The Guru Report: Temple and La Salle Get Wins Ahead of Monday’s Big Five Matchup; Penn State Nipped in 2 OT at Minnesota in Big Ten Opener

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PHILADELPHIA —  Temple finally got going Saturday night here in the last quarter here at the Owls’ Liacouras Center to beat UMBC 68-53 while La Salle topped Lehigh at home 66-54 in the Tom Gola Arena earlier in the day and now the two will meet here Monday night at 7 on ESPN+ in their first Big Five series with each other in two seasons.

In a game that was a see-saw struggle lasting as far as a 46-46 tie through three quarters first-year, Temple (3-5) used a 22-7 run over the final ten minutes to end a winner following Wednesday’s loss at Old Dominion.

“We finally pulled this one out,” said Diane Richardson, the Owls’ first year coach. “Slow slow start, until the fourth quarter when we finally decided we needed to win this game.”

Temple broke from the tie with a 6-0 run to never trail again after Aleah Nelson made a pair of foul shots, though UMBC (2-5) wasn’t ultimately subdued until the three minute mark.

“When you look at the assists to field goals, 18 to 24, that means we’re looking for each other,” Richardson said. “And that was important for us. And important coming from the summer with a mixture of players and finally getting where we know each other and understand each other’s place.”

Of course, the key now is putting together a consistent total game with the system.

Tarriyona Gary got 11 of her 15 points in the second half, including all three of her shots from beyond the arc, while Nelso also fired three from beyond the arc on the way to 14 points.

Ines Piper had a near double-double with nine points and nine rebounds while Tiarra East, who was also important in the fourth quarter separation, had 11 points, nine in the final quarter, and seven rebounds.

Temple forced 25 turnovers in the game.

“(UMBC) is used to playing fast and for us to play fast we have to play some tough defense,” Richardson said. “Forcing them to turn over and scoring on way back, that’s part of our MO and talk about playing in our pace.”

Temple dominated the defensive stat outscoring UMBC 28-12.

Jasha Clinton had four steals.

The afternoon was a total success in that the men topped VCU in the opener of a doubleheader.

“We were energized by that and we knew we had to win our game,” the Temple coach observed.

Drake Laycee had 12 points for the visitors and Ashia McCalla scored 10.

Temple will come into Monday’s City Series clash at 0-2, the losses to Villanova and Saint Joseph’s while La Salle dropped its sole game to date at home last week to Penn.

“I hadn’t seen them yet but as soon as I leave here I’m going to be all over that film,” Richardson said. “It’s a Big Five game and what I’ve learned coming here is the Big Five is really, really big. We’ll go home and get rest and then try to defend our honor against another Big Five opponent.”

A year ago the two never met, which ended up helping Villanova to take the title at 3-1 despite the upset loss early at home to Temple.

Covid issues caused a postponement on the original date and though both sides sought to find another, it never came to pass leaving the Explorers at 2-1. If they had played and Temple won and then was able to make up a postponement off Penn, which never occurred, the Owls could have shared at 3-1.

In Saturday’s game at La Salle, Kayla Spruill had 26 points for the Explorers (6-3), just two off her career high. She was 7-for-15 from the field, including 3-of-9 on threes, while also shooting 9-of-10 from the line. Amy Jacobs made all three of her shots and 3-of-4 from the line for nine points while grabbing 10 rebounds. 

Mia Jacobs grabbed eight boards and Molly Masciantonio returned after missing several games with an injury and dealt three assists while grabbing four steals.

Frannie Hottinger had 18 points for Lehigh (3-6), while Lily Fandre scored 11 and Ella Stemmer had 12.

The Explorers owned the boards 40-29.

An 18-8 third quarter for the home team got La Salle nearly to safety since the Mountain Hawks rallied to within five with 3 minutes, 46 left in regulation, but after Jackie Vargas-Bines. Scored on a layup, the Explorers struck back to seal it with a 6-0 run.

“We gotta find a way to put it together for 40 minutes and that’s going to be the focus,” said Lehigh first-year coach Addie Micir.

Rider Torpedoes Navy First Time for Broncs: Finding separation in the fourth quarter down at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., in a game tipped at 11 a.m., Rider went on to a 59-43 triumph while keeping Navy winless at 0-9.

A 6-0 run in the fourth quarter enabled the home team to tie 38-39 and then the Broncs (3-4) erupted on a 10-0 run and in the closing minutes hit all six opportunities from the line.

“Today was a game. That we needed to establish ourselves on the defensive end, and with the amount of work that we’ve been doing the past couple of weeks,” said Rider coach Lynn Milligan. “Today was just a really good defensive day for us.

“We were connected for 40 minutes. We didn’t have the miscommunications that we saw the last two games. Our scout was on point. Our KYP was on point. Our communication from start to finish was on point.”

The win reduced the Navy perfect record in the series to 6-1.

Raphaela Toussaint scored 14, Amanda Mobley had 10, as did Victoria Toomey. Mobley also grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds.

Rider next hosts Saint Joseph’s Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Alumni Gym in Lawrenceville, N.J., on ESPN+.

