy play at Yale at 1 p.m. in New Haven on ESPN+.

No. 8 UConn hosts Marquette in the Big East at 2 p.m. on campus at Gampel Pavilion on Flohoops and SNY.

Former CAA rivals James Madison host Old Dominion at 2 p.m. on ESPN+ in a Sun Belt game while Texas in Big 12 action hosts Kansas State at 3 p.m. on the Longhorn Network.

No. 21 Creighton is at DePaul in Big East action in Chicago at 4 p.m., while No. 2 Stanford hosts Arizona State at 9 p;.m. and California hosts No. 18 Arizona at 10 p.m. on the PAC-12 Network.

And that’s the report. 

 

The Guru Report: Drexel Wins Big - Rider Loses Big; Upsets and Near Upsets Strike the AP Ranked Teams

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. — Two more locals returned to action Thursday night and it was a split outcome as Rider got hit at home here in Alumni Gym 68-44 in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Contest by a Siena squad dealing with extra issues while down south preseason favorite Drexel launched play in the Colonial Athletic Association trouncing UNC Wilmington 71-47 at the Trask Coliseum.

Elsewhere on the national front, No. 5 Notre Dame barely survived 66-63 in an Atlantic Coast Conference game while host Clemson upended No. 7 Virginia Tech 64-59, Duke traveled over to nearby Raleigh and took down No. 6 N.C. State, and visiting Florida State surprised No. 13  North Carolina, 78-71, all in the ACC; while in the Big Ten, host Michigan State handed No. 4 Indiana, 83-78, the first loss for the Hoosiers.

In the rest of the group of ranked teams performing, in the start of Southeastern Conference wars, No. 1 South Carolina put away visiting Texas A&M 76-34; No. 9 LSU in its first true test shredded host No. 24 Arkansas 69-45 in Fayetteville; in the Big Ten, No. 12 Iowa handled Purdue 83-68 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City; in the West Coast Conference favored No. 19 Gonzaga had an easy 77-63 win over host Pepperdine 77-63; and in an intra-state game of rivals in the PAC-12 No. 18 Arizona at home in Tucson sent Arizona State back to suburban Phoenix with an 84-66 result.

Tennessee, a Top 5 ranked squad when the season got under way, picked up an SEC win 77-67 at Florida in the SEC in Coral Cables.

Not much was needed to discuss Rider’s loss, falling to 3-9 overall and 0-3 in the MAAC to date, the first conference game at home.

Earlier in the day off an investigation of Saints coach Jim Jabir on charges of racial and other forms of attack, the Saints mentor decided to step aside to avoid being a distraction during the investigation as reported by the Albany Times in the capital city.

“We played a bad basketball game,” Rider veteran coach Lynn Milligan said. “We got beat down the floor, we got beat to the ball on rebounds, and we didn’t shoot the ball well, so it’s kind of the perfect storm. 

“It’s unusual for us,” she continued. “With the talent we have, I’m a little surprised that we had a shooting night like tonight. Most of the shots we took were good within the offense.

“We’ve got to trust what we’re doing. We’ve got to trust that the shots we’re getting and the people we’re getting shots for are going to be able to put it in the basket.”

Makayla Firebaugh led Rider with 10 points, and she was the only Rider player to score in double digits against Siena (7-5, 1-1).

“We have to hit our shots and we know that,” Firebaugh said. “We can’t hang our heads over this loss. It’s the disappointing, but we have to get over it. We have to come to practice and be ready to work.”

Amanda Mobley had two points but dealt five assists and grabbed eight rebounds.

Siena’s Eminah Selimovic had 16 points on 6-for-13 from the field and grabbed nine rebounds.  Ahniysha Jackson was 5-for-10, including 3-for-5 from deep, for 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while Anajah Brown and London Gamble each scored each scored 11.

The Saints owned the boards with a 53-38 advantage on the Broncs.

Assistant coach Terry Primm guided the team.

Milligan said during the day social media reports were indicating a change and she credited Siena being able to play through the distractions with the kind of performance the visitors displayed.

Rider finishes up the 2022 side of the season schedule Saturday at noon on New Year’s Eve in a MAAC contest at Saint Peter’s in Jersey City on ESPN+

The Broncs will return Thursday hosting Iona at 7 p.m.

Drexel (9-3, 1–0 CAA) enjoyed its debut into CAA play for the season, beating UNCW (3-9, 0-1) UNCW for the 23rd straight time in the series. The hosts are now under former longtime Delaware mentor Tina Martin, who in the offseason was promoted off her interim title she held as the team finished its previous one.

Keishana Washington, the nation’s leading scorer directly in front of Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist, didn’t get 30 or more points in this one as she had several times previously, but still scored her share for the Dragons with 21 and six assists, while Maura Hendrixson scored 10, also dealing six assists, while Jayde Gamble was the only UNCW player in double figures with 11 points. Carrie Gross and Lexi Jackson each scored eight.

Drexel will be home on New Year’s Day Sunday at 2 p.m. on Flohoops in the Daskalakis Athletic Center hosting Towson, which is under former Cheltenham and Maryland star Laura Harper replacing Diane Richardson, who is now at Temple.

Nationally noted: Notre Dame (11-1, 2-0 ACC) will have a chance to move up at least one spot in the next AP Women’s Poll after edging host Miami (7-6, 0-3) in the visit to Coral Gables. The Irish got off to a big lead early but the Hurricanes struck back with a 22-12 advantage in the third quarter. The home team’s Destiny Harden had 12 points and nine rebounds, though foul trouble limited her time.

“I thought their defensive energy and intensity really bothered us in the third quarter,” said ND coach Niele Ivey.

Miami missed four straight shots from deep attempting to tie the outcome.

Olivia Miles had 12 points,  10 in the first half, when she had five of her eight rebounds, and six of her nine assists. Maddy Westbeld had 15 points and 11 rebounds.

The Hurricanes scored 19 points off 22 Notre Dame turnovers.

The Irish will be back home in South Bend, Ind., on Sunday hosting Boston College (11-4, 1-1) at noon on the ACC Network.

Duke’s Celeste Taylor had 23 points and eight rebounds for Duke (12-1, 2-0 ACC), whose only loss was in Oregon to UConn, while Elizabeth Balogon had 16 points in the win at No. 6 N.C. State holding the Wolfpack (11-2, 1-1) at 22 points below their average in the game in Reynolds Coliseum.

N.C. State’s Saniyah Rivers scored 17 points.

In No. 12 Iowa’s 83-68 win over visiting Purdue (10-3, 1-2 Big Ten) in Iowa City, Monika Czinano became the fifth in the history of the Hawkeyes (11-3, 3-0) and 38th in the conference to reach 2,000 career points. Teammate Caitlin Clark reached the samew Milestone in the previous game. It’s the first time in Big Ten history two teammates reached the 2,000 barrier the same season.

Clark had 24 points, six rebounds, and five rebounds, and she’s the nation’s sole player with more than 355 points, 100 rebounds, 90 assists, and 25 steals. Czinano had 12 points while McKenna Warnock scored 19 points.

In the first tough test for No. 9 LSU (13-0, 1-0 SEC), the Tigers opened SEC play at No. 24 Arkansas (13-3, 0-1) in Fayetteville with Angel Reese had 19 points and 16 rebounds.

Little Rock trailing UT Martin by a basket with 3.3 left in regulation against the visitors, got a winning three-pointer from Tia Harvey as time was expiring in an Ohio Valley Game, the first in Little Rock’s history.

Top-ranked South Carolina (13-0) had an easy time in its SEC and home conference opener as Zia Cooke scored 14 and the 34 by visiting Texas A&M are the fourth fewest held by the Gamecocks since joining the conference in 1992-93.

Looking Ahead: On Friday, Temple at 2 p.m. in the Liacouras Center at home on ESPN+ begins season play in the American Athletic Conference hosting Memphis while at the same time Penn ends a long layoff hosting Division III Gynedd Mercy on ESPN+.

Rutgers returns to Big Ten play being hosted by long time rival Penn State at 5 p.m. in the Bryce Jordan Center in State College on the B1G+ network.

Delaware hosts Hofstra at 7 p.m. to start CAA play on Flohoops in the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark.

