The Guru Report: Penn Reaches Four Straight and .500 in 78-44 Wipeout of Saint Francis Brooklyn; Toledo and Kansas Victimize Ranked Teams But Maryland Escapes

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PHILADELPHIA— Penn went with 20-20 vision Thursday night in the form of that many points each from Kayla Padilla and Jordan Obi, who also went double-double with 10 rebounds, in a 78-44 rout of Saint Francis Brooklyn of the Northeast Conference here at The Palestra that was so lopsided the decision desk called it for the Quakers (5-5) with just 25 percent or 10 minutes of action recorded that ended with the home team in front 33-11.

Padilla moved within 15 of joining the Penn chapter of the 1,000-point club in what was a getting to know all of you special with all but Ella Ray on the Quakers’ 18-member roster landing in the boxscore. 

She also highlighted a prolific attack, shooting 6-of-10 from beyond the arc, as Penn registered 15-of-37 in three-point accuracy, and Padilla also dished five assists, the total most compiled in a single game in the Mike McLaughlin era and entire 2000s.

“I haven’t been shooting the ball very well, so it’s kind of a confidence booster for me,” Padilla said. “But I think it’s just a testament to how much a balanced offense we have this year with so many threats to score.”

Mandy McGurk, who scored eight, once again for the third time gained a career mark of six assists. Freshman Simone Sawyer’s string of double digits in points ended scoring just six points off two shots from deep but she led the thievery on defense with three steals. Floor Toonders grabbed eight rebounds with three assists.

The bench even provided a sister act featuring a family score of Saniah Caldwell feeding her sister Sydnei on a play.

The visiting Terriers (1-9) were held in check with Sarah Bandoma being the leader in points with 10 and rebounds at nine, just missing a double-double.

Brooklyn gave some resistance trailing 46-17 at the half and forging an 8-0 run in the third quarter though the earlier Penn barrage was much to overcome.

This was Penn’s third of a 10-game home stand that is actually 11 in the area since. The streak began at La Salle. 

Just before the current home-court comforts the Quakers made a two-game trip to the West Coast.

They let one get away at San Francisco in the second half, but then played very competitively against a Southern Cal squad currently 9-0 under Lindsay Gottlieb, a former Ivy star at Brown and coach at Cal-Berkley, who was snatched back from an assistant job with the NBA Cleveland Browns to rebuild the Trojans to prominence.

“We’re grateful to have taken those trips,” Padilla said. “We got such good experiences playing really good teams.

“But they’re not going to count for anything if we don’t translate what we’ve learned from those losses in our next games, and I think we really took that to heart coming back home.”

She had said previously in Penn’s overtime win here Tuesday against Bucknell the lessons helped in the narrow contest.

Narrow was not a word needed to use to describe the action on the Terriers.

“We came out of the gate and just shared the ball, made 3s,” McLaughlin said. “I don’t know the last time we got 33 in a quarter, but that’s a really impressive start to the game,/ It kind of set the tone for the rest of the game.

“I think this group is really starting to get better. We’re definitely a better team than we were a week ago, two weeks ago, three weeks ago, which is a good sign.”

Penn will get to learn how good Sunday, with the Ivy schedule not far on the horizon,  when Temple visits for the final Big Five game for both, who each stand at 1-2 in the City Series round robin.

“The energy will be there, no doubt,” McLaughlin said. “The opponent might create a little bit of a challenge, but I think this group will be prepared, confident and ready to play.”

The schools did not meet last year, just as the situation with La Salle and the Owls, Covid-19 tests knocking out the original matchup date and nothing suitable existed to replace it and Villanova had already clinched first.

Penn State Falls to No. 4 Indiana: Speaking of pandemic issues,  Lafayette hosting No. 5 Notre Dame Thursday night in Kirby Arena in Easton, Pa., was for now postponed as teams seek a new date before forced to cancel.

