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.