In two opening Patriot League games at 2 p.m. each, Lehigh hosts Army at the Stabler Arena in Easton while Lafayette is welcomed  at American U. At Bender Arena in the nation’s capital.

Of note nationally, UCLA visits Oregon at 9 p.m. on the PAC-12 network.

And that’s the report.

 

  

The Guru Report: Shot at Buzzer Completes Princeton Closing Rally Over Rhode Island While Siegrist Last Points Become Game-Winners for Villanova at Marquette

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PRINCETON, N.J. — As regulation time was expiring here before a lively crowd Wednesday afternoon in Jadwin Gym, Princeton put up a stone cold shot in name and action to complete a late comeback giving the Tigers a 56-54 victory over Atlantic 10 contender Rhode Island and revenge for a road loss to the Rams last season up in Kingston at the Ryan Center.

The author of the drive inside for an open layup was senior Grace Stone after Ines Debroise of France committed a turnover with six seconds left and the score tied 54-54.

Several hours later in Milwaukee, Wis., Villanova, the second of the two locals returning to action from the Christmas break. reversed the flow going with Marquette in a Big East battle and Maddy Siegrist in the final minutes got a field goal and then at the end made one of two free throws allowing the Wildcats to edge their way to a 54-52 win.

Earlier in the day, Siegrist was named with her third national honor and overall fourth citation following her freshman selection as the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) Ann Meyers-Drysdale National Player of the Week.

Back here, Debroise is one of six Frenchwomen on Rhode Island (9-3), adding to that nation’s sports woes considering the recent loss to Argentina on kicks in the recent World Cup soccer championship contest in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The triumph by the reigning Ivy champs, who will host the league’s men’s and women’s tournaments in March, ties the series with URI at 2-2.

But for a long time, Wednesday, it seemed that the visitors might make their way to consecutive wins over Princeton (10-3), especially after building a five point lead with 2:35 left in regulation.

What followed next however was the Tigers, finishing non-conference play, scored on their next two possessions and then Julia Cunningham’s briefly swung the lead back to the hosts with 69 seconds left.

The Rams were not done, though, using Madison Hattix-Covington’s score to edge the numbers back in front with 25 seconds igniting the obvious.

Kaitlyn Chen then went to the line and made one to tie but missed a free throw that would have put Princeton ahead.

With a chance to now win, it was Rhode Island’s possession which was given away on the Debrois turnover.

The game’s ending was reminiscent though a little different to the season’s first week here when Villanova went ahead near the end to upset Princeton, knocking the Tigers from the Associated Press women’s poll after they became the first Ivy school to earn a preseason honor. They are also the only team from the league to ever given ranking status, which has happened during several recent seasons.

Asked if this was the first time she won a game with the winning score, Stone, from Long Island, said it had happened twice in high school.

“I just had the ball in my hand and was trying to read what they were going to give us,” Stone said. “We definitely wanted to win this one, a little redemption.

“They’re a great team and they were super aggressive and they were getting tough shots down the stretch. We trained a lot and worked a lot on winning close games.”

Chen finished with a game-high 21 points, while Tigers reserve Parker Hill, had a career-high 12 points, Stone scored 10.

Toure scored 16 with 10 rebounds to gain a double-double with the Rams, Hattix-Covington had 10 points and six boards, and Sayawni from Boston also scored 10.

“It was some game,” said Princeton coach Carla Berube, a former UConn star who led the Tigers to a near-upset of her alma mater in Storrs last month. “URI’s a great team, strong. Tammi Reiss has done a great job with the players that she has. They create a lot of tough things to defend. They’re really tough on the defensive end, making everything hard.

“First half, we couldn’t get anything going. The second half Kaitlyn found some room to breathe. Made some really great shots. We made some though plays down the stretch and got some great shots.”

In past Princeton editions, back to the Courtney Banghart era building the Tigers into a nationally-respective force and continuing under Berube when Banghart left to fill the North Carolina opening in the Atlantic Coast Conference, the squad had that one great go-to player from Niveen Rasheed to post forces such as Bella Alarie and Blake Dietrick, who have played in the WNBA. Most recently Abby Meyers, who is now playing her graduate year at nationally ranked Maryland near her home.

This Tigers group seems to be operating by committee where different people can be the story on a given night, including Ellie Mitchell, who grabbed nine rebounds.

Of Parker-Hill, who could join Mitchell in the posts, especially as Princeton begins Ivy play Saturday at noon at Harvard (ESPN News), Berube said, “She’s a great offensive player with a great touch around the rim. 

“She was great. She was the lone offensive light in the first half.  Ellie is more of a defensive juggernaut rebounder. And Parker’s got the height and touch around the rim. It’s good to have two different looks at the center spots and they can play together.

“We have a lot of different options. Right now Kaitlyn has emerged as that player when we really need a bucket, we’re going to get it in her hand. But certainly Julia’s (Cunningham) capable of that, Grace, Maddy’s (Stone Rose) is emerging, too, in spots, so it’s good to have some balance.

“The ball rolls in a lot of different ways,” Berube said, recalling how Villanova rallied here down the stretch back in November.

Rhode Island’s Reiss, a great force in the backcourt with Dawn Staley at Virginia in the early 1990s who many thought she might be the one to fill the vacancy this season at her alma mater, said one cannot focus on just the shot at the end of how this one got away from her squad.

“You have to look at what happened after we had the lead,” she said. “You can’t foul. You can’t allow that opening for her at the end. I can’t believe Grace is still here at Princeton. I remember recruiting her when I was at Syracuse (as an assistant).”

Rhode Island opens play in the Atlantic 10 Saturday hosting Duquesne at 1 p.m. on ESPN+ and then plays defending champion UMass at Amherst at 5 p.m. on Jan. 4, then hosts La Salle the following Sunday.

The Rams will also play Saint Joseph’s later home and home.

Meanwhile, Marquette that many times has been a Bermuda Triangle can of stop for Villanova over the years was overcome on this trip.

Both squads got off to a slow start, each shooting just 1-for-11 from the field.

Then Siegrist, the Wildcats’ usual suspect broke loss and had all the team’s 10 points until a three came elsewhere for a 13-8 Villanova lead over the Golden Eagles (9-4, 2-2 Big East) after one period.

The Wildcats (11-3, 2-1) then hit a dry spell from the middle of the second period to halftime, holding a slim 25-24 lead at the break.

In the third, it looked like the visitors would disappear again, Marquette opening with a 12-5 run before Villanova answered with an 8-2 spurt to regain the lead by one at 42-41 after three periods.

Lucy Olsen scored seven straight at the outset of the fourth, the Wildcats going up by six with 6:18 left in regulation.

Up three with just under three remaining, the visitors got a connect from Bella Runyan and a five-point lead.

Both teams went dry again over the next 2:11 until Marquette’s Jordan King moved the home team within three with 48 seconds left.

Siegrist, who earlier this week joined former UConn great Rebecca Lobo and former Louisville star Angel McCoughtry with a conference record 12th player award, got her team’s 53rd point and after the Wildcats took away a potential three-point option, hit a foul shot for her 21st point of the game with five seconds left but Marquette couldn’t score.

Siegrist, last season’s Big East player of the year honoree, also had 11 rebounds for a double-double and Olsen scored 13, while Penn State Maddie Burke had 12 points.

King had a game-high 23 and nine boards for Marquette, while Chloe Marotta scored 10 points.

Villanova stays on the road to celebrate New Year’s Day Sunday at Xavier in the Cintas Center in Cincinnati at noon on CBSSN, then returns home to host Georgetown at 7 next Wednesday at Finneran Pavilion on Flohoops.

Siegrist, getting closer to all-time Wildcats scoring leader Shelly Pennefather, reached her 2,200 career point as well as the 60th 20-point game of her career, and 44th double-double, seven this season.

In true road stops, Villanova, who recently won another Big Five crown at 4-0, is 6-0 on true road stop, the losses coming to nationally-ranked Baylor in the Florida Gulf State Showcase,  at home to nationally-ranked Creighton in the Big East, and to nationally-ranked Iowa State at the Basketball Hall of Fame women’s showcase at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville.

