The Guru Report: La Salle Nips George Mason; No. 25 Villanova Takes Second in Big East Winning at DePaul; Fudd Returns to No. 4 UConn

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PHILADELPHIA — A little of Charity went a long way here for La Salle Wednesday night in Tom Gola Arena at Trumark Financial Center.

Specifically in an Atlantic 10 game that was in the balance between George Mason and the Explorers, the home team ahead by two, Charity Shears fired a shot from beyond the arc and her teammates added a few more points for insurance in what became a 69-62 victory and the first conference win of the season.

“Nice to get in the win column, nice to pick up a conference win, George Mason was playing pretty well, knocking down seven (threes), so we needed all 12 (made), that was really in the difference in the game today,” said La Salle coach Mountain MacGillivray.

“Just really pleased. Big shot from Charity.”

He had no qualms over La Salle’s play against George Mason.

“Teams are going to make plays,” MacGillivray said. “I can’t complain how we executed out there defensively the entire second half. It was a pretty good effort.”

La Salle (10-8, 1-2 A-10), picked second in the preseason poll by the league coaches, seemed to be well in control having built a 16-point lead in the third period.

But the Patriots (9-8, 2-2) would not go quietly and as the game ticked down to its final minutes until just a basket separated the two squads prior to the Shears shot.

Claire Jacobs, an Australian native, scored 18 points, shooting 6-of-14 from the field, including 4-of-8 from deep, while sister Mia had 14 points, the bulk from 4-of-5 field goal percentage.

Welcome news was the play of Molly Masciantonio, who had a season-high 14 points, shooting 5-of-9 from the field, and dealing seven assists.

Early in the season she missed some games with a knee injury and then missed some more to grieve with the loss of her mom, who battled cancer.

“My knee is getting better,” she said, smiling. I’m focusing hard, not over-thinking it,” said Masciantonio, who transferred several years ago from D-2 Holy Family in Northeast Philadelphia. 

 “My coaches and my teammates have been amazing. They cancelled practice to come to my mom’s funeral. So I have a lot of support right now.”

George Mason’s Tamia Lawhorne had 14 points and four of the seven team’s completed long range shots. Spaniard Paula Suarez and Nalani Kaysia each scored 10 while Kaysia had 10 rebounds to collect a double-double.

Earlier in the day George Washington upset Fordham 63-57 at home in the nation’s capital, leaving just first-place Saint Joseph’s (14-2, 4-0) and Rhode Island (12-3, 3-0) unbeaten in league play.

The Hawks head to defending champion UMass, who fell to Rhode Island, on Saturday afternoon in Amherst.

La Salle will host George Washington at noon on Alumni Day.

Siegriest Scores 32 in ‘Nova Win: Wildcats senior Maddy Siegrist and her teammates had themselves a day and night and when it was over, courtesy elsewhere of No. 4 UConn winning at St. John’s 82-52  while host Creighton in Omaha, Neb., stopped the recent thrust of Seton Hall 75-53, No. 25 Villanova was alone in second place in the Big East behind UConn.

As for the Wildcats senior, her double-double high-powered performance continued hours after the nation’s scoring leader (28.7 ppg.) and runnerup Keishana Washington of Drexel were named to the 21-member midseason Ann Meyers-Drysdale National Player of the Year watch list by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA).

Then Wednesday night Siegrist scored 32 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, while Christina Dalce had 13 points and seven rebounds, Penn State transfer Maddie Burke had 11 points and seven rebounds, and Brooke Mullin dealt seven assists in a 71-64 win over DePaul at Wintrust Arena in Chicago.

Siegrist will also be honored at the annual Philadelphia Sportswriters Association dinner as the amateur player of the year on Jan. 23 at the Doubletree by Hilton (fmr. Crown Plaza) in Cherry Hill New Jersey. Philadelphia University coach Tom Shirley, who now has over 800 wins, will also be among the honorees.

Here is the website link for ticket information. https://phillysportswriters.com/ 

As for the win over DePaul (10-7, 3-3 Big East), though the back-to-back trip is no longer scheduled as such, the Wildcats (15-3, 6-12) have now completed a program road rarity sweeping the Blue Demons and Marquette on Midwest visits.

Aneesah Morrow, who won the conference rookie award last season, scored 28 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for DePaul, and Jorie Allen scored 15.