That left one other local on the books, Penn State opening its Big Ten home slate against the powerful Hoosiers at Bryce Jordan Center in State College, arriving from a tough overtime weekend collapse in the overall conference opener at Minnesota.

The Lady Lions in the first half seemed poised to become part of the upset-launched brigade against Top 25 opponents, featuring a 10-4 run in the second quarter.

But Indiana ultimately erupted in the third quarter with a 22-9 advantage to win 67-58 and stay unbeaten at 10-0 and 2-0 in the Big Ten while Penn State after a 7-0 start lost its third straight, and is now 0-2 in league play.

Coach Carolyn Kieger’s squad will be in town a week from Sunday, the first visit here in quite a while, playing Drexel, though, she herself had been here sooner directing Big East Marquette against Villanova in her previous job.

Leilani Kapinus scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the home team, while Makenna Marisa had 12 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and a pair of steals. Temple transfer Alexa Williamson had 10 points.

Indiana’s Mackenzie Holmes and Sydney Parrish each scored 18 and Holmes made it a double-double with 10 rebounds. Chloe Moore-McNeil had 11 and Yarden Garzon, the sister of former Villanova player Lior Garzon, had seven points and eight rebounds. Grace Berger continued to be sidelined from a recent injury.

“Obviously, I thought we had a great first half, where we locked down defensively, and had great composure,” Kieger said. “It’s just a maturity that you have to understand to beat a top five team defensively, you have to do it for 40 minutes.”

On Sunday Penn State will have a throwback to a rivalry in the Atlantic 10 era when the Big 12’s West Virginia visits at 4 p.m.

Nationally Noted: WNBA’s Brittney Griner Freed in Prisoner Swap - Just checking in here for one to register pleasure at the news and two having personally dealt with the WNBA Phoenix Mercury generational talent twice awarding the former Baylor all-American national player honors from the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) as well as covering. In the league.

By now you’ve seen most of the coverage as the Guru assembles the nightly roundup so no need to duplicate though also mentioning WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert held a press conference mid-day the transcript of which is easy to find.

Respective Shockers to Michigan from Toledo and Arizona from Kansas While Maryland Escapes Again. Feel free to say Holy Toledo!

Been a long time coming but the Mid-American favorites registered their first win over a ranked team in 13 seasons and first on the road in 27 seasons since an NCAA tourney ouster of No. 24 Ole Miss with the visitors handing No. 14 Michigan a 71-68 setback at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, dropping the Wolverines (9-1) from the dwindling group of unbeaten squads.

It’s the first win over a Big Ten opponent since winning 69-58 at Indiana, Nov. 25, 2011, eleven seasons ago.

 Coach Tricia Cullop’s team owns the longest true road win streak in the nation at the moment, which is 15.

“I was so proud of the way we started the game,” Cullop said. “You have to have a good start against a team like this. 

“I thought we were composed and didn’t get too excited about the lead, because you’ve seen teams take an early lead but other teams storm back.We really battled and found a way to win.”

The Cinderella night seemed ready to go the way of pumpkins when the bewitching time nears as Leigh Brown put the home team up 69-68 with 20 seconds left, but apparently Toledo junior Sammi Minkonowicz was still in possession of glass slippers to regain the lead taking an inbound pass and driving the basket to regain the advantage.

Michigan tried to again be wicked at the finish but Minkonowicz grabbed a missed shot and then shot two free throws to preserve the upset.

“This is a huge win,” Minkonowicz said. “We knew we needed to win one of these big games on our schedule. They were a super aggressive team, so that was something we had to battle with. But I think tonight’s win shows what we’re capable of.”

And with good reason to get this in the resume as an insurance policy considering then-favored Toledo got knocked out of the league championship and rescue from the NCAA tournament committee as at-large invitees was not to be.

The Rockets (7-2) were deadly accurate in front of the Michigan fanbase shooting 50 percent from the field and a perfect 12-for-12 at the line.