Nationally-Noted: Still not a lot of games, scores Wednesday saw in the Big 10 that No. 3 Ohio State cruised at Northwestern 81-48 in Evanston, Ill., while No. 14 Michigan likewise handled host Nebraska in Lincoln, 81-48, while a battle of two ranked Big East squads met, No. 8 UConn won at No. 21 Creighton 72-47, as Aaliyah Edwards had 23 points and 20 rebounds for the winning Huskies (10-2, 3-0 Big East), Dorka Juhasz had 22 points and 18 rebounds, Caroline Ducharme had 11 points and eight rebounds, while Nika Muhl had six points and dealt eight assists.

Creighton (8-4, 2-2) got 12 points from Emma Ronsiek and 11 from Lauren Jensen.

Texas beat visiting Texas A&M-Commerce 96-53.

Looking Ahead: Two more locals return from the break on Thursday, near here Rider hosts Siena in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) game at 7 p.m. on ESPN3 at the Broncs’ Alumni Gym in Lawrenceville, while Drexel begins play in the Colonial Athletic Association at UNCW at 7 p.m. on Flohoops.

On Friday at noon Temple in the Liacouras Center on ESPN+ plus begins play in the American Athletic Conference hosting Memphis, while Delaware begins CAA play at 7 in the Bob Carpenter Center hosting Hofstra in Newark, Penn hosts Gwynedd Mercy at 2 p.m. in The Palestra on ESPN+, Lehigh begins Patriot League play at 2 p.m. hosting Army in the Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa., also in the Patriot League, Lafayette visits American U., in Washington at 2 p.m. in Bender Arena, and Rutgers in the Big 10 visits Penn State at 5 p.m. in the Bryce Jordan Center in State College.

On Saturday, Saint Joseph’s vs. La Salle at 2 p.m. in Tom Gola Arena on “ESPN+ simultaneous launching A-10 play, while also wrapping up the entire 10-game Big Five slate. A Hawks win gives Saint Joseph’s rd place at 3-1 in the conference and La Salle fifth at 0-4. The reversal puts the Hawks in a tie for second at 2-2 with Penn, while La Salle finishes 1-3 with Temple.

Nationally on Thursday a key Southeastern Conference game has Arkansas hosting LSU on ESPN2 while at 6 p.m. Notre Dame visits Miami on the ACC Network.

Florida State at 8 p.m. is at North Carolina on RSN.

On Friday, Minnesota visits Maryland at 2 p.m. at the XFinity Center in College Park; UCLA is at Oregon at 9 p.m. on the PAC12 network.

And that’s the report.

   

  

The Guru Report II — James Madison Pulls Away in Closing Minutes to Top Saint Joseph’s Despite Mackenzie Smith Career Day in Hawk Classic Championship

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PHILADELPHIA — Following Talya Bruglar’s career performance for the home team in the opening round of the Hawk Classic to carry Saint Joseph’s to the title game of its own tournament, someone else was going to be needed knowing James Madison was going to put its defensive focus on the star sophomore.

Veteran coach Cindy Griffin was able to get that next choice in Mackenzie Smith, the native of Nova Scotia and Bruglar classmate, who was even slightly better with a personal best 31 points as the home team and Dukes went eyeball to eyeball most of Wednesday afternoon.

But midway through the final quarter the Hawks went cold and James Madison pulled away to a 78-66 victory and claim the championship in its second appearance and first since 1994.

Eastern Michigan took third place beating Wright State 66-54 though the game wasn’t as close as the final score indicates.

On a busy day for all the locals, putting the Villanova win over La Salle for the Big Five title aside and covered in the post under this, in seven games, five of the other six, the sixth being Temple, they all headed to the Christmas break with the energy of a win to carry them into next week when the schedule resumes.

In four other home games, Drexel topped Delaware State 62-44 at the Daskalakis Athletic Center; Delaware at the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark beat American University 66-50; Penn State recovered off Sunday’s tough loss at Drexel to beat Cornell 79-48 at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College, and Lafayette in Easton, Pa., at the Kirby Sports Center edged Saint Francis Brooklyn 53-52.

Lehigh had to take a road trip and not play until early evening but was able to celebrate a 70-63 victory over Yale at the John Lee Ampitheater in New Haven, Conn.

Considering where the Hawks were this time as year ago, when the tourney format had to dismantle due to cancellations off positive Covid-19 testings, and a young roster was struggling, the setback to JMU (10-2), themselves off their traditional powerful selves 12 months ago, does not erase the far more promise with an identical 10-2 record as the Dukes, heading into the start of conference play on the afternoon when the visit to La Salle at 2 p.m. in the Tom Gola Arena. 

That game counts both as the final overall Big Five event in which a win gives the Hawks sole possession of second place at 3-1 as well as a successful launch into Atlantic 10 action the rest of the season.

Kseniia Koslova, a native of Moscow, Russia, collected a team-high 18 points to claim the MVP award off a two-day performance, her total matched by teammate Kiki Jefferson.

Koslova and Jamia Hazell, scoring 13 points, as did Peyton McDaniel, made the all-tourney team along with Bruglar and Smith and were joined by Ce’Nara Skanes of Eastern Michigan and Bryce Nixon of Wright State.

Bruglar still had 13 points on her second day of the event while Oliva Mullins also was in double figures for the Hawks, scoring 12 points, a career high, and dishing six assists, playing all 40 minutes.

Sixth-year star Katie Jekot, who earlier this month suffered an ankle injury in the win at Rider, remains sidelined.

Griffin still could not name the exact game Jekot might return but said its getting closer.

In the contest Wednesday, Saint Joseph’s got off to a 10-4 start but JMU connected on consecutive shots from deep to quickly knot the score.

Smith with her third of four from beyond the arc pushed the Hawks back in front 20-12 and the sophomore total was already up to 13 of the team’s first 20 points before heading to the bench when hit with a second personal foul.

The visitors then closed the gap and it was a taffey pull, JMU with a slim 51-50 lead after three quarters.

Hazell then lit the Dukes, getting 10 of her 13 in the final quarter and a 7-0 run now had Saint Joseph’s unable to respond as the final minutes elapsed.

Smith’s total were the first 30 or more for the Hawks since Chelsea Woods collected 33 against VCU in an A-10 game on February 27th, 2018, five seasons ago.

“I thought it was a well-played game, we came out on fire, made a lot of shots early, and then we cooled off a lot,” Griffin said. “But we kept fighting.

“JMU’s a very, very good team. They’ve got a lot of offensive power, a lot of talent,  and then from that six minute mark we went cold and they made a lot of shots,” she continued.

“I’m very proud we’re 10-2 going into our conference, we’re not going to take one loss and forget all the good things we have done this year.”

JMU’s visit to the city used to be annual, playing Drexel in the Colonial Athletic Association race through last season before switching to the Sun Belt.

Dukes coach Sean O’Regan, now in his seventh season having been promoted when Kenny Brooks left for nearby Virginia Tech in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

He was glad his team passed its toughest test to date but also expressed relief in being able to play the Hawks now before they return to full strength.

“They’re going to be good, they’re a good team,” O’Regan said. “We played really, really well, and we closed, but I can’t say I want to come up here in another two weeks, and with Jekot coming back I’ think they’re going to be ok.

“Mackenzie Smith is incredible. She’s really hard to guard.”

Summing up the other games involving the locals, in Drexel’s 62-44 win to improve to 8-3 in the Dragons’ final non-conference action, Keisha Washington, the nation’s leading scorer prior to the latest NCAA statistics update, followed Sunday’s record-shattering 42 points in the overtime win against Penn State, scoring a game-high 21, while Grace O’Neill had 13 points and seven rebounds, Chloe Hodges collected a career-best nine points, and Hetta Saatman blocked four shots against the Hornets (2-8) of the MEAC.

A dominant second half proved the differential.

Savannah Brooks and Tollie Tyshonne each scored 12 points for Delaware State.

When the Dragons return, they start CAA play on the road, visiting UNCW next Thursday at 7 p.m. at Trask Coliseum in Wilmington, N.C., the game airing on the Flohoops network.

They return on New Year’s Day, hosting Towson, under new coach Laura Harper, a former Cheltenham and Maryland star, at 2 p.m. and stay home the following weekend for the first of the two big rivalry games with Delaware at 6 p.m. on Friday and then hosting new member Stony Brook a week from Sunday at 2 p.m.

