The Guru Report: Drexel and Delaware Take CAA Road Wins; Colorado Upsets Arizona While Stanford Wins at UCLA

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

Preseason favorite Drexel took down another new member in the Colonial Athletic Association Friday night winning at Hampton 67-51 while Delaware rallied to win at Elon 71-65 in North Carolina in the only two games on the local slate.

The Dragons (13-3, 5-0 CAA)  shook off a slow start for their eighth straight in a game in which Keishana Washington, the nation’s 2nd leading scorer was not the prime story.

That distinction went to Grace O’Neill, who tied her career best with 19 points, shooting 8-for-11 from the field, including three from deep, in the HU Convocation Center in Hampton, Va. She also pulled in six rebounds and dished four assists.

Washington was still productive with 17 points, scoring 13 in the second half, shooting 5-for-10, while Maura Hendrixon also nailed three from beyond the arc and scored 13 points. Hetta Saatman grabbed seven rebounds.

Overall, the Dragons shot 24-for-45 sizzling at 53.3 percent, and picked up 18 points off 20 turnovers.

Hampton (5-9, 2-2) got 12 points from Madison Buford, while Nylah Young scored 11.

The road trip continues Sunday at William & Mary at 1 p.m. in Williamsburg, Va.

Delaware (9-6, 2-2), meanwhile, ended a two-game losing streak, but it took some heavy lifting after falling behind 32-17 to Elon (4-12, 0-5) with 4:20 left in the half at the Schar Center.

The Blue Hens then went on a 15-6 run to go into the break trailing 38-32 and got to a 54-54 tie after three quarters outscoring the Phoenix 22-16 in the period.

The final period featured two ties and seven lead changes into 3:31remaining in regulation when Kharis Idom put the visitors in front to stay with a shot and Klarke Sconiers got them two more on the next possession.

Elon still had a chance being within two points under a minute but Mikayla Pippin got a pair of layups to saddle Elon with its 10th straight setback.

Sconiers was 8-for-11 from the field, including three deep, for a game-high 19 points, while Pippin was 5-for-9 scoring 14 points, and freshman Nakiyah Mays-Prince scored ten points. Jewel Smalls grabbed four steals.

Elon got 16 points and eight boards from Ajia James, while Lenaejha Evans scored 15, and Raven Preston scored 12, had eight rebounds, grabbed three steals and blocked two shots.

On Sunday Delaware can help Drexel when the Blue Hens visit new member North Carolina A&T in the Corbett Sports Center at 2 p.m., both game airing on Flohoops.

The host team (11-5, 5-0 CAA) at home Friday edged Northeastern 67-63 in overtime to keep pace with the Dragons at the top of the CAA standings as the only remaining teams unbeaten in league play.

Nationally noted; All the action was in the PAC-12 and all the games close, beginning with No. 10 Utah gaining a 2-0 home victory over Arizona State, forced to forfeit the game and Sunday’s visit from Colorado due to a depleted roster caused by injuries.

The Buffs in the interim bagged another conference team, beating No. 15 Arizona 72-65 in Boulder after knocking Utah from the unbeaten column.

Frida Formann had a season high 23 points for Colorado (14-3, 5-1 PAC-12) while Cate Reese led four players in double figures with 14 points and nine rebounds for Arizona (14-3, 4-2 PAC-12).

No. 21 Oregon beat visiting Washington 65-58 at home in the Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, as Taya Hanson scored 15 points for the Ducks (13-4, 4-2 PAC-12) including for perfect attemps from deep, the last coming with 23.3 left in regulation to seal the win over the Huskies (9-6, 1-4).

Washington State won 63-56 at Oregon State and off a double overtime win in Corvallis two seasons ago, it’s the first back-to-back wins visiting the Beavers in 47 seasons.

Southern Cal beat visiting California 63-43 at home in the Galen Center in Los Angeles as Rayah Marshall had 17 points and 11 rebounds.

No. 2 Southern Cal won 72-59 at No. 8 UCLA (14-3, 3-2 PAC-12) on the road at Pauley Pavilion  in Los Angeles as Tara VanDerveer improved her record as the winningest women’s basketball coach with 1,174 victories, pulling away in the fourth quarter.

Haley Jones scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds while Cameron Brink scored 12 for the winning Cardinal (17-1, 5-0), which scored the first 15 points of the final period.

“We didn’t take care of things under our control,” said UCLA coach Cori Close. “We had too maby mental errors.”

Brink had a career-high seven blocked shots.

Gina Conti and Charisma Osborne each scored 13 points for the Bruins.

Looking ahead: It gets busier for the locals on Saturday afternoon with nine games on the card.

Saint Joseph’s has a major test in the Atlantic 10 at reigning champion UMass in Amherst at 2 p.m. on ESPN+ the Hawks bringing a program-tying best start 14-2 record to New England.

In a key Big East game No. 25 Villanova hosts St. Johns as the Wildcats’ Maddy Siegrist, the nation’s leading scorer, is closing in on Shelly Pennefather’ career scoring record and even closer moving into second in the conference for career games in Big East games.

On Monday, league-leading Penn has its first Ivy showdown at Princeton, but first the Quakers host Dartmouth at 2 p.m. in The Palestra while at the same time Princeton hosts Brown in Jadwin Gym. Meanwhile at the same time not local but part of the mix Harvard is at Columbia. All three games are on ESPN+.

La Salle hosts George Washington at Tom Gola Arena at noon in an Atlantic Ten game on ESPN+

Rider will be looking for a series split and two straight wins when the Broncs host Niagara at 2 p.m. on ESPN+ in Alumni Gym in Lawrenceville, N.J.

Penn State on the main Big Ten Network visits nationally ranked Iowa at 12:30 p.m. in Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.

In the Patriot League both at 2 p.m. Lehigh is at American University in Bender Arena in the nation’s capital while Lafayette is at Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. Both games will air on ESPN+

And that’s the report.