By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru
PHILADELPHIA — It’s been no secret to those looking at national stats during the season what the hot selling item is at Drexel, a strong mid-major that was the preseason pick to win the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA).
Canadian native Keishana Washington, a grad student in her fifth season, has been a solid third place in scoring in the nation, though earlier had been in first and second, behind Villanova’s Maddie Siegrist and Iowa’s Caitlin Clark.
So if one had taken a quick boxscore glance early Friday night in Drexel’s game hosting the College of Charleston and seen Washington seemingly struggling from the field the assumption might have been the Dragons were in trouble.
Nothing could have been further from the truth because while the Drexel star is the main item, Amy Mallon has the operation clicking as a full fledged variety store that was on full display against the Cougars.
By the time the game ended, Drexel enjoyed an 86-61 triumph over the Cougars (9-13, 4-8 CAA), using its fifth straight win to move a half-game forward back in first place to a full game lead over new member North Carolina A&T.
“When you get to February, you want to start showing separation,” Mallon said. “Especially in conference. Making sure you are taking care of business. That’s big right now for February that we continue to hold steady with what we are doing. If we do that, I think we can be successful trying to start that separation.”
Drexel (18-5, 10-2) after a brief two-game week apart road slump has begun to show that, beginning with a gutty 66-65 win at new member Stony Brook last Sunday for a season sweep and move back to the top of the standings.
Signs of karma swinging back to the Dragons began showing Thursday when North Carolina A&T fell to Hampton in a game between two other CAA newcomers while Hofstra drilled a three-pointer to topple Towson at the finish.
The stars remain in Drexel’s control Sunday, heading to new CAA member Monmouth, the former central New Jersey shore town affiliate of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, at 3 p.m. on FloHoops.
Elsewhere in the conference, William & Mary, one of the two teams in the league to beat the Dragons and in a three-way third-place tie, goes to North Carolina A&T,
So if Drexel takes care of business and the visitors when that other game, it becomes a two-game lead with five remaining for top-seed in the CAA tourney, which will be at Towson next month.
In this one, despite the shooting struggles, Washington showed she has more ways to skin a Cougar, finishing near her average of 27.0 with 21 points, helped by 8-of-9 from the line, and collecting her second double-double dishing a personal best 11 assists. She almost gained a triple-double with seven rebounds.
The recipient of a bunch of those helpers was freshman Kylie Lavelle, nearly back to her early season pre-injury form, with 28 points, just three off her career-high 31.
Maura Hendrixson, among the NCAA assists leaders, dealt nine, Grace O’Neil scored 10, shooting 4-of-5 from the field, including two from deep, while support from the bench showed with Chloe Hodges scoring nine points, while Jasmine Valentine grabbed eight rebounds.
Looking over the boxscore while on the podium for the postgame media briefing, Mallon exclaimed, “24 assists on on 32 baskets, that’s Drexel basketball.”
It was the 57th straight game Washington has scored in double digits.
She gave testimony on her not being the only item Drexel offers.
“…we have a lot of weapons,” she said. “You can’t key in on just me because (Lavelle) can get a lot of points. You can’t keep them on the two of us because then you have (Hendrixson), who will step in and knock down threes. Or you have Jas that can clean up on the boards and get an easy put back. I think it’s going to make it tough especially heading into the tournament for teams to guard us.”
Of her own performance, Lavelle said, “I just let the game come to me. My teammates found me. We executed all our plays. I was just open around the basket and running the floor.”
Said Mallon, “Tonight was great because we had so many contributions. Washington is a special player. She leads us in every way. But she is making other people believe that they can do the things they are capable of doing all within what they are capable of. I think that is our strength right now. Knowing our roles and understanding those and doing them at a high level.”
Delaware Cruises Over UNCW
Only one other game involved a local, also in the CAA, where Delaware cruised over the Seahawks and former Blue Hens coach Tina Martin 83-47 in the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark.
Five players from the home team (13-9, 6-5) scored in double figures, headlined by Makayla Pippin’s career-high 25 points, shooting 9-for-15 from the field, while completing a double-double with 10 rebounds. She made all seven attempts from the field.
Also on target was Michelle Ojo, shooting 7-for-11 to score 14 points, while a 5-for-8 effort from Nakiyah Mays-Prince brought 11 points, Rebecca Demke shot 4-for-7 for 10 points, and Tara Cousins had 11 points, seven rebounds, and six assists.
Carrie Gross scored 15 for UNCW (4-18, 1-10), while Evan Miller scored 13.
Delaware on Sunday will host College of Charleston at 2 p.m. on FloHoops.
Nationally Noted: Besides the CAA, Friday night belongs to the PAC-12 at this time of year, and this week the three ranked teams in the conference out west were home with No. 18 UCLA edging Oregon State 62-54 in Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles; No. 7 Utah beat Washington 92-69 in Salt Lake City, and No. 25 Colorado edged Washington State 71-68 in Boulder.
In the other two games, California won at Arizona State 72-61 in Tempe while Southern Cal beat Oregon 56-51 in Los Angeles.
In the game involving UCLA (19-6, 8-5 PAC-12), Gabriela Jaquez scored 14 and Charisma Osborne had a double-double 12 points and 10 rebounds.