Delaware’s 66-50 win over American (1-10) saw the Blue Hens jump to a 15-0 lead to stay ahead the rest of the way.

Jewel Smalls and Kharis Idom each scored 16 points for Delaware (7-4) while Tara Cousins scored 10 points and dealt eight assists, the most  for the team in two seasons.

Emily Johns scored 13 for the Eagles and Lauren Stack had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Delaware begins CAA play hosting Hostra next Friday night at 7 p.m. on Flohoops.

Penn State easily handled the visit from Cornell (6-6) of the Ivy League, improving to 9-4, as Leilani Kapinus scored 13 points, Makenna Marisa scored 12, and Shay Ciezki scored 10, and Johnasia Cash grabbed 10 rebounds.

The Lady Lions return to Big Ten play the rest of the way, hosting longtime rival Rutgers next Friday night at 5 p.m.

In the win by Lehigh at Yale, the final non-conference game for the Mountain Hawks (4-7) prior to the launch of Patriot League action, Frannie Hottinger had 21 points and nine rebounds against the Bulldogs (6-7), their second meeting with the opposition and first since 2008.

Mackenzie Kramer scored 18 points and Jamie Behar had 14, while Anna Harvey dealt four assists.

“I thought we had individual moments that we were locked in and ready to play, and that led to a collective and overall 40 minutes of team basketball,” said first-year coach Addie Micir, a former Central Bucks and Princeton star. “We needed to do it on the defensive end and just make it tough for them, which we did, and it was awesome.”

Lehigh’s previous game with Yale resulted in a triumph in overtime.

The Mountain Hawks will host Army Friday night next week at Stabler Arena in Easton, Pa., at 2 p.m.

Lehigh’s league partner Lafayette used a strong second half to edge Saint Francis Brooklyn as Kylie Favours had a career-high 18 points, a total matched by Jess Booth, while Makayla Andrews had eight points, which included a game-winning layup at the Kirby Sports Center in Easton.

The Leopards (3-7) were able to in the second half limit Alyssia Fisher of the opposition (1-11), who got 21 of her 30 points in the first two quarters.

Tyra Myers scored 10 and Bella Green grabbed 11 rebounds.

When they return from the Christmas break, the Leopards begin league action at American on Friday at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.

Temple was not as fortunate as most of the other locals in being handled by Ole Miss (11-2) of the Southeastern Conference in its loss in the Liacouras Center Wednesday afternoon.

The Rebels jumped to a 26-9 lead and stayed ahead the rest of the way.

Jasha Clinton had 16 points for the Owls (5-7), while Tarryionna Gary scored 11, and Tiarra East collected 14 points.

Ole Miss had four players in double figures, Madison Scott and Tyia Singleton each scoring 16 points, Angel Baker having a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Marquesha Davis with 10 points.

The Owls begin play in the American Athletic Conference hosting Memphis next Friday at 2 p.m. on ESPN+.

Nationally Noted: Things are almost getting back to somewhat normal at No. 9 UConn, though on the advice of doctors, Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma, suffering with the flu, stayed away Wednesday afternoon, Associate Head Coach Chris Dailey going 15-0 as a substitute in the Huskies’ 98-73 over visiting Seton Hall in a Big East win at Gampel Pavilion on the campus in Storrs.

Aaliyah Edwards scored 23, while Caroline Ducharme and Nika Muhl each scored 16, combining for 8-of-11 from deep. Lou Lopez Senechal scored 14, while Aubrey Griffin scored 13 with seven rebounds, and Dorka Juhasz had a double-double 10 points and 10 rebounds, UConn improving to 9-2 overall and is now 2-0 in conference play.

The Pirates (9-4, 2-1) got 18 points from Sidney Cooks and Lauren Park-Lane scored 17 while having their seven-game win streak halted.

UConn next visits nationally-ranked Creighton in Omaha, Neb., after the break Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. on SNY and Flohoops.

Auriemma still gets credit for the win, his total now at 1,158, second behind the record-setting Hall of Fame coach Tara VanDerveer of Stanford at 1,169. Her second-ranked Cardinal begins play this Friday at 3 p.m. in the Pac-12, meeting Bay Area rival California. That and Thursday’s 12th-ranked Utah hosting Southern Utah at 7 p.m. are the only look aheads among a scant number of games remaining before the entire NCAA is off until next week.

Iowa State was to host Drake Thursday night but the game was canceled as was a Cyclones men’s game Wednesday in Ames because of weather affecting the Midwest.

In other Wednesday results, in the second day of the one-game each Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte, N.C., No. 23 Oklahoma beat Florida 95-79.

Elsewhere in the San Diego Invitational in California, No. 3 Ohio State had it easier in the title game, beating No. 16 Oregon 84-67. But in the third-place game, American Athletic Conference favorite South Florida, which had one get away the previous night to the Buckeyes in overtime, the Bulls were back in overtime again in the third place game, this time winning 66-65 over No. 17 Arkansas.

In single games of note, Louisville beat host DePaul in Chicago 81-67, while in triple overtime at home Nebraska in Lincoln upset No. 20 Kansas 85-79.

And that’s your report, part two. 

The Guru Report - I: Siegrist, Olsen, and Orihel Power Villanova Over La Salle to Claim Outright Big Five Title With 4-0 Sweep

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

VILLANOVA — The winner and still champions. 

That would be the Villanova Wildcats, who on Wednesday afternoon at home in Finneran Pavilion for the second time this season bounced back from a previous lopsided loss to reverse the equation by handing La Salle an 81-55 thumping, completing a City Series sweep to retain the Big Five title, their 19th.

The game here got off to a competitive start but a 9-0 run near the end of the first quarter created separation and sent Denise Dillon’s squad on its way to continue to own the Explorers with their 14th straight win in the series for an overall 43-9 record.

In the round robin Villanova (10-3, 4-0 Big Five) is now a Big Five best 129-41 with Saint Joseph’s second on total wins at 114.

The way the season is going with senior Maddy Siegrist, 30 is the new 20, she scored 31 with 11 rebounds and was a perfect 9-for-9 on the line. Seventeen of her points occurred in the second half.

Prior to Wednesday’s games Siegrist was second in the nation averaging 27.8 points per game behind Drexel’s Keishana Washington (29.5) and just ahead of Iowa’s Caitlin Clark (27.6).

The native of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., has been a special nightmare to the Explorers (8-6, 0-3) , let alone a fearsome force to the rest of the nation, now having averaged 31.7 points per game off collecting 127 points in the four games she’s played while on the defensive side her 39 rebounds averages to 9.7.

Her career high of 41 at La Salle, matched this year in the win over Temple, was a Big Five record for a frosh in a City Series game.

While Siegrist is from outside the area, the Villanova sophomore tandem of Lucy Olsen and Kaitlyn Orihel are more attuned locally to the Big Five history.

Olsen, who helped the cause with 19 points, her fifth straight game in double figures, and with eight assists, one off her personal best, is from Royersford and Spring-Ford High.

“There is a lot of competition in the Big Five and for us to come out on top is really exciting,” she said. “It’s great.”

Orihel, from Newtown, Pa., and Archbishop Wood, had a career-high 18 points, of which 12 came off 4 three-pointers.

On Sunday, Villanova suffered a loss to No. 14 Iowa State in the Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase at the Mohegan Sun Arena, the site of the Big East women’s tourney in March, that knocked the Wildcats out of the Associated Press women’s poll, ending a five-week stay that began with their upset of then nationally-ranked Princeton.

But with non-conference play now completed, Dillon’s squad will have plenty of opportunity to reclaim the notoriety with the number of Big East squads involved with the poll.

St. John’s, off to a program best 12-0 start, replaced Villanova this week, the Red Storm’s first ranking appearance since 2015.

“We’ve had a lot of great non-conference games,” Olsen said. “The Big East is going to be great this year. Every game is going to be a tough one. I think we’ve prepared well so far.”

Besides the offense, the defense held the Explorers to 32 percent from the field.

Kaitlyn Spruill scored 14, Claire Jacobs scored 11, reserve Gabby Crawford scored 13,  and Molly Mascianto dealt seven assists for La Salle, picked from the A-10 coaches to finish second in conference play.

