The Guru Report: Saint Joseph's Loses to Saint Louis in A-10 Quarters; Penn Blasted by Princeton; Stanford Upset by UCLA

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

 

WILMINGTON, Del. – Two teams will be playing Cinderella here Saturday afternoon in the 76ers’ CHASE Fieldhouse on both sides of the bracket in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 women’s basketball tournament, whose winner Sunday will have a spot on the 68-team NCAA field that will be revealed on March 12 at 8 p.m. on ESPN.

 

Neither of them, however, will be Saint Joseph’s, the team that played that role here a year ago in the same round that propelled the Hawks back to prominence these past five months.

 

Coach Cindy Griffin’s sixth-seeded squad got handed a stunning payback Friday night in the last of four quarterfinal games from third-seeded Saint Louis, which Saint Joseph’s ripped back home 71-47 at Hagan Arena in early January, with a second half defense resulting in a 59-44 final score.

 

That total was the lowest scoring effort from the Hawks (20-10) this season and the lowest allowed all year from the Billikens.

 

“It was certainly not the outcome we came into this tournament looking for,” Griffin said of a squad which was considered a dark horse in this event off their play including the narrow losses against the new rulers over the 15-team league in Rhode Island and reigning champion Massachusetts, which tied for first.

 

“Nonetheless, we’re really proud of our team, the body of work we put together this season,” Griffin said in the obligatory opening remarks of concession at these postgame pressers after the winners appear first. “Having twenty wins is something we’re really proud of, and just getting our program back to where we want it to be.

 

“Which is winning and doing it the right way with the people you really care about.”

 

In some ways both teams ran opposite courses arriving here – the Hawks to a record-tying 14-3 start equaling the best of the Griffin 22-year era that also saw that run her first season before hitting a rough stretch in the schedule while the Billikens stormed their way on an 8-of-9 finish, including upsetting UMass, to earn a third seed and double bye.

 

Many times, a tourney elimination is tough when a large group is graduating and there’s no glimmer of extending an encore into the postseason.

 

But in the Hawks’ case the departure is minimum, though Katie Jekot’s exit is big, as Griffin noted the next squad retains most of this talent “with a few additional pieces.”

 

And in the short run, she confirmed the WNIT did contact the program for interest, “now we just have to see if they’ll call our number.”

 

Certainly, after the first half here the Hawks found their number called the wrong way by the opposition, who swiped an overall 14 steals – six of them a career high from Billikens backcourt star Kennedy Calhoun, while Julia Martinez had five pilfers to her credit.

 

“It was definitely something we worked on in preparation for them,” said Saint Louis first-year coach Rebecca Tillett on facing the group under Griffin, the dean of Big Five coaches after Villanova’s Harry Perretta retired several years ago and easily the dean of her colleagues in the Atlantic 10.

 

“They’re just so dangerous with their reads. If you don’t disrupt what they see, they’re going to make a connection and you’re going to be behind on the play. Even when you pick up their calls, you still got to work really, really, hard to get stops. So that was critical.

 

“And when you think you have them figured out, they show another wrinkle.”

 

Talya Brugler, the Hawks all-league first team star, explained the frustration dealt by the Billikens.

 

“It disrupted our offense quite a bit,” she said. “We weren’t getting the looks that we usually get. And it was harder to get the ball out for the inside outside game.”

 

Furthermore, the Hawks were hobbled by shooting nothing but blanks from long range, going 0-for-13.

 

“It was huge,” Griffin said. “Their defense was stifling inside. And we go 0 for 13 from three, and for the most part they were pretty good looks. When you’re going to advance in a tournament like this you’ve got to make some perimeter shots.”

 

Saint Louis (15-17) had lost to both the Hawks and Davidson, the team Saint Joseph’s beat to advance on Thursday, so there was no preferential wish for either potential opponent.

 

The tide turned from the Hawks with five minutes remaining in the third quarter when Brugler’s attempted layup was blocked by the Bilikens’ Brooke Flowers, who was then assessed a technical for celebrating.

 

Brugler made both foul shots and then Mackenzie Smith up the lead to 36-32 before Saint Louis then grabbed control with as 12-1 run to end the period.

 

At the end of the run, Calhoun stole the ball and scored for a 44-37 advantage.

 

“It means a lot, really, Calhoun said, “because on the previous possession I turned it over. I wanted to get it back for my team. So that was a big momentum play. It was like we’re not losing this game.”

 

Saint Louis guard Kyla McMakin scored a game-high 19 points while Flowers double-doubled her way to 12 points and 15 rebounds. 

 

Smith shot 7-for-11 from the floor to lead the Hawks with 15 points, while Brugler scored 14 and Laura Ziegler grabbed 10 rebounds.

 

In the 1:30 p.m. semifinal, Saint Louis will face second-seeded Rhode Island, the team Saint Joseph’s knocked out last year in this round. Both semifinals are being aired on CBSSN wehile Sunday’s championship is on ESPNU at noon.

