The Guru Report: Saint Joseph’s Edged by URI at Finish; Washington Leads Drexel Over Delaware; Unbeaten South Carolina Avoids Ole Miss Upset in Overtime

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PHILADELPHIA — It was down to the wire again Sunday afternoon against Rhode Island for Saint Joseph’s at home in Hagan Arena in a key Atlantic Ten battle that ended up going haywire at the finish  for the Hawks in a 58-55 setback.

The flow of the game was such the home team started in strong offensive fashion with a 13-0 run after a few exchanges to race to a 16-4 lead that later dissolved through an 11-0 spurt to a tie at the half.

It was last spring in the Atlantic 10 tourney quarterfinals that Saint Joseph’s offered promise for the future with an upset of the Rams and then in their first encounter last month in Kingston at the Ryan Center that the Hawks extended to double overtime before Rhody prevailed on what had been an unbeaten league run until UMass delivered a payback last week.

A nice crowd was brought to its feet entering the final minute of a 53-53 tie when Talya Brugler fed Mackenzie Smith for a 55-53 lead with 56.6 seconds remaining in regulation.

Saint Joseph’s (18-8, 8-6 Atlantic 10) then got a stop and in possession there was conjecture the refs missed a foul and then the visitors swiped the ball from Katie Jekot, who was then assessed an intentional foul.

The Rams (22-4, 13-1)went to the line and tied it, off the penalty retained possession, and Sophie Phillips zinged an off-balance three-ball to snap the tie with 1.1 seconds left to gain the win.

Laura Ziegler scored 20 and completed a double-double with 13 rebounds. Talya Brugler, who got into early foul trouble as the Hawks built the lead, scored 11 and dealt four assists, while Mackenzie Smith scored 11 with five rebounds and four assists.

Jekot had eight points and six assists.

Rhode Island’s Dolly Cairns scored 12, Sayawni Lassiter scored 11 with six rebounds, and Phillips had nine points all off three shots from behind the arc.

“Some day the breaks will come our way,” veteran coach Cindy Griffin alluded to the finish.

Still, in playing the conference leaders to date within single digits, including this one, is a source of encouragement when it comes to next month’s conference tourney in Wimington, Del., with the prize an automatic bid to the NCAAs.

“I’m really proud of the way our kids came out today,” she said. “We played really, really good basketball for about 35 minutes.

Rhode Island has been revived with the hire several seasons ago of Tammi Reiss, the former backcourt mate with Dawn Staley at Virginia in the early ‘90s when the Cavaliers went to three straight Final Fours.

On Wednesday, Saint Joseph’s will travel to George Mason in Fairfax, Va., near the nation’s capital, at 7 p.m. Then it’s back here Saturday for Senior Day at 2 p.m. when Duquesne visits to wrap up the regular schedule.

Both games are on ESPN+.

Meanwhile, La Salle played its A-10 game on Sunday on the road where the Explorers (16-12, 7-6 Atlantic 10) succumbed to a fourth-quarter rally from Saint Louis, which emerged with a 74-63 victory in Chaifetz Arena.

The visitors’ Kayla Spruill was 6-for-11 from the field for 15 points and nine rebounds for a near double-double, while Charity Shears scored 14, Mia Jacobs scored 11, and Molly Masciantonio had nine points, two assists.

Peyton Kennedy had 26 points, including four from deep, for Saint Louis (12-17, 8-6), while Brooke Flowers had a double-double 16 points and 14 rebounds, Kyla McMakin scored 12, and Julia Martinez scored 11.

La Salle on Wednesday visits Dayton at 7 p.m. on ESPN+ and then finishes Saturday at home in Tom Gola Arena at 2 p.m. on ESPN+ hosting VCU for Senior Day.

Entering the last week of the regular season, UMass and Rhode Island are tied for first having beaten each other on the road; George Washington is alone in third four games back, and then the Hawks, Fordham and Saint Louis are tied for fourth with La Salle tied in the loss column with the aforementioned trio and a half-game behind in the win column.

More Records Spun As Drexel Completes Sweep of Delaware

Drexel broke out of its two-game losing streak, winning at arch-rival Delaware 67-55 in a Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) game in the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark to hold on to a half-game lead at the top of the standings coming down the stretch for next month’s tournament at Towson in suburban Baltimore.

It was Keishana Washington’s turn to explode, scoring an even 40, making her the first in the NCAA this season to reach that number three different times. It was also her career fourth for Drexel, a program mark, while Maura Hendrixson, the delivery person for many of Washington’s scores, set a Drexel season assists record passing 186 and with seven reaching 191.

