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.