The Guru Report: Wins for La Salle and Rider; Ivy Berth Clinching Weekend Arrives; Villanova Top 10 Bound?

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PHILADELPHIA — Continuing the bounce back from the recent slump, for the second year in a row La Salle has come up with a nice upset of Fordham, this time beating the Rams 61-49 in the Atlantic 10 contest early Thursday afternoon on the annual Education Day event at Tom Gola Arena.

The visitors were held to their lowest scoring total of the season by the Explorers (16-11, 7-5 Atlantic 10), who were the preseason choice of the conference choices to finish second.

Kayla Spruil,  who on Sunday set a new, now ongoing, career record for three-pointers made, packed the offensive attack with 24 points, two off her career best.

She was 10-for-15 from the field, including 4-of-6 deep, both near season highs.

“That’s a good win today,” beamed La Salle coach Mountain MacGillivray. “That’s a really good team we just played. We found a way to get it done.

“We shared the ball and I thought we rebounded great. Kayla Spruill knocking it down, that was nice to see. A pretty complete effort.”

Anna DeWolfe, who had a team best17 points, got Fordham (16-10, 8-5) within five at 54-49 with less than two minutes left in regulation and then the Explorers defense clamped down to deprive the Rams of any more points the rest of the way.

On how the game flowed, MacGillivray said, “To their credit they mucked it up a little bit and made it frantic and frazzled.

“Molly (Masciantonio) got calm, hit a huge three. Amy (Jacobs) got calm and had a huger three. Jay (Haynes) split a double-team and got a huge layup. That says basketball players make big plays when they have to.

“They did everything they could to get us frazzled. We made a couple of plays. Sometimes it’s you. Sometimes it’s them. Tonight it was us.”

Mia Jacobs added 10 points to the La Salle effort. 

Masciantonio, the nation’s assists-to-turnover ratio leader at 4.38 dealt seven dimes with just one miscue. On the season, she’s 92-21.

Playing with Spruill in the backcourt, Masciantonio observed of her teammate in the game, “I think she took advantage of size difference. She made her first shot and once you see the ball go in at least once, you have less stress when you’re shooting. Her shot was really good today. She was confident with her shots.”

Amy Jacobs grabbed 11 rebounds and scored six.

“I thought we played some of the best defense we played all season,” MacGillivray said of dealing with a Fordham mojo, whose focus is “the get good shots for for two kids that are really talented at scoring the ball. Getting 31 percent, that’s a really solid defensive effort.”

La Salle will be at Saint Louis, Sunday, at 2 p.m. on ESPN+.

It got interesting elsewhere at the top of the league with a payback as reigning champion and preseason pick UMass knocked Rhode Island at home in Kingston at the Ryan Center from unbeaten conference play, atoning for a previous loss to the Rams with a 78-57 win and move to a tie for first.

The visiting Minutewomen with the win are 22-4 and 12-1 in the A-10 while the Rams are 21-4 and the same 12-1 in league acton.

Then comes a three-way tie with Saint Joseph’s (18-7, 8-5), who host Rhode Island, Sunday, at 2 p.m., in Hagan Arena on ESPN+ after falling to the Rams in double overtime in their first meeting; George Washington (16-10, 8-5), and Fordham, followed a half-game back by the Explorers.

In the UMass-Rhode Island game, four players scored in double figures for the visiting Minutewomen.

Sydney Taylor scored 18 points, completing a double-double with 10 rebounds, Sam Breen narrowly missed one with 10 points and eight boards, Angelique Ngalakulondi had 17 points and eight rebounds, and Ber’Nyah Mayo scored 13.

The only player who scored in double digits for Rhode Island was reserve Sophie Phillips with 12 points.

Rider Completes Sweep of Winless Saint Peter’s

The Broncos had one of their brighter nights of the season, especially in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), beating the Peacocks 63-53 in Alumni Gym in Lawrenceville, N.J., as Ralphaela Toussaint had a double-double with 18 points and 10 boards.

Makayla Firebaugh had 17 points to add for Rider (7-18, 4-12 MAAC) while Saint Peter’s  is still looking for its first season victory after 25 games overall and 16 in the MAAC.

“Pleased with winning on our home floor,” said Rider coach Lynn Millighan. “That was a big focus for us this week, was understanding the importance of winning home games, something we haven’t done on a consistent basis this season.

“I’m happy with the way we shared the ball against their zone. It’s easy to shoot quick against a zone, and I thought we did a good job moving the ball around. Raphie and Vic (Victoria Toomey) got some really good looks early, and our guards did a good job choosing when they were shooting.

“I’m old school, I always think inside out. That’s a good way to play the game of basketball. When Raphie and Vic are working together with our guards, we’re a better basketball team.”

On Saturday, Rider will host Quinnipiac at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.

Penn State Falls to No. 13 Ohio State

In the only other game involving a local, the Lady Lions lost to No. 13 Ohio State 67-55 at home in the Bryce Jordan Center in State College. Off the power of teams in the Big Ten, the Buckeyes (22-5, 11-5 Big Ten) were the third opponent in the last five games faced by Penn State (13-13, 4-11).

Makenna Marisa paced the home team with 22 points and Leilani Kapinus had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Ohio State’s Cotie McMahon had a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Rikki Harris scored 15, and Taylor Thierry scored 13.

Penn State on Sunday travels to Ilinois playing the Illini at 3 p.m. in Champagne on the Big Ten+ subscription network.

Nationally Noted: Off the ranked teams games’ Thursday, there was no letdown for Dawn Staley’s top-ranked, unbeaten, reigning NCAA champion South Carolina squad after Sunday’s 1-3 showdown win with LSU, also unbeaten at the time in their Southeastern Conference confrontation. 