Coach Mountain MacGillivray said that despite the forecast and respectable record, he thought his squad was playing better this time last season.

“It’s been the same for us,” he said of Wednesday’s game and coming off a similar differential loss Saturday at American Athletic Conference pick South Florida. “You shoot 32 percent, you’re not going to win a lot of basketball games,” he said. “We have to get better and find a way to put the ball in the basket.”

La Salle takes a quick dip in the conference schedule, hosting St. Joseph’s at 2 p.m. on New Year’s Eve in Tom Gola Arena, then starts 2003 hosting Hartford on Jan. 2, the last non-conference opponent on Jan. 2. That game also counts as the final Big Five game of the year so a visiting Hawks win gives Saint Joseph’s an outright second place finish at 3-1 and the Explorers in fifth at 0-5.

A reversal sends the Hawks to second in a 2-2 tie with Penn while La Salle would tie Temple for fourth at 1-4.

Dillon was pleased with the defensive effort.

“When shots fall it makes things easier and you’re more comfortable on the floor,” she said. “We’re trying to get our group to understand the work on the defensive end, staying locked in, and what the strategy and the plan is on that end. Because you’re going to have some nights when you’re not shooting that well.”

Siegrist on the career climb to moving past the celebrated Shelly Pennefather (1,408) from second to first in program scoring history now has 2,179 and just beyond Pennefather, she would need only a few more points to top Penn’s Diana Caramanico to become the all-time leader in the Big Five.

Following the Christmas break, Villanova begins its dive into the Big East wars visiting Marquette next Wednesday in Milwaukee at 8 p.m., then at Xavier in Cincinnati at noon on New Year’s Day before returning home to host Georgetown on Wednesday at 7 p.m., all those games appearing on the Flohoops Network.

The Guru Report: Brugler Has Career Day Taking Saint Joseph’s to Title Round of Its Hawk Classic Against James Madison

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PHILADELPHIA — For the past ten days Saint Joseph’s through its final exam period in the class room had to deal with its first seasonal loss — a dominating one at nearby up the road at Big Five rival Villanova.

Many would say, a long time for rust to set in, especially the way the Hawks had been operating, the Villanova game not withstanding.

“It’s always a concern,” said veteran Hawks coach Cindy Griffin. “Because you don’t want it to be sloppy and you miss being in game shape, sometimes. You’re practicing, but it’s different. But we’re a well conditioned team. We had some turnovers in the first half and some in the second but it’s still manageable when you have 21 assists on 24 field goals. That’s pretty awesome.”

If such was the case, it wasn’t apparent with Talya Brugler, last season’s Atlantic 10 freshman of the year, who had a career-afternoon on Tuesday, collecting 27 points, with seven rebounds, while dealing three assists, and gaining a steal as the home team topped Wright State 70-62 in Hagan Arena to fuel Saint Joseph’s opening round win its annual Hawk Classic.

The nightcap saw James Madison cruise over Eastern Michigan 78-43 to set up Wednesday’s title round at 3 p.m. or a reasonable amount of time after Wright State (1-10) and Eastern Michigan (6-3) play at 1 p.m. in the game for the tourney’s third place finish. The games will air on ESPN+.

Mackenzie Smith also had a big game for Saint Joseph’s (10-1), scoring 21 points with six boards, while Olivia Mullins had a near triple-double with 11 points, tying a career-high with a career-high nine rebounds while she dealt six assists.

Laura Ziegler, who got off to a big start in the second half, finished with eight points and eight boards, and Julia Nystrom dealt seven assists, a career high.

A funky stat on the day came from Brugler and Smith who until near the end of the game, the former at 7-for-8 at the line, and the latter at 9-for-10, accounted for the Hawks’ entire free-throw activity until Mullins chimed in with a 3-for-6.

Wright State had an accurate day at the line, also, shooting 7-for-10, so the Hawks’ performance on the differential loomed large at 19-for-22.

In fact the visitors’ effort belied their record, helped by going 9-for-25 from beyond the arc, and coming back within five points with 2:09 left in regulation to have a shot to win after Saint Joseph’s broke open a 17-point lead in the third period.

Wright State’s Bryce Nixon scored 14 points and Channing Chappell scored scored 10.

But defense was key for the winners, dominating the boards 36-25, and getting stops across the closing minutes.

“I thought we came out with a great punch to start the game and Wright State was definitely prepared,” Griffin said. “They came in and did what they do, shoot a lot of threes, and make a lot of one-and-one baskets.

“We had to adjust our defense at the half. We were able to do that and get consecutive stops in a row while we were scoring. A great team win.”

Said, Brugler, “It was a really fun game, we knew they were undersized from a post standpoint and my teammates were doing a really good job finding me in open areas — especially at the beginning of the game right off the bat.”

Smith of her day and the team performance noted, “We were just moving well off the boards and setting up our screens well and our teammates.

“That’s a growth moment for us,” Griffin said on not collapsing when Wright State threatened, something that was far different than might have happened a year ago. “Certainly, we’ve been in this situation before. We’ve down had at halftime. We’ve had some leads. At the end of the day we executed down the stretch and we got stops when we needed to get stops. That’s the toughness of this team.”

On Brugler, the Hawks coach said, “She never loses her composure and our passes inside I thought was a two-way street, it was Talya’s setup and our guards giving her the basketball where she can be successful. At the end of the day, you’ve just got to want it more and today we showed that.”

In the second game, James Madison (9-2), now in its first year in the Sun Belt Conference following a long run as an annual contender in the Colonial Athletic Association, had little problem Eastern Michigan.

The Dukes have won six straight while the Eagles had opened with five straight wins before losing now three of their last four.

“We scaled back the schedule a little bit,” said JMU coach Sean O’Reagan, now in his seventh season after moving up when Kenny Brooks left for nearby Virginia Tech. “Usually, I’m like let’s go play everybody we can play. And last year that just wore us out. So this year we got some good teams. We want to bus trip where we can because in the Sun Belt we’re in planes a lot.

“The team is playing great. They’re playing together. We got our identity back. We’re defending everything. But I’ll tell you, we’re going to be in a test tomorrow. They’re similar. The had some bumps and so did we.”

Kseniia Koslow, a 6-foot-4 junior from Moscow, Russia, had 18 points for JMU, while Jamia Hazell had 12 points and four boards, and reserve Kobe King-Hawea, a 6-0 junior from Australia had 11 points.

Eastern Michigan, whose coach Fred Castro was a former University of Washington assistant working with now WNBA star Kelsey Plum, got 16 points from Olivia Smith.

Catching Up: In a single local interest game Monday night, Rider was unable to split its Western New York road swing, launching play in the Metro AtlanticAthletic Conference (MAAC), and losing at Niagara 74-67, having a 63-62 lead with 3:28 left dissolved by a 9-0 run from the Purple Eagles (2-8, 1-1 MAAC).

The Broncs (3-8, 0-2) got to their lead with a 14-2 run before Niagara regained the momentum.

“Credit them,” said Rider coach Lynn Milligan. “They stepped up and made big shots.

“That being said, we took the lead 63-62. We had some untimely turnovers and fouls. We didn’t get the big stop, and we didn’t get the big score.”

Amanda Mobley dealt nine assists for Rider, moving past all-time Bronc Stella Johnson into third place with 436 on the program career charts.

Jessika Schiffer had 14 points for the Broncs, while Makayla Firebaugh scored 12.

The major problem came in ball-handling with Rider coughing up 25 miscues resulting in Niagara with a lopsided 27-7 differential in points off turnovers.

Rider is now off until next Thursday, hosting Siena in a MAAC game at 7 p.m. in Alumni Gym on ESPN3 in Lawrenceville, N.J.

Nationally Noteworthy: No. 3 Ohio State escaped a major upset in the San Diego Invitational, beating South Florida 88-86 in overtime, Cotie McMahon fed Taylor Thierry for a layup with six seconds remaining in the extra period.

The shot completed an 8-0 run for the Buckeyes (12-0) at the finish to stay unbeaten.

In a long cold stretch for the Buckeyes, the Bulls (10-4) built a six-point lead 84-78 with 1:52 left on Elena Tsineke’s two foul shots.