Sophia Ward scored 15, Nan Garcia off the bench scored 14 with seven rebounds and two steals, Quinesha Lockett scored 12 with six rebounds and four steals, while Khera Goss and Mikonowicz each scored 11.

Laila Phelia had 20 points for Michigan while Emily Kiser had 15 points and eight rebounds.

Toledo on Sunday has an in-state visit from Dayton (0-9), the last ranked team to get upended by the Rockets, who also once upset host Rutgers in an NCAA tourney opener and then nearly got UConn in the next round in Storrs at the finish before the Huskies’ prevailed to eventually land their first trip to the Women’s Final Four.

Since No. 6 UConn is mentioned, coach Geno Auriemma’s banged up squad was nearly upended in its own arena by reigning Ivy champion Princeton, surviving the Tigers 69-64 in a game featuring former UConn star Carla Berube in charge of the opposition.

With starting point guard Nika Muhl out of the game from a third quarter collision Princeton (5-3), whose previous losses were at home at Villanova, getting the Wildcats ranked, and at Texas when the ‘Horns were ranked, started slicing the lead on the Huskies (6-1), whose first loss occurred Sunday at then-No. 7 Notre Dame.

UConn has not lost back-to-back since 1993.

There was a time the Huskies and many others could beat a reigning Ivy champ with a hand tied behind the back.

But beginning with Courtney Banghart, now at North Carolina, and continuing in recent seasons with Berube, the Tigers have become the only league squad in history to earn AP ranking status, including a first in October’s preseason poll.

In the final 30 seconds, Ines Bettencourt was 1-for-2 from the line, giving the home team a three-point lead. Earlier in the period the Huskies held a 15-point lead. 

Kaitlyn Chen missed a potential game-tying shot from deep, but it wasn’t over with another chance ruined when Chen stepped out of bounds.

UConn’s Aubrey Griffin had 19 of her 29 points in the second half, while Fairfield transfer Lou Lopez Senechal had 18 points and Aaliyah Edwards scored eight.

Grace Stone scored 20 for Princeton, which will host this season’s four-team Ivy tourney, the league’s fifth, missing two cancelled at the start of the pandemic crisis in 2020 and the following season when the entire men’s and women’s squads were shut down by league presidents.

Chen was also in double digits for the Tigers with 18 points.

Also missing for UConn was Azzi Fudd, knocked out for three-to-six weeks from a knee injury at Notre Dame, former player of the year Paige Bueckers as a freshman, who suffered a knee injury over the summer, Dorka Juhasz, who may return soon, and freshman Ice Brady.

As a UConn writer observed during the game, those players with Muhl alone could be ranked as a group in the Top five, at worst the Top 10.

On Sunday, Delaware visits Princeton at 6 p.m. while UConn earlier in the day has a date at date at No. 20 Maryland in the XFINITY Center in College Park at 3 p.m. on ABC.

Which now brings us to another escape act in the Terrapins coming in the first of a two-week finals period nationwide when only a low number of games are being played as classwork becomes a focus.

But what’s available isn’t any less exciting.

A week ago Diamond Miller’s shot at Notre Dame as time expired saved Maryland 

Then the team of mystery this season to date turned around last Sunday and got routed by Nebraska, an earlier ranked team, in the Big Ten opener.

But on Thursday night, the see-saw swung the other way as Princeton transfer Abby Meyers, who scored 19, zipped a dish on the wing to Shyanne Sellers and she zipped the shot from from deep through the net giving Maryland a 77-74 on the road at Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind., to improve to 8-3 and now 1-1 in the Big Ten.

Furthermore, it was a milestone triumph, giving future Hall of Fame coach Brenda Frese her 600th victory.

“The play was drawn up for Abby and then I saw that she was going to be in trouble a little bit,” said Sellers. “So I fell behind like we did in practice this week. And then I saw the shot. I saw the clock and it was about 1.5 seconds and I was like, I don’t have time to dribble and pull up. So I shot it and said, ‘It’s going in,’”

“Certainly, this will be a win I’ll remember for a really long time, and obviously the dramatics at the end, and I told the guys they’re like the cardiac kids of keeping these games close,” said Frese.