The Gamecocks whipped visiting Florida 87-56 for their 32nd straight victory as Zia Cook scored 22 points for the home folks (26-0, 13-0 SEC). She also shot five from deep. Breal Beal scored 14 against the Gators (14-10, 3-10).

No. 5 LSU at home in Baton Rouge got back on the winning track with a 69-60 triumph over Ole Miss as Angel Reese exploded with 36 points and 20 rebounds for the Tigers (24-1, 12-1).

Tennessee in SEC play on the longest drought in the history of the poll with 12 straight weeks beat another former ranked team out of the conference at Arkansas 87-67.

The late Pat Summitt, who at Tennessee spanned the history of the AP rankings from its beginning to her retirement due to her battle with dementia, only missed 14 poll appearances overall in what was up to that time 632 weeks.

This season, Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer passed Summitt’s total and early next year will also top her number for most at the same school.

Meanwhile in the Atlantic Coast Conference, Louisville, another longtime ranked team that got ejected earlier this season and fighting to get back in, suffered a tough loss, getting edged in overtime at No. 10 Notre Dame 78-76.

If the Cardinals don’t return next week, Staley will actually tie Jeff Walz at 25 in overall appearances among all coaches, who have appeared in the AP Poll’s history. 

With her 233 total, she’s one behind Walz at sixth on the active list.

Meanwhile, after NC State got knocked out this week after a long run, the Wolfpack turned around at home in Reynolds Coliseum and beat No. 19 North Carolina 77-66.

No. 11 Virginia Tech at home in Blacksburg beat No. 11 Duke, the conference leader, 61-45. The Hokies, however, are still to play N.C, State at home on Sunday.

In the Big Ten, No. 2 Indiana at home in Bloomington, stayed on top of the pack beating No. 12 Michigan 68-52.

Villanova Top Ten Bound?

The best the No. 14 Wildcats have ever done in AP Poll ranking history was to reach No. 11 with the fabulous 2003 bunch that advanced in the NCAA tourney to the Elite Eight against host Tennessee.

This week Villanova, which was revealed as a No. 4 Top 16 seed recently by the NCAA Committee, with the next one due Feb. 23, moved up to No. 10 in the NET ranking.

The question now is might the Wildcats make it to the Top 10 for the first time, Monday.

They obviously have a big game Saturday with the FOX telecast at 2:30 p.m. featuring ‘Nova’s Maddy Siegrist, still the nation’s top scorer, and No. 6 UConn completing the two-game set in the Big East visiting the Pavilion.

Last month, when a near second-upset occurred in Hatford ended in a narrow win, the visitors were not punished from their position at that time in the poll.

The game, by the way, is moving in a direction of a sellout, the first for the women since 2004 on the Main Line where fueled by two national titles on the men’s side under former coach Jay Wright, it’s a regular occurrence.

So far this week in front of the Wildcats in the Poll, No. 9 Duke on Thursday fell to No. 11 Virginia Tech, which must play NC State on Sunday.

No. 12 Michigan and No. 13 Ohio State both fell to No. 2 Indiana, though both will be favored in any other weekend game.

With a myriad of ‘Nova, Big East, and Philadelphia records already in her collection, it’s possible Siegrist might land on top of both men’s and women’s Philly Six schools ], or Big Five, for best season and career scoring average. That’s still in research but stay tuned.

Clinching  Berths Weekend Arrives in the Ivy League

The actual seed positions are still to be determined by the five-for-four berths contenders, but as far as making the field for next month’s tournament for men and women, on the women’s side, here are the scenarios.

As for the contenders, Yale in the most trouble, Penn on Friday plus Brown, and Princeton on Saturday plus Brown travel to Yale, while on Friday Columbia visits Harvard.

If Columbia beats Harvard on Friday and Penn beats Yale on Friday, Columbia is back heading for Ivy Madness.

If Princeton beats Brown on Friday and Penn the same night beats Yale, Princeton continues to appear at Ivy Madness.

If Penn beats Yale on Friday, and Princeton beats Brown on Friday, Columbia and Penn, the Quakers after a year’s absence, punch Ivy Madness tickets.

If Harvard wins either game this weekend, the Crimson also play Cornell, and Yale loses both games, Harvard earns a trip to Ivy Madness on Saturday.

Looking Ahead

Cleaning up the rest of the early weekend slate, first locally:

Following Drexel’s upset loss at Monmouth, the Dragons will look to hold first in the Colonial Athletic Association when they host Northeastern, going for a season sweep, at the Daskalakis Athletic Center at 6 p.m. Friday on FloHoops. Currently with three losses in the CAA, they are one short of the record held by a No. 1 CAA seed, set by former member Old Dominion with four in 1994.

On Sunday, the Dragons go for a season sweep on longtime rival Delaware, visiting the Blue Hens in the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark at 2 p.m., also on FloHoops, which will also air Friday’s Blue Hens game at Hofstra at 7 p.m.

Locally, on Saturday, not mentioned, Temple hosts Houston in an American Athletic Conference game at 2 p.m. on ESPN+ in the Liacouras Center.

In the Patriot League, both on ESPN+, and both at 2 p.m., Lehigh hosts American at Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa., while Lafayette hosts Army in the Kirby Sports Center in Easton, Pa.

Nationally, Friday night, all the rest happens late in the PAC-12 on the conference network.

Southern Cal is at No. 3 Stanford following last month’s upset over the Cardinal at 11 p.m.; Utah is at Arizona at 9 p.m.

On Saturday, Iowa State in the Big 12 is at Baylor, while JMU is at Old Dominion, their first year together joining the Sun Belt for their second meeting.

We’ll have more on Sunday and Monday after Saturday’s games in that report.