This week, Siegrist, the reigning player of the year for 2021-22 and preseason player of the year, broke the conference record with her 13th Big East player of the week honor, 

Meanwhile, the watch lists continues as the native of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., narrows down in second place to the legendary Shelly Pennefather (2,408) with 2,332 career points, 77 points from become the new all-time program leader.

She also continues to climb up the local combo Philly Six/Big Five all-time list, moving within eight points of Saint Joseph’s all-timer Sue Moran.

“Maddy’s far more efficient than I was,” texted Moran, who is on the basketball staff at her alma mater.

After Moran, it’s a short jump to pass Temple’s Mia Davis, who became that program’s all-timer last season. Then it’s Pennefather, followed by another short move to pass Penn great Diana Caramanico for the Big Five nod. However, surpassing the No. 1 mark by Drexel’s Gabriela Marginean, who was coached by Villanova’s Denise Dillon in her long previous run guiding the Dragons, may be a challenge. 

The updated list is after this section.

Siegrist is also on the all-time Big East intra-competition list, now in third with 1,311 points. The performance in Chicago was her eighth 30-point game this season and 25th in her career.

A former Villanova player of last season starred at her new school in an upset Wednesday night in the Big 12, Lior Garon, an Israeli, scored 18 points as Oklahoma State won on the road at No. 18 Baylor 70-65 in Waco, Texas.

The Bears have been on the ejection path from the second longest active ranking streak in the AP Poll, but moved up to No. 18 following a rarity of two consecutive wins over ranked teams on the road, winning at Oklahoma and then Kansas. 

Naomie Alnatahs had 17 points for the visiting Cowgirls (12-3, 2-2 Big 12)  in Waco, Texas.  Baylor (12-4, 3-1) got 19 points from Ja’Mee Asbury, while reigning Big 12 player of the week Sarah Andrews scored 16, and Jaden Owens and reserve Bella Fontleroy each scored 10 points.

Baylor beat Villanova in the semifinals of a tournament in Florida on Thanksgiving weekend in November.

On Saturday, the next conference challenge for the Wildcats is back home at 2 p.m. in Finneran Pavilion on Flohoops hosting St. John’s, who after the best start in the Red Storm’s history, is now on a two-game losing streak, victimized by Seton Hall and on Wednesday in Elmont, N.Y., by No. 4 UConn, an 82-52 wipeout in the UBS Arena.

It was the first women’s game played in the new arena that is the home to the NHL Islanders.

The win by the Huskies (14-2, 7-0 Big East) marked the return of Hall of Fame Geno Auriemma to the sidelines having missed several games recently due to effects of the flu and grieving the death of his 91-year-old mother in December.

Associate Head Coach Chris Dailey, who is 17-0 subbing for him, did handle the postgame press conference.

UConn had been losing players to a slew of injuries, ultimately forcing a postponement of last Sunday’s game hosting DePaul due to a Big East rule in which the Huskies were under the limit of seven scholarship players.

There were enough for this one, however, including the return of Azzi Fudd, who missed eight games after injuring her knee in the loss at Notre Dame.

Aaliyah Edwards, who recently suffered a foot injury, returned, though Caroline Ducharme, out with a concussion, was not back. UConn has also been without past national player of the year Paige Bueckers and freshman Ice Brady with knee injuries.

Lou Lopez Senechal had 20 points for the Huskies (8-of-9 shots), while Dorka Juhasz had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Edwards scored 15.

St. John’s (14-2, 5-2) got 17 points from Kadaja Bailey.

The Red Storm had been routed last week by Seton Hall, but on Wednesday night, the Pirates got upended by host Creighton 75-53 in Omaha, Neb.

The visiting Pirates (13-5, 6-2 Big East) got 20 points from Sidney Cooks, while Lauren Park-Lane had 14 points and seven assists.

The host Bluejays (11-5, 3-3) won with Morgan Maly scoring 23 points, Laura Jensen scoring 15, Emma Ronsiek scoring 12, and Molly Mogensen scoring 11.

Gabriela Marginean – Drexel 2581

Diana Caramanico – Penn 2415 - Big Five

Shelly Pennefather – Villanova 2408

Mia Davis — Temple 2376

Sue Moran – Saint Joseph’s 2340

Maddy Siegrist – Villanova 2332 – 1/11/23

Marilyn Stephens – Temple 2194

Nancy Bernhardt – Villanova 2018

Temple Falls to East Carolina: For the first time in several seasons the Owls were able to hold one of their marquee events in Education Day, drawing a crowd in the Liacouras Center of over 3090 comprised mostly of school children from the region. The pandemic had knocked the promotion out in recent season.