In 2006 when Maryland won its sole NCAA title in overtime in Boston against then-ACC rival Duke made possible by Kristi Tolliver’s dramatic three to force the extra period, the Terrapins had a theme of “Our Time is Overtime,” borne out of several key extended wins that season.

This was one close most of the way.

Purdue’s Abbey Ellis launched a single-handed 8-0 run late the put the Boilermakers (8-2, 1-1)  in front before committing a turnover with 6.5 seconds left in regulation that enabled  Sellers had the last word.

This also was Meyers’ first of the season on the bench when the opening tip occurred following a scoring struggle her two previous games.

Ellis had 18 points for the Boilermakers and Lasha Petree scored 14.

Kansas Stuns Arizona: The unranked Jayhawks rocked and shocked No. 12 Arizona on the road in Tucson, winning 77-50, as another ranked team dropped from the unbeaten list.

“They are excited obviously,” Kansas coach Brandon Schneider said after his team stayed unbeaten at 8-0. “They understood the challenge that they faced coming into this environment, and what an opportunity it was to demonstrate the experience that they have. I think we have a very together group, and I think the last few weeks we have been playing defense really connected.”

Taiyanna Jackson and Chandler Prater each scored 19 points for the visitors, Prater being a perfect 13-for-13 from the line and Jackson with 15 rebounds, while Zakiyah Franklin scored 14 with 11 rebounds, and Holly Kersgieter scored 11.

Cate Reese had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Wildcats (7-1) and Jade Loville scored 12.

Elsewhere on the radar list for Thursday Fordham won 56-51 at Maine, the visiting Rams moving to 6-4 the host squad now 3-7; Vanderbilt in overtime won at Louisiana Tech 75-70 as the Commodores re now 7-5 while the Techsters are 6-3. Vanderbilt’s Marnelle Garraud scored 31

Looking Ahead: On Friday, the one local on the list, Rider will visit Seton Hall of the Big East at 11 a.m. in Walsh Gym in an in-state rivalry game being played in South Orange, N.J.

On Saturday as mentioned the highlight local game is unbeaten Saint Joseph’s 2 p.m. visit to No. 25 Villanova with both squads 2-0 in the Big Five, the winner on the way to local bragging rights in at least a tie. La Salle will visit Md.-Eastern Shore at 1 p.m. in Princess Anne.

Rutgers begins a three-game home stand out of conference hosting Hampton at 2 p.m., Princeton making the short trip north next Thursday night, and New Orleans next weekend.

An intriguing matchup beyond has Ivy contender Columbia visiting Atlantic 10 reigning champion UMass at noon, both teams 8-2, playing in Amherst.

On Sunday, besides the Temple/Penn and Delaware/Princeton game mentioned among the locals, Drexel tries to get back into a winning move, visiting Yale of the Ivy League at noon on ESPN+.

Nationally, other than ranked games noted previously in the report, South Florida at 8-2 and the American Athletic Conference favorite, visits No. 8 N.C. State at 8-1 at 2 p.m. on the ACC Network.

Atlantic 10 contender Rhode Island (8-1) visits MAAC favorite Quinnipiac (5-3) at noon on ESPN+. The Bobcats’ three losses were at N.C. State, Indiana, and a 58-55 defeat to Kent State in Lehigh’s Christmas City Classic.

Louisville, bounced from the AP Poll last week after a long ranking streak is at Kentucky, which has not been ranked so far, at 1 p.m. on ESPN. 

Washington (8-1) and visiting Washington State (8-1), PAC-12 traveling rivalries get league play under way at 5 p.m. on the network, while Oregon State (6-2) and host No. 17 Oregon (6-1) do their PAC-12 thing at 7 p.m.

And that’s your report.