The Guru Report: Rider Overcome By Iona Second Half Surge; Upsets Continue as Boston College Downs No. 10 N.C. State; Miami Nips No. 22 UNC

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. — For one half here in Rider’s Alumni Gym playing Iona in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Thursday night the Broncs looked like the beating they previously handed St. Peter’s last weekend was no fluke and they had found their way, though slightly trailing the Gaels 33-29.

Then the roof fell in as the saying goes, the visitors soared their way from the break on a 17-0 run to a 24-7 third quarter and on their way to a 68-44 victory.

“Obviously, we came out of the locker room and they threw that first punch early in the third quarter,” said veteran Rider coach Lynn Milligan. “We didn’t respond to it. We didn’t shoot the ball well again at home, which is disappointing.

“I liked our defense,” she said of the early action. “I liked what we were doing. I thought we had some good reads, some good opportunities for steals where we could. I liked a lot of the stuff we were doing, just unfortunate it didn’t carry over.”

In other years Rider (4-10, 1-4 MAAC) might as well start thinking of next season this early, already slipping behind the frontrunners and doomed to a low seed in the conference tourney, which again returns to Atlantic City, N.J., this March.

But with upsets elsewhere in the league, like preseason favorite Quinnipiac losing at Niagara 67-64 on Thursday, there’s still a valid belief if the Broncs can make the proper adjustments they could move to the upper half of the standings.

“It’s a mindset. It’s a 40 minute game,” Milligan said. “I think we’re still a good team. At this level, especially in the MAAC, because it’s such a great conference, and so evenly matched, just dog fights every night. 

“You’ve got to be in a situation where you can play 40 minutes, and there’s going to be times that you’re challenged.”

Jessika Schiffer was the lone Bronc in double figures with 12 points, while Makayla Firebaugh scored eight, Amanda Mobley dealt five assists, and Raphaela Toussaint and Victoria Toomey each grabbed seven rebounds.

Iona (9-5, 4-1) was paced by Juana Camillon with 17 points and Kate Mager with 15.

“We came out of halftime with no energy,” Mobley said. “We just weren’t ready to play like we did in the first half.”

The telling statistic in this one was Iona’s 24-2 advantage in points off turnovers as well as a 30-16 comparison on points in the paint.

“We have great nights when we find our flow and get the next pass and find the perfect shot,” Schiffer said. “Then there are games like this one where we just don’t get that shot because we rush a shot before.”

Rider is on the road in the MAAC Saturday playing of the conference new members Mount St. Mary’s in Emmitsburg, Md., at 1 p.m. on ESPN3.

Lehigh Wins Lafayette Falls in Patriot League:  Lehigh rallied from an early deficit at home in Stabler Arena to beat Bucknell 64-51 in a conference game in Bethlehem, Pa.

“I’m really proud of how we connected tonight and our effort and energy especially after the first five minutes,” said Mountain Hawks first-year coach Addie Micir. “Bucknell came out and gave us a really good shot, and that’s what they do. They’re a really good team, and we had to respond, and we did for the next 35 minutes.”

The victory was a reversal of recent games against the Bison (4-10, 0-3 Patriot League), having in the last eight in the series only produced the conference tourney semifinals upset that sent Lehigh on to an upset of Boston U. in the title game, earning an NCAA bid.

Frannie Hottinger scored 22 and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Mountain Hawks (6-8, 2-1), passing the 400 career rebound mark to 405, while Mackenzie Kramer scored 14, and Ella Stemmer had 13 points.

“Frannie’s playing like a senior should right now,” Micir said. “Really, really confident, and she’s having a lot of fun.

“Throughout her career here, she had to play and defend Camryn Burr every single day of her freshman year, and Cam is obviously one of our elite players in our program.”

Bucknell’s Tai Johnson scored 14 points for Bucknell.

Lehigh next hosts Navy on Sunday at 2 p.m. on ESPN+ before heading off on a two-game road swing.

“I think a lot more conference wins come from here, and it starts with another win versus Navy on Sunday,” Hottinger said.

Meanwhile, Lafayette did not fare as well in league play, losing to preseason favorite Boston U. 66-48 in the Kirby Sports Center in Easton, Pa., 

This was another situation like Rider’s and others this season where the third period was the down fall, in this case the visitors (8-6, 3-0 Patriot) outscoring the Leopards 23-7.