Ohio State’s McMahon then made a layup and blocked Tsineke’s shot but Daniel Gonzalez got the offensive board, got fouled, and made two shots at the line for an 86-80 lead with 1:12 left.

Eboni Walker, assisted by Taylor Mikesell, brought the Buckeyes within four with 21 seconds left. Mikesell then made a steal for OSU on Tsineke. 

McMahon went to the line with 21 seconds left, made the first, missed the second but Thierry grabbed an offensive rebound and Mikesell from Thierry fired a trey to tie it with 15 seconds left.

South Florida’s Tsineke on a layup got blocked by Eboni Walker, leading to Thierry’s winning tie-break.

Sammie Puisis turned it over and Thierry grabbed the rebound to end it.

McMahon had 30 for Ohio State, Thierry on 9-for-11 from the field scored 23, and Madison Green scored 14.

Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu had 32 points and 17 rebounds for South Florida, while Pulsis scored 20, including five shots from beyond the arc, and Tsineke scored 15.

 In the earlier game in the tourney, No. 16 Oregon beat No. 17 Arkansas 85-78 as the Ducks (10-1) got 26 points from Grace Vonslooton, 20 from Endyia Rogers, and Phillipina Kyei grabbed 14 rebounds. 

Erynn Barnum scored 22 points and got nine rebounds for the Razorbacks (13-1), Samara Spencer had 20 points and 10 rebounds, Makayla Daniels had 15 points, and Connecticut transfer freshman had 11 rebounds from Saylor Poffenbarger.

On Wednesday, Arkansas will play South Florida at 4 p.m. for third place and then Oregon and Ohio State will meet at 6:30 p.m.

In a tournament of pre-determined opponents each round, the West Palm Beach Invitational, San Diego State beat Miami (Ohio) 66-57, the winning Aztecs (10-2) getting 25 points from Asia Avinger over the opposition (4-7). In the other game, West Virginia edged Georgia 49-45, the winning Mountaineers (8-2) getting 13 points from Danni Nichols and 11 from Jayla Hemmingway  while the Bulldogs (10-3) got 17 points from Diamond Battles helped by five shots from deep.

In the first of a two-day predetermined matches, each single games, in the Jumpman invitational, No. 19 Michigan topped No. 6 North Carolina 76-68 in Charlotte.

Leigha Brown had 25 points and Laila Phelia scored 20 for the winning Wolverines (11-1), while UNC (9-2) featured a balanced attack at the Spectrum Center with Deja Kelly scoring 15, Alyssa Ustby got a double-double 11 points and11 rebounds, Kennedy Todd-Williams also scored 11, Eva Hodgson got 13, and reserve Destiny Adams scored 12.

Two games involving Pac-12  teams were completed late Tuesday night out West.

In a contest between ranked teams  No. 2 Stanford topped No. 21 Creighton 72-59 at home in Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto, Calif., the Cardinal’s last non-conference game before hosting Bay Area rival California Friday afternoon in a PAC-12 game at 3 p.m.

That’s one of four NCAA games on Friday, the others not involving ranked teams.

The triumph increased Hall of Fame coach Tara VanDerveer’s NCAA Division I women’s record to 1,169, which is 12 ahead of UConn’s Geno Auriemma.

In this one, both teams got off to a slow start but Stanford (12-1) began accelerating the differential with a 10-0 run over three minutes to a 27-10 lead at the end of the first period, the spurt under way after Emma Ronsiek’s three-pointer for Creighton (8-3).

The Cardinal hit a scoring drought in the fourth and the Bluejays got to within 11 but that was as close as it got the rest of the way.

Freshman Talana Leopold scored 17 for the Cardinal, while Haley Jones scored 16 with eight assists, Cameron Brink had a double-double 14 points from 6-for-9 shooting and 16 rebounds, and Kiki Iriafen had a near double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds.

Creighton’s Lauren Jensen scored 18 and Ronsiek scored 11.

No. 11 UCLA handled Fresno State 82-48 at home in Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, Charisma Osborne shooting 7-for-11 for 16 points for the Bruins (12-1), while freshman Kiki Rice scored 16 with six rebounds and four assists, and freshman reserve Gabriela Jaquez scored 15 with five rebounds.

The visiting Bulldogs (7-6) had two players score in double figures, Yanina Todorova from Bulgaria scored 13, and reserve Imani Lacy scored 12.

UCLA is now off until a week from Friday when the Bruins return to PAC-12 play visiting Oregon at 9 p.m. on the PAC-12 Network. 

Looking Ahead: Besides the calendar, Wednesday, bringing the official first day of winter, it’s the last big day locally and nationally before the Christmas break with a few games Thursday and Friday and then total idleness until Tuesday when Tennessee hosts Wofford followed by fade-out, fade-in scheduling on next Wednesday as non-conference matchups yield to the league regular season title chases.

Besides, the tourney here, locally, the events are all around the same hours, beginning with Villanova hosting La Salle, at 11:30 a.m., on Flohoops, the ‘Cats seeking an outright Big Five championship.

At noon, Temple wraps up ins non-conference slate, hosting Ole Miss in the Liacouras Center on ESPN+, Drexel is hosting Delaware State at noon in the Daskalakis Athletic Center on Flohoops; Delaware at 2 p.m. is hosting American U. in the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark on Flohoops; Penn State at noon is hosting Cornell in the Bryce Jordan Center in State College; Lehigh is visiting Yale at 6 p.m. in New Haven, Conn., on ESPN+, and Lafayette is hosting St. Francis Brooklyn at 1 p.m.

Nationally, No. 9 UConn in a Big East clash is hosting Seton Hall in a key Big East game at the XL Center at noon in Hartford , on SNY and Flohoops.  Hall of Fame Huskies coach Geno Auriemma will be sidelined for his home game, still feeling the effects of the flu, thus  associate head coach Chris Dailey can extend her substitute mark to 15-0. 

In this dynamic Auriemma still gets official credit for the outcome as he trails just Stanford Hall of Famer Tara VanDerveer for the total Division I women’s win record.

Baylor hosts Long Beach; DePaul hosts Louisville; Gonzaga hosts Montana.

Florida and No. 23 Oklahoma will meet to complete the two-day predetermined single game rounds of the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte, N.C., at 9:30 p.m. on ESPN2. 

Thursday has a bunch of games, though only one involves a ranked team, No. 12 Utah hosting state rival Southern Utah at 7 p.m.

 There was to be a key in-state matchup  but along with a Wednesday men’s contest, Iowa State hosting Omaha; the No. 14 Cyclone women’s game hosting Drake has been cancelled due to weather conditions in the Midwest.

That’s the report. 

The Guru Report: Washington Sets Record and Drexel Recovers Beating Penn State in Overtime

Guru Note — Noreen Dougherty contributed to this report filing the bulk of information on the UConn-Florida State, Villanova-Iowa State doubleheader at the Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase at the Mohegan Sun.

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PHILADELPHIA — Maybe something has gotten into the air in this part of the city.

It was just a week ago three blocks down 33rd street at The Palestra that Kayla Padilla scored her 1,000th point and single-handedly carried Penn into a last second comeback win over Temple.

 On Sunday afternoon Keishana Washington here at home in the Daskalakis Athletic Center bettered her personal best, scoring 42 points, a total better than every Drexel player in program history whose game points occurred in regulation. Career-scoring leader Gabriela Marginean had 40 on Feb. 12, 2009 against Old Dominion.

While her performance made it all possible, Drexel had a nice lead slip away but regrouped in overtime on the play of Hetta Saatman to claim a 86-82 victory,

Besides becoming the first player at Drexel to collect three straight 30 plus performances, Washington reached 1800 as the ongoing third place occupant on the Dragons career scoring chart.

Considering one more non-conference game is left Wednesday at noon here against Delaware State and then the entire league race beginning at UNCW, Dec. 29, in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), where Washington was named the conference preseason player of the year, she easily is in range to join Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist as the second area player to reach the 2,000 milestone this season.

As for the game, after mastering Penn State for most of the way, building a 17-point lead, the highlight from the Dragons’ perspective of the competition came in an extended overtime when the momentum had swung the other way to a four-point lead by the Lady Lions. 

That’s when Washington’s classmate Saatman fired a three-ball and then twice was found inside for easy baskets on a seven-point run.