 

The Rams (24-5) knocked out seventh-seeded George Washington (18-13) in the quarterfinals as Maye Toure, voted most improved player by the A-10 coaches, got a double-double 16 points and 12 rebounds while reserves Sophie Phillips and Tenin Magassa scored 17 points and 11 respectively, with Magassa shooting 5-of-7 in 11 minutes of action.

 

Nya Lok scored 21 for the Colonials.

 

It’s the first semis appearance for URI in two decades. Having been short-circuited by the Hawks a year ago, the Rams broke a a six-season losing streak in the tourney dating back to 2016.

 

“It’s the first time in20 years since we made it to a semifinal, so we get that monkey off our backs,” said Rhody’s Tammi Reiss, the A-10 coach of the year and former backcourt mate of Dawn Staley at the University of Virginia in the early 1990s. “I am really proud of how they kept their composure and made foul shots at the end.

 

“No matter how you do it, you survive and advance. That’s what this group did. They persevered and showed resiliency.”

 

Hired off the staff at Syracuse, Reiss turned the program around last season and while many speculated she would be the hire at her alma mater, which became vacant, she expressed her preference to continue the job in New England and got rewarded nicely for it.

 

The top seed and reigning champion University of Massachusetts advanced with a 63-50 win over 9^thseeded George Mason (16-15), which had deposed of LaSalle in the previous round.

 

Ber’Nyah Mayo scored 15 points for the Minutewomen (25-5), while Sydney Taylor scored 13, A-10 repeat player of the year Sam Breen scored 10 points with nine rebounds, and Destiney Philoxy and Angelique Ngalakulondi each scored nine points.

 

Sonia Smith scored 21 points with for the Patriots, while Nekhu Mitchell scored 12, and Nalani Kaysia grabbed 14 rebounds.

 

“Wasn’t the prettiest of games that we’ve played, but give George Mason credit,” said UMass coach Tory Verdi.

 

At 11:30 a.m. to open the semifinal round, the Minutewomen will meet the other Cinderella in fifth-seeded Richmond.

 

While beating a fourth seed to advance may not seem like much off the placement differential, the fact that the Spiders took down Fordham 70-65 is a worthy achievement.

 

Furthermore, it’s the Spiders’ (20-9) semifinals appearance since 2009.

 

A spark for Richmond came at the end of the third when Grace Townend raced the length of the court and beat the buzzer to tie the game with 10 minutes left.

 

Richmond took it from there over Fordham (18-12) to advance.

 

“In a lot of ways that was maybe the play of the game,” said Richmond coach Aaron Roussell, who’s previous job was a successful run at Bucknell in the Patriot League.

 

“Maybe in some ways it was demoralizing where (Fordham) thinks they are holding on for the last shot and all of a sudden, you don’t do anything wrong, but the kid’s just fast.”

 

Freshman and all-conference third team member Maggie Doogan, the daughter of former La Salle star and current Cardinal O’Hara coach Chrissie Doogan, scored 20 points for the Spiders, while Addie Budnik had 18 points and eight rebounds.

 

Katie Hill’s 12 rebounds matched a personal best.

 

Fordham’s Asiah Dingle scored 25 points, with nine rebounds and four steals while Kaitlyn Downey had 15 points, shooting 6-of-8 from the field. Anna DeWolfe scored 10 and Jada Dapaa grabbed 11 rebounds.

 

Princeton Second Half Surge Lands Sweep of Penn

 

When Princeton lost its first two Ivy games of the season, many thought the Tigers were about to cede the high ground in the Ancient Eight to the new sheriff in the group at Columbia.

 

Especially when the Lions handed them a tough overtime setback in the second of those two games at Princeton’s home in Jadwin Gym, snapping a 27-game losing streak in the series.

 

And while the final weekend approached with the guess that the two teams would tie at the top and Penn and Harvard would tie for third and let the seeding for next week’s men’s and women’s tourney at Princeton begin, for 20 minutes Friday night Columbia thought it might be alone in first before the game assignments were locked.

 

That’s because the Tigers, who had blasted Penn in their first meeting, were looking at a two-point deficit to the Quakers.

 

But after the break they came roaring out of their cage to maul the Palestra hosts, who were celebrating Senior Night, with a 27-7 third quarter and on to a 71-52 victory and their fifth straight shared or outright regular season crown.

 

Kaitlyn Chen led Princeton (21-5, 12-2 IVY), scoring 27 points, as the win streak since those back-to-back losses reached 13. Grace Stone scored 17, while Ellie Mitchell had eight points and nine rebounds.

 

Penn (17-10, 9-5) got 17 points from Kayla Padilla, while Jordan Obi had another double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds.

 

The rest of the league finishes Saturday, Columbia, with its second sellout of the season, hosts Cornell at 2 p.m. needing a win to share the crown with Princeton.

 

Harvard (15-10, 8-5) hosts Dartmouth at 4 p.m. in Boston, needing a win to tie Penn for third.

 

Depending how the seeding goes, for Penn to win the automatic bid, the Quakers will need to beat Princeton and Columbia back-to-back in either order.