Caitlin Weimar scored 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for Boston U., while Alex Giannaros and Sydney Johnson each scored 11 points, Maggie Pina scored 10, and Maren Durant grabbed 13 rebounds.

Lafayette (3-10, 0-3) had just one player scoring in double figures, Kayla Drummond collecting 12 points, shooting 6-for-8 from the floor.

The Leopards visit Bucknell on Sunday at 2 p.m. in Lewisburg, Pa., on ESPN+

La Salle Visit Halted: Mentioned in the previous report but for those not aware, the La Salle game at Davidson in the Atlantic 10 Thursday night in North Carolina was cancelled due to health issues with the host Wildcats and will not be made up, the conference announced. The Explorers, picked second in the A-10 preseason coaches poll, head to powerful Rhode Island in Kingston on Sunday for the 2 p.m. game that will air on the CBS Sports Network.

Nationally noted - Wild nights making it a wild week of upsets: It’s been a long time coming for Boston College, but came it did Thursday night as the Eagles hit No. 10 North Carolina State at home with another shocker, this one 79-71 at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh.

The outcome ended a 10-game losing streak for B.C. (12-5, 2-2 ACC) in the series in the Atlantic Coast Conference and also produced the first win against an opponent in the Top 10 of the Associated Press women’s poll in 13 seasons, dating to topping Florida State in 2010. The last win over the Wolfpack (12-3, 2-2) came in February, 2015.

Dontavia Waggoner scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Boston College, who had to rally from a 10-point deficit in the second quarter. Andrea Daley grabbed 11 rebounds.

The Wolfpack’s Jada Boyd scored 20 while Diamond Johnson, who missed four previous games with an ankle injury, scored 18 points.

No. 22 North Carolina, which has been sliding from the Top 10 took another hit, this one from Miami 62-58 in an ACC game in Coral Gables, Fla.

“That is life in the ACC,” said Miami coach Katie Meier. “It is without question, the best conference in the nation.”

Some other Power 5 folks may argue the point, but it has been interesting, no doubt in early going.

“North Carolina is really talented, well-coached and physical and we just played our guts out,” Meier, a former AP co-coach of the year, said. “Two wins in a row in this conference is a great week for Miami and we’re going to try to make it three on Sunday.”

Haley Cavinder scored 16 points for the winning Hurricanes (9-6, 2-2 ACC) while Jasmyne Roberts grabbed nine rebounds, scored 10 points and dealt two assists in her first career start.

The Tar Heels (9-5, 0-3) have now lost their first three conference games of the season.

Dejay Kelly scored 19 points, Kennedy Todd-Williams scored 13, and Alyssa Ustby had 11 for UNC.

The Tar Heels host No. 4 Notre Dame Sunday while Miami will host No. 9 Virginia Tech (13-2, 3-2 ACC), which escaped in-state and conference rival visiting Virginia 74-66 in Blacksburg.

In that one, Georgia Amoore scored 22 points for the Hokies, while Taylor Soule had a double-double 18 points and 10 rebounds, D’Asia Gregg had 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Kayana Traylor scored 15.

Virginia (13-2, 2-2), one of the season’s surprises to date, got 18 points from Camryn Taylor, while Sam Brunelle and Mir McLean each scored 11.

In the Big Ten No. 3 Ohio State on the road held off a challenge from Minnesota at Williams Arena in Minneapolis to win 83-71 and move to the best overall start in program history at 16-0, including 5-0 in the conference.

The Buckeyes reeled off a 14-0 run at the outset of the fourth quarter to go ahead 69-61 and stay there.

Taylor Mikesell had 22 points for Ohio State, Rikki Harris scored 19, Rebeka Mikulasikova scored 15, Cotie McMahon had 12, and Taylor Thierry grabbed a career high 12 rebounds.

In a balanced attack Minnesota (8-7, 1-3) got a double-double 15 points and 12 rebounds from Mallory Heyer, Alanna Micheaux and Amaya Battle each scored 14, and Mara Braun scored 12.

Surprising Illinois visits Ohio State on Sunday at 1 p.m. after beating visiting Northwestern 85-79 to improve to 14-2 overall and 4-1 in the league as Makira Cook scored 23 points, Kendall Bostic double-doubled 15 points and 16 rebounds, and three other players scored in double figures.

In Cincinnati in the Big East as has become the season norm of No. 5 UConn providing more drama off the court than in the outcomes so far in the league, the Huskies downed Xavier 73-37.

Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma, dealing with the combination of a recent illness and the death of his 91-year-old mother Marsiella Auriemma on Dec. 8, missed his fourth game, though while associate head coach Chris Dailey has a lifetime 17-0 record as a sub in his absence, he gets the actual number, which is now at 1,161.

That’s second all-time to Hall of Fame coach Tara VanDerveer, holding the Division I women’s record at 1,172.

“I thought I was ready to return, but I need a little more time,” he said in a statement, referring to “a difficult month for me. I’m going to take a step back to focus on my health and will return when I feel ready.”

Then there’s his roster that's been riddled with injuries, even as the current win streak for the Huskies (13-2, 6-0 Big East) grew to six games.

Aaliyah Edwards became the latest casualty with a foot injury in the first half sidelining her for the rest of the game and reducing the squad to seven active players.

Aubrey Griffth scored 19, Dorka Juhasz scored 18, and Lou Lopez Senechal scored 15.

Azzi Fudd is still out with a knee injury, though due back soon, while Paige Bueckers, national player of the year as a freshman, suffered a knee injury in the summer and freshman Ice Brady also with a knee injury have been lost for the whole season. Caroline Ducharme was out for her second straight game in concussion protocol.

The Huskies host DePaul in a key matchup on Sunday.

Elsewhere, No. 1 South Carolina in the Southeastern Conference stayed unbeaten at 15-0 and 3-0 in the league after delivering a home whipping to Auburn 94-42 in Columbia as Kamilla Cardoso scored 16 while reigning national player of the year Aliyah Boston had 13 points and nine rebounds against the Tigers (10-5, 0-3). 

No. 7 LSU, who returned to prominence last season when Hall of Fame coach Kim Mulkey moved from Baylor’s national powerhouse to her home state, stayed unbeaten at 15-0 and 3-0 in the SEC after a 74-34 rout of Texas A&M in Baton Rouge as Angel Reese had 26 points and a school record 28 rebounds.

No. 20 Gonzaga beat visiting San. Francisco 63-52 in the West Coast Conference, and No. 19 Duke won 60-50 at Wake Forest in the ACC.

In Florida State’s 93-62 thrashing of visiting Clemson in the ACC where the Seminoles overall are 15-2, freshman sensation Ta’Niya Latson, who has won the entire conference weekly rookie awards collection to date and two USBWA national freshman honors, scored 31 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

Tennessee in the SEC beat visiting Mississippi State 80-69.

Looking Ahead: It’s a showdown weekend in the Ivy League with Columbia executing a road sweep could have a shot off the ranking upsets to become the second school among the Ancient Eight to earn a nod from the national panel of AP media voters.

But the sweep entails that the Lions win Friday night at reigning champion Princeton, the first of rematches from their 1-2 hookups a year ago in the regular season and conference championships.

A year ago Columbia talked the talk but failed to walk against the Tigers, the only Ivy ever to get ranked and became the first to get a preseason nod in November only to get knocked off at Jadwin Gym by Villanova the first week. Things then got more interesting last Saturday on the opening weekend when Princeton fell at Harvard.

Tip time is 6 p.m. on ESPN+. But if Columbia succeeds, then it’s off to Penn, much improved, at The Palestra Saturday at 5 p.m.

The Quakers on Friday night will try to avoid a trap game hosting Cornell at 6 p.m. on ESPN+ and then the Big Red will head to Princeton for a Saturday game at 4 p.m. 

This is one of the few weekends the Ivies do the old Friday/Saturday back-to-backs under the newer format.

Meanwhile in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), the grand old first of two long-running rivalries resume when preseason favorite Drexel hosts Delaware at 6 p.m. on Flohoops in the Daskalakis Athletic Center.

Other local games on Saturday of note not already mentioned above has Temple at Cincinnati for a 2 p.m. matchup on ESPN+ in the American Athletic Conference.

Saint Louis is at Saint Joseph’s, which is off to an unbeaten start in the Atlantic 10, at 2 p.m. at Hagan Arena on ESPN+.

In the Big Ten Penn State hosts Purdue at 2 p.m. on B1G+ in the Bryce Jordan Center in State College for Pride Day.

At the same time, Rutgers host Nebraska on the regular B1G network on a day the school will note former longtime successful coach Theresa Grentz’s induction last September into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

A ranking matchup Saturday in the Big Ten has Iowa visiting Michigan at 4:30 p.m. on FOX.

And that’s the report.