Saatman had a career-high 14 points, shooting a perfect 5-for-5 from the field, including the one from deep.

“I was just ready and after that shot went in, I knew we were winning the game,” Saatman said. “I think all of my teammates were thinking, this is it, we’re taking this win home today.”

Australian junior Chloe Hodges scored making it an 85-80 lead with 41 seconds left.

Said Mallon of Saatman, “She’s done a lot of things for us you don’t even see. Today she stepped up and scored for us.”

Still, the game was not yet sealed as the visitors, who actually missed opportunities on 2-of-4 from the lane, moved close at 85-82 with 19 seconds left.

But Maura Hendrixson got a swipe and the Dragons got the game’s final point on a foul shot to make the score 86-82.

The large turnout on Penn State’s first visit to the city since Nov. 11, 2016, also an appearance here that was also won by the Dragons (7-3), recalled the days the Lady Lions (8-4) regularly appeared locally as a member of the Atlantic 10 making visits to Saint Joseph’s and Temple before La Salle was in the conference.

“To get this win at home today, I couldn’t be prouder of this group,” said head coach Amy Mallon, who agreed the outcome could be considered among the best wins in program history. “We just came off the road where we had a couple of tough games that we were able to get through, but to be able to come home and show what we are able to do and keep building, I’m proud of this team.

“I’d agree this is a great win for us, especially the way we got it.”

The first on that trip was local, losing a lop-sided game at Saint Joseph’s, the first missing freshman Kylie Lavelle with a lower body injury, but expected back soon.

Then it was a 60-58 overtime loss at Yale before winning 64-49 at Dartmouth.

The misfortune of the temporary roster depletion has turned into a positive as Mallon sees more options available from the Dragons’ play since Lavelle got hurt.

“In the back of my head we have a very talented freshman that is Kylie Lavelle,” Mallon explained. “When she’s back that’s just going to be another plus for us. She was averaging 20 points a game.”

Penn State certainly showed while the team is ready to become more of a threat in the Big Ten after being near the bottom of the conference in recent seasons.

Makenna Marisa scored 28 points and dealt five assists, helping to fuel the rally from the deep deficit. Shay Ciezki had 16 points, two off her career high she scored on Syracuse earlier this season.

Alexa Williamson, a transfer from Temple, who almost won it late in regulation with two foul shots, scored 13, grabbed seven rebounds and had two steals.

The Lady Lions complete non-conference play on Wednesday, playing Cornell at noon in the Bryce Jordan Center.

 After the holiday break, the team returns to Big Ten play the rest of the way, beginning on Friday, Dec. 30, at 5 p.m., hosting Rutgers, which will feature a home coming of sorts for Scarlet Knights first year coach Coquese Washington, who previously ran the squad until let go four seasons ago and Carolyn Kieger was hired away from a successful run at Marquette.

Rutgers Edges New Orleans Speaking of the Scarlet Knights, also completing non-conference play, a three-game run against out-of-league competition concluded with a 64-56 win at home against New Orleans (1-7) in Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, N.J.

Though Rutgers (6-8) got off to a big lead at 16-3 early in the first quarter, the visitors fought back moving within a point in the second half before being held off the rest of the way.

“We talk with our team about how basketball is a game of runs,” Washington said. “You have to be able to weather these runs. 

“I thought against Princeton, we didn’t weather the run,” she referenced Thursday’s loss to the nearby in-state rival in which a 10-point halftime lead was dissolved by the Tigers’ comeback the rest of the way. “Tonight, we did a better job.”

Kaylene Smikle scored 19 points, making her first start, while she also dealt five assists. Chyna Cornwell had 15 points and 13 assists in her fifth double-double of the season.

Awa Sidibe had 15 points and dealt six assists. She also grabbed a career-high four steals.

The 56 points from the Privateers were their third lowest total on the season.

Rutgers also mined 21 points off 19 New Orleans turnovers.

Following the trip to Penn State, the turn of the calendar to the New Year will see Maryland visit on January 2.

Battle of Ranked Teams Sees No. 25 Villanova Fall to No. 14 Iowa State:  The Cyclones from the Big 12 Conference took claim of the second game of the day at the Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., topping the Wildcats 74-62.

 

All five of Iowa State’s started scored in double figures with three ending the day with double-doubles.

 Ashley Joens led the Cyclones (8-2) in scoring with 17 points and pulled down 10 boards. 

Stephanie Soares was quite effective in just 24 minutes of action with her team-high 11 rebounds while chipping in 14 points while Emily Ryan flirted with a triple-double with her stat line of 16 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds. 

 

Denae Fritz added 13 points on a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc and Lexi Donarski was the fifth Cyclone to score in double digits with 10.

 

Maddy Siegrist led all scorers with 32 points on 9-of-22 shooting, one of just four games out of Villanova’s 12 thus far where the forward has shot under 50% from the floor. The forward added 12 rebounds, four blocks, two assists and a steal. 

 

The Cyclones led 42-23 at the half, leaving Villanova with an uphill battle ahead the rest of the way. 

The Wildcats opened the third quarter with an 8-0 run on their way to win the third quarter, 14-10. Iowa State was scoreless until Fritz hit a triple at 3:29. 

 

Villanova went on to outscore the Cyclones yet again in the fourth quarter, 25-22, but their early deficit was just too much to come overcome. 

 

"As expected it was a tough game," said Villanova head coach Denise Dillon. "Iowa State showed why they are one of the top teams in the country; they showed us that in the first half. I was pleased with our effort and the way we battled to the end, in the second half especially."

 

The Wildcats (9-3) had their second-worst shooting game of the season with a field goal percentage of 33.9% (21-62).

Villanova can head to the holiday break in a better mood Wednesday, hosting La Salle at 11:30 a.m. at Finneran Pavilion, where a win would complete a 4-0 sweep and maintain the Big Five title won last season. Should the Explorers prevail then the outcome of the La Salle game with Saint Joseph’s on the afternoon of New Year’s Eve will determine if the ‘Cats and Hawks share the glory with a tie or ‘Nova still wins outright at 3-1.

Delaware Wins at Lehigh: The Blue Hens got back to winning ways, winning on the road at Lehigh 79-67 at the host Mountain Hawks’ Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa.

Klarke Sconiers had a career day for the visitors, the second battle of two Guru local teams along with the Drexel-Penn State matchup, scoring 29 points shooting 10-for-12 from the field. She also grabbed 11 rebounds for a double-double.

Her points, 10 field goals and nine completed foul shots were all tops on the Blue Hens squad this season.

Delaware (6-4) extended its series domination of Lehigh (3-7) with nine straight dating back to 1990 and it was the first time this season the Blue Hens won after trailing at halftime.

Tara Cousins scored 15 points with seven rebounds, while Mikayla Pippin had 14 points and 13 rebounds. Jewel Smalls had 13 points off three from deep to propel her total and also had two steals.

Frannie Hottinger scored 20 with 11 rebounds for the Mountain Hawks, who also got 14 points from Ella Stemmer, while Mackenzie Kramer scored 11, and Jamie Behar scored 10.

“We’ve got to make shots,” said Lehigh first-year coach Addie Micir, a former Princeton star from Bucks County. “I think you have to credit Delaware. They came tough and ready to go in the second half.”

Delaware finishes non-conference play Wednesday, hosting American University at 2 p.m. in the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark.

Lehigh will the same later Wednesday visiting Yale at 6 p.m. in New Haven.

Nationally noted: With finals completed nationwide a bunch of marquee games game booming into the daily schedule Sunday.

Tennessee, a top-five squad in the AP preseason poll that was bounced out several weeks ago, showed improvement but remained winless against other opponents with a ranking, losing at No. 2 Stanford 77-70 in the Cardinal’s Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto, Calif.

The win extended Hall of Fame coach Tara VanDerveer’s all-time Division I women’s win total to 1,168 ahead of runnerup UConn Hall of Famer Geno Auriemma, who did not coach in Sunday’s win over Florida State but still gets credited with a total of 1,157.

Associate Head Coach Chris Dailey, who filled in for her boss, extended her perfect mark to 14-0 in the program’s history when she’s substituted and in this one following Sunday’s loss a week ago at Maryland helped preserve a long-running stat of the Huskies not losing two straight games since 1993.