Penn State Falls to Minnesota in Double OT: The Lady Lions have gone from a 7-0 start to a two-game losing streak following Wednesday’s home setback to Virginia in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge and Saturday night’s overall conference opener that saw them edged 98-96 in double overtime at Minnesota in Williams Arena in Minneapolis.

Makenna Marisa scored a career high 34 points for Penn State (7-2, 0-1 Big 10).

The visitors seem to have control in the third for an 18-2 run and a 55-46 lead when the period ended.

In the fourth quarter that ended in a tie in regulation the two schools combined for 51 points.

Leilani Kapinus gave the visitors a 76-74 lead with two seconds remaining in the fourth but PSU then fouled and the Golden Gophers (4-3, 1-0) made both shots to send the game into the first overtime.

Shay Ciezki kept the Lady Lions alive with a buzzer beater as the first overtime expired to create a deadlock and cause the second extra period.

Minnesota, whose coach Lindsay Whelan got her second major award acclamation a week ago as an announced part of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, held a five-minute lead under the two-minute mark in the second period, but the visitors got to within one on a jump shot by Temple transfer Alexa Williamson and Marissa hit a jump shot.

Minnesota was sent to the line with eight seconds to go and made both for a two-point lead and Kapinus’ attempt to force a third overtime failed when her shot at the buzzer missed the basket.

Marisa also had a career. High seven from deep, while Kapinus finished with 18 points, Cikezi scored 13, and Chanaya Pinto had 11 points.

The Penn State defense forced 26 turnovers.

The Lady Lions will be home in the Bryce Jordan Center Thursday for their first conference game hosting when No. 4 Indiana visits.

Lafayette Crushed at Columbia: The story was all on the other bench in host Columbia’s 91-43 win over the Leopards (2-7) as Abbey Hsu scored 25 for the Lions (7-2) in Levien Gym on upper Broadway in New York City. 

Jaida Patrick scored 17 and Perri Page scored 10.

The Leopards, who were down 25-3 after the first period, got 11 points from Makayla Andrews and 10 from Halee Smith.

Hsu landed with her performance in the Top 10 of the scoring list at Columbia, zipping from 11th eighth place with 1,063 points, along the way passing her own coach Megan Griffith of King of Prussia.

Columbia goes out to Long Island. Wednesday night to play Stony Brook while Lafayette next hosts No. 7 Notre Dame at 6 p.m. Thursday in the Kirby Center in Easton, Pa.

Nationallly Noting: There’s wasn’t a lot on the docket Saturday but in a late niter to those of us in the East, No. 15 UCLA on the road got challenged by UC Santa Barbara before the Bruins went on to grab a 68-57 win.

Charisma Osborne had 19 points, shooting 7-for-9 from the field for the Bruins (8-1), while Alyssa Marin scored 17 for the home team (5-2).

No. 1 and still unbeaten the defending NCAA champion South Carolina Gamecocks at home whisked away Memphis 79-54 as Kamilla Cardoso scored 18 for Dawn Staley’s squad (8-0). Reigning national player of the year Aliyah Boston scored 14 with 10 rebounds, while Sania Feagin had 11, and Laeticia Amihere scored 1o.

Jamiah Shutes and reserve Destyne Jackson each scored 10 for the Tigers (4-4).

No. 19 Oregon at home beat West Coast Conference contender Portland 90-51.

California hosting its Raising the B.A.R. Invitational beat AR-Pine Bluff 84-51 while SMU beat Gardner-Webb 84-71 on the first day in Berkeley, Calif.

Missouri edged UMass, the reigning Atlantic 10 champion, 71-66, in Arizona State’s tournament.

Looking Ahead: On Sunday, which will be more heavy, locally Drexel visits Saint Joseph’s at 2 p.m. at Hagan Arena, while Rutgers stays home for its first Big Ten dust up, playing No. 4 Ohio State at noon.

Before the noon tip at Jersey Mike’s Arena the court will be formally dedicated to retired Hall of Fame coach C. Vivian Stringer.

No.  25 Villanova, in the wake of its first Big East game/cause, goes on the road trying to even things at Providence at 1 p.m. on Flohoops. 

Delaware hosts Duquesne at 1 p.m. on Flohoops.

In the Jimmy V Classic, No. 3 Connecticut visits Notre Dame at 3 p.m. on ABC.

No. 9 Virginia Tech visits Tennessee, the unranked Vols looking to get back into the rankings at the Hokies’ expense.

Elsewhere in the Big Ten, Maryland coach Brenda Frese gets her 600th win with a triumph at home over Nebraska at 1 p.m., while No. 17 Michigan hosts Northwestern at 2 p.m., No. 5 Indiana hosts Illinois at 2 p.m., and No. 10 Iowa visits Wisconsin at 2 p.m.

No. 18 Louisville is at C-USA favorite Middle Tennessee at 5 p.m. on ESPN+.

No. 24. Marquette in the Big East on Flohoops visits Seton Hall at 1 p.m. while No. 13 Creighton off its Villanova win visits St. John’s at 2 p.m.

And that’s the report.