 

But landing the third seed is important because should both Princeton and Columbia get to the championship Saturday, which repeats last year’s matchup, there’s a chance the loser will get an automatic bid for the second time in league history.

 

And if that happens, Penn gets the automatic bid from the Ivies to the WNIT, though the Quakers may get an at-large invite, no matter what.

 

Looking Ahead Locals: It’s more logical to reverse the categories today.

 

All eyes continue to be on Villanova, which is likely to land a No. 4 NCAA bid by getting to Monday night’s Big East championship at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn.

 

Incidentally, in seventh-ranked and second-seeded Iowa’s Big Ten 69-58 quarterfinal victory over Purdue, Caitlin Clark of the Hawkeyes scored 22 points, so pending Maddy Siegrist’s total Saturday, the Villanova senior should still have a slightly comfortable edge on the Iowa junior.

 

Iowa will meet third-seeded and fifth-ranked Maryland Saturday in the semifinals at 5 p.m. on the Big Ten network. The championship is in Minnesota, Sunday.

 

Villanova’s two-game march to the championship game begins Monday, meeting seventh-seeded DePaul (16-16), which advanced in Friday’s opening round to the quarterfinals by beating 10^th-seeded Providence 67-54.

 

The 11^th-ranked and second-seeded Wildcats (26-5) swept the Blue Demons during the season. The game will air Saturday at 7 p.m. on FS2.

 

Seton Hall (18-13) downed Xavier 84-58 and will meet third-seeded Creighton (21-7) at 9:30 p.m. on FS2. If the Wildcats survive their game, they meet the winner of this game Sunday in the semifinals at 5:30 p.m. on FS1.

 

‘Nova split with the Bluejays, getting blasted at home in the league opener in December, and then returning the favor in Omaha in mid-January the night Siegrist broke the Villanova long-held scoring record for men and women by Shelly Pennefather.

 

They swept Seton Hall, Siegrist drawing more attraction for leading the nation in scoring with the 50-point game at home and then this past Monday she scored 32 on the Pirates to bringing her career total to 2,714.

 

No. 9 UConn, the top seed, will meet Georgetown at noon on FS1 and then play either Marquette or St. John’s in Sunday’s first semifinal at 3 p.m. on FS1.

 

That game will air at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday on FS2.

 

In two regular season games Saturday to wrap up regular season play for tournaments next week Drexel, the preseason pick by the conference coaches in the Colonial Athletic Association, will host new member North Carolina A&T at 3 p.m. in the Daskalakis Athletic Center on FloHoops.

 

A Dragons win lands the top seed for the CAA tournament next week at Towson in suburban Baltimore. There’s a slew of teams right behind Drexel so the tiebreaker is unknown if they fall short.

 

Delaware will finish its CAA slate at Hampton in Virginia on FloHoops.

 

Rider hosts Marist at Alumni Gym in Lawrenceville, N.J., at 1 p.m. on ESPN+ to wrap up the regular season in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC).

 

Nationally Noted: Shock Time in the PAC-12

 

It’s been wild all season and continued that way in the semifinals in Las Vegas with fourth-seeded and 19^th-ranked UCLA (25-8) taking down top-seeded and sixth-ranked Stanford 69-65.

 

The Cardinal (28-5), which was ranked second for an extended run during the season, had been projected as a No. 1 NCAA seed.

 

UCLA (25-8) got 22 points from freshman KK Rice, while Emily Bessoir scored 14, Charisma Osborne scored 13, and Gina Conti scored 11.

 

Cameron Brink had 19 points and 11 rebounds for Stanford, while Haley Jones had 15 points and 10 rebounds.

 

In the other semifinal, Washington State (22-10), the seventh seed, which had beaten No. 2 Utah, another projected No. 1 NCAA seed, followed up with a 61-49 win over third-seed and 20^th-ranked Colorado (23-8).

 

The Cougars and Bruins, both assured NCAA bids, will play for the PAC-12 title Sunday at 5 p.m. on ESPN2.

 

In the ACC, quarterfinal action saw Louisville beating Wake Forest, 74-48; Top seed and 10^th-ranked Notre Dame beating NC State 66-60 to end the Wolfpack’s three-year rule of the league; Second-seeded and 13^th-ranked Duke beat 18^th-ranked North Carolina 44-40; and eighth-ranked Virginia Tech eliminated Miami 68-42.

 

On Saturday in the semifinals, Louisville meets Notre Dame at noon in Greensboro, N.C., before Duke and Virginia Tech play at 2:30 p.m. Both games on the ACCN.

 

In the SEC, the defending NCAA champs and top seed and No. 1 ranked South Carolina is still unbeaten now at 30-0 with 36 straight wins after beating Arkansas 93-66 in the quarterfinals.

 

No. 4 ranked and second-seeded LSU (28-1) still holds its lone loss at the hands of South Carolina after beating Georgia 83-66, while Ole Miss beat Texas A&M 77-60, and Tennessee topped Kentucky 80-71.

 

The LSU game was held up for a while due to a leaky roof dripping water on the court in the same arena in Greenville, S.C., that will host two of the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight NCAA rounds.

 

And that’s the report.