On Wednesday however, it was Temple which got knocked out losing to East Carolina 72-51 in an American Athletic Conference gamer.

Danae McNeal had a game-high 28 points for the Pirates (12-5, 3-1 AAC) while the Owls (7-9, 2-2) had just one player in double figures, Caranda Perea with a season-high 11 points.

Temple is off until Tuesday, hosting Tulsa at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.

Penn State Whipped by Nebraska: In a Big Ten game, the host Huskers were looking to acquit their upset loss last Saturday at Rutgers on Theresa Grentz Day, and the Lady Lions became the victims in an 80-51 loss.

Makenna Marisa and Anna Camden appeared in their 100th game for PSU (11-6, 2-4), Marisa scoring 14 points. Chanaya Pinto had a career high six steals while Taniyah Thompson scored 10 points.

Nebraska (11-6, 3-3) roared to a 21-point lead in the first half, though the visitors answered with an 11-0 run, only to see the hosts rebuild the differential the last two quarters.

Callin Hake had 16 points for the Huskers, while Alexis Markowski had a double-double of 11 points and 15 rebounds, Jaz Shelly went double-double in a different direction with 10 points and 10 assists, and just missing a triple-double grabbing nine rebounds. Maddie Krull scored 14 points, and Isabelle Bourne scored 10.

Penn State next heads to No. 12 Iowa on Saturday at at 12:30 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.

The Hawkeyes on Wednesday beat visiting Northwestern 93-64 in Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.

Caitlin Clark, trailing Siegrist and Washington in the NCAA national scoring statistics scored 20 points, moving into second in career scoring in the program with 2,112 points for the Hawkeyes (13-4,5-1 Big Ten). Clark also dished 14 assists, and missed a triple-double with nine rebounds.

Northwestern fell to 6-10 overall and remained winless in the conference at 0-6.

Lafayette Breakthrough in the Patriot: Someone was destined to go home from a Patriot League happy for the first time this season, considering neither team had won yet in the conference.

When the smoke cleared, the Leopards in front of a home crowd in the Kirby Sports Center in Easton, Pa., topped Navy 61-46.

Abby Antognoli had a career high 24 points, while Jess Booth had a personal best 21 against Navy (0-16, 0-5 Patriot League). Kayla Drummond grabbed 14 rebounds for Lafayette (4-11, 1-4).

Navy’s Mimi Schrader scored 18 points and Sydne Watts scored 13.

The Leopards head to Holy Cross on Saturday in Worcester, Mass.

The same Crusaders clipped Lehigh 55-54 in Worcester using a 22-9 outburst in the fourth quarter for the win.

“We played really well for three quarters, and then we stopped scoring in the fourth,” Lehigh first-year coach Addie Micir said. “We’ve got to find a way to keep up our scoring output.

“We’ve got to learn some lessons from this and then we movc on.”

Ella Stemmer in a second career start scored a personal best 22 points for Lehigh (7-9, 3-2 Patriot), while Frannie Hottinger scored 23.

Bronagh Power-Cassidy scored 18 for the Crusaders (13-3, 5-0).

Lehigh heads to American in Bender Arena in the nation’s capital on Saturday at 2 p.m. on ESPN+.

Looking Ahead: Three games locally are on Thursday’s card, Rider is hosting Canisius in a MAAC game at 7 p.m. on ESPN+ in Alumni Gym in Lawrenceville, N.J., while up the road an hour earlier, Princeton, in its last non-conference game, gets a tune-up shot hosting Hartford at 6 p.m. in Jadwin Gym on ESPN+.

Rutgers, looking to build on the Nebraska win, has a Big Ten date at 8:30 p.m. on the conference network at Minnesota in Williams Arena in Minneapolis.

On Friday, Colonial Athletic Association leader Drexel is at Hampton in the Virginia Tidewater Area, playing another new conference member at 7 p.m. on Floops while Delaware is also on a CAA swing, visiting Elon in North Carolina, also at 7 p.m. on Flohoops.

Nationally, on Thursday, two Top 10 teams in the Big Ten meet with Maryland at 6 p.m. visiting Indiana in Bloomington on the B1G network.

In the ACC on Thursday, NC State is at Florida State at at 6 p.m. on the network.

Late nite Friday at 11 p.m. No. 2 Stanford is at nationally ranked UCLA in Pauley Pavilion in Westwood.

And that’s the report.