The Guru Report: No. 13 Creighton Second Half Thrust Carries Bluejays Over ‘Nova in Big East Opener; Princeton Wins at Maine; South Florida Upsets No. 22 Texas

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

VILLANOVA, Pa. — Maddy Siegrist took another step up the career production ladder with the Wildcats but coach Denise Dillon’s group ended up being handed a 67-46 Big East Conference demotion Friday night  in their home opener here at Finneran Pavilion from No. 13 Creighton in the start of league play.

Siegrist scored 25 and grabbed eight rebounds moving past Nancy Bernhardt’s total of 2,018 into second place on the ‘Nova lifetime scoring chart at 2,032 leaving a stretch to catch the all-time leader Shelly Pennefather, who finished with 2,408. The local chart also moves her into seventh among the eight players who have scored 2,000 plus points in their careers.

But all of that could not atone for disappointing a crowd of 2,841, whose attendance caused retired former longtime Wildcats coach Harry Perretta doing commentary on the Big East Digital Network to recall the time crowds of 3,000 came here regularly to watch Pennefather and appeared now doing it for Siegrist, whose team fell to 6-2 overall.

“We lost to a very good basketball team, very disciplined, very efficient, we knew what they were capable of coming in,” Dillon said of the Bluejays, who continued to stay unbeaten, now at 7-0.

Christina Dalce had a near double-double 9 points and 9 rebounds, but after those two, the offense was reduced to a scoring famine.

Though the collapse is marked by Creighton’s 17-7 dominance in the third quarter, Dillon thought the  trouble began before the half, though the 25th-ranked Wildcats got to the break with a slim 27-26 lead.

“We came out doing a decent job offensively, very solid defensively and then we got tripped in the second quarter. They stayed on point with what they do. And then we faltered a bit.”

Once one end began falling apart, Dillon thought the other part began suffer defensively, with Creighton getting many easy opportunities.

‘Nova’s forte was a mere 2-for-23 from deep, while Creighton was 9-for-19 from beyond the arc.

While Creighton has not been invincible in the series with the Wildcats, the Bluejays have been a problem in games over the years.

In this one from the visitors, Molly Mogensen had 22 points, tying a career-high earlier this season in an in-state win over Nebraska, then ranked, while Morgan Mally scored 16 with seven rebounds, Emma Ronsiek had 14, though nine turnovers; and Lauren Jensen had nine points and eight turnovers.

“I thought our guards did a decent job, our post players playing behind isn’t an option. We played 10 players, everybody got in the game, everybody didn’t got an opportunity.”

On the ambience, Dillon said, “We put ourselves in a good spot, being tested at home, and great support, great energy around the program, people came out, our students were here, recognized Title IX, our female student athletes, I think a disappointment, can’t do do-overs, can’t take it back, but its something our team recognizes, playing for something bigger than ourselves.”

Dillon noted, that once the loss is in the books, there’s no time to dwell, with the conference opening weekend concluding on ‘Nova’s side Sunday afternoon at Providence in Rhode Island at 1 p.m. on Flohoops.

The Wildcats are back here Tuesday at 7 p.m. in a nonconference game hosting American from the Patriot League on Flohoops.

Ironically, on a lite night elsewhere with just one other local game and just two on the tracker, former old Big East rival South Florida, whom Villanova dominated Sunday for third place in the Gulf Coast Showcase in Florida, pulled an upset winning 70-65 at No. 22 Texas at the Longhorns’ new Moody Center in Austin.

Texas was in the top five in the Associated Press preseason poll but off the upset likely to be sent out of the rankings, which Tennessee, another preseason Top five, was booted last week.

Sammie Puisis had 25 points for the Bulls (8-2), while Elena Tsineke scored 22 with five rebounds and five assists. Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu had 13 points and 10 rebounds.

The Horns (3-4) had 14 points from Deyona Gaston, while Rori Harmon and Aaliyah Moore each scored 13 points, and Sonya Morris scored 12. Moore and. Gaston each pulled down eight rebounds.

Elsewhere in the Big East, No. 3 UConn at home stayed unbeaten at 6-0 beating Providence 98-53 as Lou Lopez-Senechal scored 18 points, likewise from Aubrey Griffin, while Azzi Fudd scored 16,  Aaliyah Edwards scored 14, and reserve Caroline Ducharme scored 10 against the Friars (6-3).

Edwards and Griffin each grabbed 10 rebounds.

UConn finishes the week Sunday with another Top 10 clash, this one in one of the Jimmy V games, visiting No. 7 Notre Dame at 3 p.m. on ABC-TV. The Irish are coming off a last second loss at home to No. 20 Maryland Thursday night as part of the ACC/Big 10 Challenge Series.

Other Big East games saw No. 24 Marquette handle host Georgetown, 78-57, in the nation’s capital, as Jordan King had 23 points for the Golden Eagles (7-1) against the Hoyas (4-3).