It was still a close contest when Delaware (14-11, 7-7 CAA) got within four of the Dragons (19-7, 11-4) in the fourth but that was the last effort as the visitors put the stops.

Washington’s best is 42, having been two points off twice this month.

Chloe Hodges had nine points off the bench for the Dragons while Tara Cousins scored 13 for the Blue Hens.

Finishing first in is Drexel’s hands traveling to Hofstra in Hempstead, N.Y., at 7 p.m. on Friday before hosting William & Mary Sunday looking for a split on the season and then league newcomer North Carolina A&T on Saturday, March 4, at 3 p.m., all games on FloHoops.

Penn State Downed at Illinois

Makenna Marisa, who moved into 10th on the Lady Lions career scoring chart, got there on the way to 18 points in an 85-62 loss at Illinois in Champaign in the Big Ten. Angie Pothoff, who later served a long time on former Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw’s staff, held the spot previously with 1,725 points completed in 1997.

The Illini prior to the tip saluted former coach Theresa Grentz, the Immaculata great who also coached Rutgers, for her induction into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame last September.

The four finalists from the women’s committee were announced Friday — Former Kansas coach and West Chester star Marian Washington; former Stanford star Jennifer Azzi; Former WNBA star and now WNBA Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon, who guided the team to the league title her first season last fall; and retired Texas A&M coach Gary Blair.

Leilani Kapinus scored 19 for Penn State (13-14, 4-12 Big Ten), while Kendall Bostic had 22 points and 18 rebounds for Illinois (20-7, 10-6), Genesis Bryant scored 21, and Makira Cook had 18 points.

Penn State finishes its road schedule Wednesday at Purdue at 7 p.m. in West Lafayette, Ind., before coming home Saturday to host Michigan State.

Nationally Noted: In the last two seasons to date the only dings on top-ranked and reigning NCAA champion South Carolina’s otherwise perfect record came last season at the hands of Southeastern Conference rivals Missouri in the regular season and Kentucky in the conference tournament.

On Sunday, there was nearly a third from another SEC foe but the Gamecocks survived the attempt from Ole Miss in Oxford, Miss., winning in overtime 64-57.

Zia Cooke had five of her 24 in the extra period for the visitors (27-0, 14-0 SEC), who won their 33rd straight. Aliyah Boston had 13 points and 11 rebounds.

The Rebels (20-7, 9-5), who haven’t beaten a No. 1 team in 46 years, got 17 point from Angel Baker and 11 from Snudda Collins. Rita Igbokwe blocked six shots.

Shaina Pellington had 19 points and five assists to play her second key role on the weekend for No. 18 Arizona, which upset PAC-12 rival No. 4 Utah in Tucson Friday and on Sunday beat No. 21 Colorado 61-42 to end the Buffs five-game win streak.

No. 2 Indiana’s first sellout crowd in Assembly Hall saw the Hoosiers beat Purdue 83-60 and clinch a share of their first Big Ten regular-season crown since 1982-83, the league’s inaugural season for women’s competition.

Coach Teri Moren’s club has not won an outright title, but enough is left on the schedule for that to happen.

The Hoosiers (26-1, 16-1 Big Ten) have smashed the single-season school record, tied the second-longest win streak with their 14th Sunday, claimed 18 straight home games and Moren needs two triumphs for 200 in Bloomington and three for 400 in her overall career.

Had not South Carolina escaped Ole Miss Sunday, they might have even been looking at becoming their first AP No. 1 team.

Mackenzie Holmes had 20 points, while Grace Berger had 14 points and 10 assists for Indiana.

California beat No. 25 Southern Cal 81-78 in overtime in the PAC-12 as Jayda Curry scored 27 and Michelle Oniyah scored six in the extra period.

The Trojans had re-entered the poll this week for the first time since 2016.

Looking Ahead: On President’s Day, though the numbers will have likely changed by Monday night’s tipoff, No. 13 Ohio State will visit No. 12 Michigan at 7 p.m. on FS! in the Big Ten in Ann Arbor, Mich., while the one local is also in the Big Ten, Rutgers visiting Wisconsin at 8 p.m. on the main B1G network.

Out West at 9 p.m. No. 16 UCLA visits No. 3 Stanford in the PAC-12 on ESPN2.

On Tuesday, locally, Temple is at UCF at 6 p.m. in the American Athletic Conference on ESPN+, while No. 14 Villanova hosts DePaul at 7 p.m. in the Big East in the Pavilion on FloHoops.

In the Big Ten No. 7 Iowa is at No. 8 Maryland in College Park on the B1G network.

Also in the Big East, No. 8 UConn hosts St. John’s in Hartford at the XL Center.

And that’s the report.