The visiting Beavers (11-13, 3-10) was ahead 51-46 with 7 minutes, 13 seconds in regulation but were shutdown from the field the rest of the way in a 8-3 run by the Bruins.
Oregon State has lost five straight.
Utah ((21-2, 11-2), tied with idle No. 6 Stanford for first, scored 16 shots from behind the arc, five of which came from Gianna Kneepkens, who scored 19 points. Southern Cal transfer Alissa Pili scored 17, while Lani White and Jenna Johnson each scored 11,
“Everybody had just bought us into winning,” said Utah coach Lynne Roberts, whose team is having its best season since joining the PAC-12. “It’s not about me getting mine. They’re going to make the extra pass. They’re going to work for each other.”
Freshman Elle Ladine, the star of last weekend’s upset of Stanford, scored 18 for Washington (13-10, 5-8).
Colorado (19-5, 10-3), in third place a game behind the leaders, had a close one dealing with Washington State (16-8, 6-7).
Jaylyn Sherrod tied her personal best with 27 points while Tayanna Jones grabbed a steal in the paint with two seconds left to seal the win for the Buffs, who trailed by nine at the start of the fourth quarter.
Okako Adika and Destiny Littleton each scored 18 and Adika grabbed 11 rebounds for Southern Cal in its win.
Looking Ahead: The Siegrist Watch
No. 15 Villanova hosts Seton Hall at 1 p.m. in Finneran Pavilion on Saturday, the first of two with the Pirates, and as Maddy Siegrist is approaching more milestones and we didn’t run the full update after the last win Wednesday at Georgetown, here’s the latest.
Siegrist Update 2/10/23
Philly Six Women
Gabriela Marginean, Drexel, 2581
Maddy Siegrist, Villanova, 2521, needs 61 points, 6 games left in regular season, average needed — 10.1 pts; if games still need, two or three in BEC tourney; at least 1 postseason.
Big East Women’s Scoring Record
Sarah Behn, Boston College, 1546
Maddy Siegrist, Villanova, 1500 needs 47 pts, 3 games left to next UConn game, averaged needed — 15.67; end of season if needed — 7.8; see previous for games if still needed.
Local Men’s Scoring Record
Lionel Simmons, La Salle, 3217 — likely out of reach
Michael Brooks, La Salle, 2628
Maddy Siegrist, Villanova, 2521 — needs 108 pts, 6 games to end of season, average needed — 18.0
Mark Macon, Temple, 2609
Maddy Siegrist, Villanova, 2521 — needs 89 points, 6 games left regular season, average needed — 14.8. see previous for games still needed
Tom Gola, La Salle, 2461
Maddy Siegrist, Villanova, passed on 2/1/23
Combo Ranking as of 2/10/23
Lionel Simmons, La Salle, 3217
Michael Brooks, La Salle, 2628 — needs 108
Mark Macon, Temple, 2609 — needs 89
Gabriela Marginean, Drexel, 2581 — needs 61
Maddy Siegrist, Villanova, 2521
Other Local Games
A key Ivy game Saturday at The Palestra at 2 p.m. has Penn hosting Harvard and looking for revenge for last month’s loss up in Cambridge. The game is on ESPN+.
Columbia, in a three-way tie with Harvard and Princeton, hosts Yale, in fourth, a game behind Penn, which holds one tie break with the earlier win over Columbia and could get a second by sweeping Yale with one victory in hand.
Princeton will host Dartmouth at 1 p.m. in Jadwin Gym on ESPN+.
Saint Joseph’s in the Atlantic 10 visits Dayton at noon on ESPN+
Temple, trying to snap out of a two-game losing streak, hosts Cincinnati at 2 p.m. in the Liacouras Center in an American Athletic Conference game on ESPN+.
In the Patriot League, Lehigh visits Loyola, Maryland, at 5 p.m. while Lafayette at 2 p.m. is at first place Boston U. Both games air on ESPN+.
On Sunday, besides the two CAA games mentioned, La Salle in the Atlantic 10 will try to snap out of a losing streak host Duquesne at 2 p.m. in Tom Gola Arena on ESPN+.
Rider in the MAAC hosts Manhattan at 1 p.m. in Alumni Gym in Lawrenceville, N.J. on ESPN3.
In the Big Ten, Rutgers is at No. 5 Iowa on FS1 at 3 p.m., while Penn State at the same time visits Michigan State on the subscription B1G+.
Looking Ahead Nationally
The big game on the weekend is Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Southeastern Conference when top-ranked and reigning NCAA champion South Carolina hosts No. 3 LSU featuring the last two teams still unbeaten going at it. While the host Gamecocks are presumed the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament as of now, LSU needs the win to be projected a 1 seed instead of the two slot the Tigers were placed in the first committee 16-team reveal on Thursday.
Villanova was placed at 15 overall, which had the Wildcats as a four seed but they need to keep winning to hold the slot.
On Saturday, No. 20 Texas hosts TCU in a Big 12 match in the Longhorns’ new Moody Center at 5 p.m. on the Longhorn Netwrork.
Baylor, trying to return the rankings, visits Oklahoma State at 3 p.m. in the Big 12.
On Sunday at 2 p.m. on the ACC Network Florida State visits Virginia Tech.
And early Sunday evening the local NFL football team will face Kansas City trying to win its second Super Bowl in five seasons.
Go Eagles.
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