Back in the Stanford game, Cameron Brink became the second player in the history of the Cardinal (11-1) to score 21 points, get 17 rebounds, and block six shots. Previously, Jayne Appel had 30 points, 20 rebounds, and six blocks on Utah in 2007.

Tennessee (7-6) looked like the Lady Vols might get over the hump in premium games, leading 58-50 with less than a minute in the third period. But Stanford then erupted outscoring the visitors 27-12 the rest of the way, 18 of the points coming from Brink or Haley Jones, who finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds.

Though Tennessee leads the series, 25-14, Stanford has won four straight for the first time in the match between two all-time women’s national powerhouses.

The Cardinal’s sole loss was in overtime at home to No. 1 South Carolina after holding a lead most of the game.

The AP in its coverage noted that Lady Vols coach Kellie Harper told her team that any flaws at this stage of the season would be exposed by their opponent.

“This is historically almost like a little bit of a bellwether game, how you do against Tennessee kind of tells you how you can do the rest of the year,” VanDerveer said. “That I think should give our team a lot of confidence.”

In addition to Brink and Jones, Hannah Jump had 19 points and her shot from deep with 1:19 left sealed the deal for a Stanford team that had been idle two-weeks during finals.

Tennessee’s Jordan Horston had 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Rickea Jackson had 14 and Sarah Puckett scored 11, dominated by three shots from deep.

“Any time you play Stanford you know exactly who you are,” Harper said, saying Stanford is “really good taking away strengths.”

Tennessee will be off until Dec. 27 hosting Wofford to prepare for the Southeastern Conference wars. In an interesting game Tuesday night Stanford will host No. 16 Creighton, which just lost at home to No. 21 Arkansas.

In the game No. 9 UConn played, preceding the Villanova game, afterwards Dailey on Auriemma’s condition reported, “He’s okay. Flu-like symptoms and dehydration. It’s been a heck of a week both from a playing standpoint in the number of games we had to go through plus losing his mom. It’s a combination of a lot of things. He’s feeling better.” 

 

Auriemma lost his mother on Dec. 8 and her funeral was earlier in the week. Marsiella Auriemma, a longtime Norristown resident, was 91 years old. 

 

UConn was led by Aaliyah Edwards with a career-high 26 points along with seven rebounds, two assists and a block. Lou Lopez Sénéchal also finished in double figures with 23 while knocking down four triples for the fifth time this season. 

 

The Huskies (8-2) saw Dorka Juhàsz and Nika Mühl return to the starting lineup after the pair were sidelined due to injury.

 Juhàsz finished just shy of a double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds while adding five blocks, four assists and two steals. Mühl also had an impressive first game back with six points, six rebounds and 12 assists. 

 

Florida State’s Ta’Niya Latson, who has been named the ACC Rookie of the Week for five consecutive weeks, scored a team-high 24 points and added three rebounds, three steals, two assists and a block. 

However, Latson was one of two Seminoles (11-2) to foul out in the game. She reached her fifth foul with 6:44 to go in the fourth quarter while Makayla Timpson headed to the bench with 1:41 remaining in the game.

Down in Dallas as part of the Pac-12 Coast-to-Coast Challenge played at the American Airlines Arena that will be the site of next spring’s Women’s Final Four, Texas, another preseason Top 5 team recently dropped out of the rankings, beat Southern Cal 62-48 as Shaylee Gonzalez scored 22 points and the Longhorns held the opposition to 32 percent shooting.

The Trojans (9-2) suffered their first loss of the season narrowly at home Thursday falling to No. 10 UCLA in a PAC-12 opener.

DeYona Gaston had 16 points and four rebounds, four assists, three steals, and a blocked shot. All-American Rori Harmon, sidelined during most of the decline by Texas (7-4), had nine points, seven assists, and six rebounds, with five steals.

In winning a fourth straight, Texas forced 29 turnovers, the most in a game since the 2009 season. Rayah Marshall and Kadi Sissoko each scored 12 points for USC.

In a later game on the women’s side of the day-long event, No. 20 Arizona beat No. 18 Baylor 75-54 in the second meeting ever between the two national powerhouses.

Arizona (9-1) had been moving recently to Top 10 territory in the rankings until an upset at home to then-unranked Kansas sent the Wildcats tumbling backwards.

Baylor (8-3) off the mark through roster changes, had been floating around the Bears’ current rankings.

Sarah Andrews had 14 points for Baylor, while Jaden Owens scored 15 while fifth-year Caitlin Bickle grabbed 11 rebounds, one off her personal best.

Owens became the first this season on Baylor to play a full 40 minutes.

Shaina Pellington had 18 points for Arizona, while Jade Loville scored 16, and Cate Reese double-doubled for 13 points and 13 rebounds, and Esmery Martinez grabbed 15 rebounds.

In a key Atlantic Coast Conference game between two ranked teams, No. 5 Notre Dame won its league opener at No. 6 Virginia Tech 63-52 in Blacksburg, Va.

In recent weeks, the host Hokies (10-1, 1-1 ACC) had risen to program all-time highs in the AP women’s poll.

Having earlier beaten UConn, in claiming a second win over a Top 10 team, the Irish (10-1, 1-0) used a big 23-9 finish to top Virginia Tech.

“What I loved most about this game today was our toughness, our competitiveness, and the way that we battled and fought a great Virginia Tech team on their home court,” Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey said.

Olivia Miles had 16 points, 13 rebounds, and seven assists for the winning Irish. Lauren Ebo scored 15 points in 22 minutes. Sonia Citron scored 11 and Maddy Westbeld had 10.

Georgia Amoore had 20 points for the Hokies and reigning ACC player of the week Elizabeth Kitley had 16 points and 20 rebounds.

DePaul used Big East play to get back on the winning side, beating Georgetown 80-71 as five players scored in double figures in the game at Wintrust Arena in Chicago.

Reigning USBWA national player of the week Aneesah Morrow had 28 points and 11 rebounds for DePaul (9-3, 2-0 Big East). Darrione Rogers had 17 points, while Anaya People scored 14, and Kendall Holmes had 11, and Jorie Allen scored 10 against the Hoyas (7-4, 1-2).

DePaul goes out of conference before the break Wednesday hosting Louisville at 7:30 p.m. on FS1.

In a continued turnaround Illinois beat Missouri on the road in a non-conference Braggin’ Rights game as Adalia McKenzie had 21 points and Genesis Bryant a career best 20 for the Illini (10-2) against the Tigers (11-2). It’s only the sixth time Illinois has reached nine non-conference wins.

The ongoing Pac-12/SWAC legacy series saw California beat FAMU at home in Berkeley 88-58.

In a note for ‘Nova fans, former player Lior Garzon had 20 points on 8-for-11 from the field, 4-of-6 threes, in Oklahoma State’s 87-62 win over UNLV. Both teams are 9-2.

The Maui Classic wrapped up in Hawaii continuing with predetermined opponent rounds as Montana State topped Nevada 64-42 and No. 11 LSU beat Oregon State 87-55.

In the first game, Leia Beattie had 19 points for Montana State (7-5) and Audrey Roden had 12 for Nevada (3-8).

In the second, LSU extended its unbeaten streak to 12-0 on the season as Angel Reese had 25 points and 20 rebounds while Alexis Morris scored 18. 

Talia Von Oelhoffen had 14 points for Oregon State (7-4).

Looking Ahead:  Rider is the only local playing Monday looking for a split in its Western New York two-game swing playing Niagara in Buffalo at 6 p.m. on ESPN3.

On Tuesday it’s just the Hawk Classic at Saint Joseph’s, the host team playing Wright State at 1 p.m., on ESPN+ followed by James Madison meeting Eastern Michigan at 3 p.m.

On Wednesday as mentioned earlier Villanova hosts La Salle at 11:30 a.m. in a Big Five game; Ole Miss is visiting Temple at noon on ESPN+, Delaware State is at Drexel at noon on Flohoops; Cornell is at Penn State at noon; Lehigh is at Yale at 6 p.m. on ESPN+ and Saint Francis Brooklyn visits Lafayette at at 1 p.m. on ESPN+.

The Saint Joseph’s tournament wraps up with games at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on ESPN+.

And that’s the report.