Seton Hall beat host Xavier 74-55 in Cincinnati, Lauren Park-Lane scoring 24 points and dealing six assists for the winning Pirates (5-3), while Sidney Cooks had 15 points and. 10 rebounds.

Saint John’s stayed unbeaten at 7-0 in a 65-57 win at Butler (4-3) in Indianapolis, Ind., as Kadaja Bailey had 16 points, Mimi Reid had 11 points, reserve Jillian Archer had 13 points, and Rayven Peeples had 11 rebounds with eight points. 

The other two non-locals on the tracker saw Washington State at home gain in a 77-57 win over Montana, while in the start of the three-day round-robin ASU Classic in Temple, Ariz., reigning Atlantic 10 champion Massachusetts beat host Arizona State 88-64.

In the former game in Pullman, Wash., the host Cougars (6-1) got 24 points from Charlisse Leger-Walker while Bella Murekatele scored 21 points.

Carmen Gfeller scored 17 for the visiting Grizzlies (2-5) while Keeli Burton-Oliver scored 13.

In the tourney in the Southwest that has a single game in each of three days through Sunday, UMass improved to 8-1 as Angelique Ngalakulondi scored 21 points with seven rebounds, reigning A-10 player of the year Sam Breen had 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Sydney Taylor and Distiney Philoxy each scored 13 points, and Taylor grabbed nine rebounds.

The Sun Devils (6-2) under first-year coach Natashia Adair, formerly with Delaware, succeeding the retired Charli Turner Thorne got 15 points each from Tyi Skinner and Jaddan Simmons.

On Saturday, UMass and Missouri play at 6 p.m., while on Sunday the tourney concludes with Missouri and the host Sun Devils playing at 2:30 p.m.

Princeton Tops Maine With Late Run: In the game involving the other local Friday night, the Tigers of the Ivy League, where they are favored, and the host Black Bears of the America East, where they are conference favorites, Julie Cunningham and Kaitlyn Chen teamed up for 23 points in the second half of Princeton’s 65-51 victory.

Chen finished with a game-high 15 points and Cunningham scored 13 for the Tigers (4-2). 

Ellie Mitchell is the first in the NCAA women’s competition this season to have 12 rebounds and eight steals in a game. She’s just the 10th player since 2009-10 to score seven points, grab 12 rebounds, and have three assists and eight steals. The last time it occurred was in February in 2018.

Maine (3-5) got 15 points and 10 rebounds from Adrianna Smith.

Princeton next visits Towson in suburban Baltimore on Monday at 7 p.m. on Flohoops.

Looking Ahead: The local lineup on Saturday has five games with La Salle hosting Lehigh in the Tom Gola Arena. At 2 p.m., while also in the area, Temple is on the nightcap of a doubleheader with the men at the Liacouras Center. The first game is at 1 p.m. hosting VCU with the women hosting UMBC 40 minutes after the completion of the opener, though at the moment the tip is targeted for 3:30 p.m. The game will air on ESPN+.

Penn State, looking to bounce back from its first loss of the season on Wednesday to Virginia, opens its Big Ten slate at Minnesota in Minneapolis at 8:30 p.m. on the Big Ten Network, the first pairing of all the conference games occurring this weekend.

Rider at 11 a.m. is at the Navy Academy in Annapolis, Md., playing the Midshipwomen on ESPN+ while Lafayette is at Columbia at 1 p.m. on ESPN+ on upper Broadway in. New York.

The USD Winter Classic in San Diego, Calif., on the first day has New Mexico playing the hosts at 5 p.m. followed by Nevada and Idaho at 7 p.m.

No. 15 UCLA is at UCSB at 10 p.m. out West at 10 p.m.; Portland is at No. 19 Oregon at 5 p.m. on the PAC-12 network; and top-ranked South Carolina hosts Memphis at 3 p.m. on the SECN+ network.

Cal-Berkeley’s Raising the B.A.R. Invitational in the Bay Arena has the hosts meeting Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 2 p.m. while SMU and Gardner-Webb meet at 4 p.m.

On Sunday, at noon No. 4 Ohio State helps host Rutgers open Big Ten competition at noon in Jersey Mike’s Arena on the conference network. It’s also the day the ceremony featuring the court naming for retired coach C. Vivian Stringer will be held.

Here in the city a major clash as Drexel visits Saint. Joseph’s at Hagan Arena at 2 p.m. on ESPN+. Delaware hosts Duquesne on Flohoops at 1 p.m.

Some national games of note have Tennessee, trying to get back in the rankings, hosting No. 9 Virginia Tech at 1 p.m. on ESPN2 in Knoxville.

No. 20 off its recent win at No. 7 Notre Dame opens Big Ten play hosting Nebraska. At 1 p.m. as Terrapins coach Brenda Frese targets her. 600th career win.

No. 23 Gonzaga is at No. 2 Stanford at 6 p.m. on the PAC-12 network one day before Cardinal coach Tara VanDerveer will move past the late Tennessee coaching legend Pat Summitt with 619 appearances in the Associated Press women’s poll, an all-time record.

And that’s the report.