The Guru Report: Temple and Penn State Take Losses From League Heavyweights

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

Temple and Penn State out on the road were the only two teams from the Guru local Division I group on the schedule Tuesday day and night and neither was able to earn victories in their respective conferences.

The Owls were down in Tampa where they stayed competitive into the third quarter before American Athletic Conference favorite South Florida came away with a 77-55 victory.

The difference maker was Elena Tsineke, preseason player of the year in the AAC, who poured 27 points for the Bulls (13-4, 2-0 AAC), who recently took No. 3 Ohio State into overtime in a tourney but previously in another tourney lost a lopsided third-place game to Villanova.

Jasha Clinton had 14 points and Aleah Nelson scored 13 for Temple (6-8, 1-1), who will stay on the road to visit Cincinnati Saturday at 2 p.m. on ESPN+.

South Florida got more firepower from Sammie Puisis, who was 7-for-14 from the field, and collected 17 points, while Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu, who had a double-double 16 points and 13 rebounds.

The Bulls were 15-for-18 at the line, going 10 better on sunken shots then the Owls’ 5-for-10.

Meanwhile, in the daytime Penn State had a Big Ten engagement at No. 14 Michigan, falling to the home team 82-72 at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor.

The visiting Lady Lions (10-5, 1-3 Big Ten) were competitive in the first half, which had six ties and seven lead changes.

The difference maker in this one happened at the line, Michigan (13-2, 3-1) shooting 11-of-13 while the Lady Lions were 2-for-3.

Freshman Shay Ciezki scored 21, including connecting 5-of-8 from deep, for Penn State, while Makenna Marisa had 14 points and Leilani Kapinus scored 10, as did Taniyah Thompson.

Michigan, however, got a double double of 22 points and 10 rebounds from Leigha Brown, while Laila Phelia scored 24, Maddie Nolan had 5-of-11 from beyond the arc to propel her way to 17 points, and Emily Kiser had 10 points and eight rebounds.

Penn State next is home Saturday for the annual Pride Day game, hosting Purdue in the Bryce Jordan Center at 2 p.m. in State College.

Nationally Noted: In one game of note on Tuesday, No. 23 Baylor, trying to avoid getting ejected out of the AP Women’s Poll, beating No. 17 Oklahoma 81-70 in a major road test in the Big 12 for the Bears (11-3, 2-0 Big 12).

A 16-1 run in the first period got the visitors going and Sarah Andrews had a career-high 30 points. 

Oklahoma (11-2, 1-1) got 24 points from Ana Llanusa, while Madi Williams had 16 points, Taylor Robertson scored 14, and Skylar Vann had 10 rebounds.

In the Big East, No. 5 UConn decimated host Butler 80-47 in Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis as Aaliyah Edwards scored 20 points, Dorka Juhasz scored 12, Aubrey Griffin scored 15, Lou Lopez Senechal scored 11, and Nika Muhl scored 13 for the Huskies (12-2, 5-0 Big East).

Coach Geno Auriemma’s victory total moved up to 1,160, second all time in Division I women’s competition behind Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer, who is currently at 1,172.

Butler (6-9, 1-5) got 18 points from Rachel McLimore.

Connecticut is at Xavier on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Cintas Center in Cincinnati.

Looking Ahead: On Wednesday, Georgetown is at Villanova in the Big East at 7 p.m. in Finneran Pavilion on Flohoops while Saint Joseph’s visits George Washington in the Atlantic 10 at the Smith Center in the nation’s capital at 6 p.m. on ESPN+.

Elsewhere, In the Big East, No. 24 St. John’s is at Seton Hall at 7 p.m. on Flohoops, which will also air Marquette at DePaul at 8 p.m. 

A major Atlantic 10 game has Rhode Island visiting Massachusetts at 5 p.m. on NESN/ESPN+.

And that’s the report.