Key Black/Jefferson Win Over Purple/West Chester Gains Cusp of Philly Women’s Summer League Regular Season Crown for Undefeated Rams
By Bob Heller and Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru
HORSHAM, Pa. — Set up by a Tuesday night of excitement from teams returning after a week-long break for the holiday in the Philadelphia/Suburban Women’s Summer Basketball League get ready for the approaching finish Thursday and next Tuesday to the regular season and seeding for the playoffs at Kelly Bolish Gym, home of the AAU Renegades.
In a rarity at this stage of the summer season in history, when the night ended there were no ties in the standings and whatever might happen at the finish for playoff seeding, the more likely situation will be two-team deadlocks easily broken by head-to-head results.
That’s far different than those multi-gridlock situations for which the tracker at the bottom of these posts were created to help speed the setup for seeding when the final standings occurred.
Back, to Tuesday’s action, three of the four games went to the wire, highlighted by Black (D2-Jefferson) rallying and outlasting Purple (D2-West Chester) 65-62 to stay unbeaten at 6-0 sending the opposition into fourth place at 4-2.
While that action could be expected given the two squads had been in the upper half of the nine-team league.
The stunner, however, was the near upset of Red (D2-Chestnut Hill) by winless Sun (Draft Team-3), escaping with a 51-50 victory that flipped the victors into third place at 5-1 a game behind Jefferson.
Red and Jefferson, also regular wintertime rivals in the Southern Division of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, will meet next Tuesday in the second game of the Court 1 doubleheader at 7:45 p.m.
And while that could decide the regular season champion, Red must first deal with another CACC Southern Rival in Sky Blue (D2-Holy Family) on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. on Court 1 in one of the two early games.
The Holy Family bunch (6-1) had the easiest time Tuesday, beating Royal Blue 80-45 droping the D3-Cabrini squad to seventh at 1-6.
Sky Blue stayed a half-game behind Black in second at 6-1, however the team with the second-longest win streak on the summer fell to Jefferson in a close game in overtime in the season opener and will actually be the last one serving a bye on Tuesday.
Maroon (D3-Arcadia) served the bye on Tuesday but moved into seventh due to the loss by Royal Blue, who serves its bye on Thursday night.
In a game between the other two Draft teams, squads whose squads are not dominated by loaded winter contingents, Pink (Draft Team-2) edged Kelly Green (Draft Team-1) 40-37, moving into fifth place over Tuesday’s now sixth-place opponent with a .500 record at 3-3 while Kelly falls to 2-4.
No one scored 20 or more points, the best performance being 19 from Black’s Sam Yencha.
The 8th and 9th teams in the final standings will launch the postseason Thursday, July 20th, the winner advancing to the quarterfinals on Tuesday, July 25th.
The semifinals will play Thursday, July 27th, with the championship on August 1, which again this summer will be a livestream airing by Ari Bluestein’s Sports Fan Based Network.
To recap Thursday’s coming games., at 6:30 p.m., Sky Blue (6-1) meets Red (5-1) on Court 1, while Black (6-0) meets Pink (3-3) on Court 2.
In the late 7:45 p.m. contests, Sun (0-6) meets Purple (4-2) on Court 1, while Kelly Green (2-4) meets Maroon (1-5) on Court 2, Kelly Green looking to avoid the play-in round with a win.
On a personal note, the Guru was pleased to return live courtside Tuesday after the right hip replacement surgery May 5 had him sidelined in recovery state, but pleased to report in first stairs action, made it up the front entrance with little difficulty.
Thanks to the well wishers who came over to chat.
Now, here’s Bob, with the game details.
Recaps
Black 65 Purple 62
Team Black (D2-Jefferson University) rallied from a 15-point halftime deficit to remain the only unbeaten team in the Philadelphia/Suburban women’s Basketball Summer League with a 65-62 win over Team Purple (D2-West Chester University), one of two late games at Kelly Bolish Gym.
Black improves to 6-0 while Purple falls to 4-2, dropping to fourth place in the league standings with two games remaining in the regular season.
Sam Yencha led the Black squad with the high game of the night, scoring 19 points, including a 7-9 effort from the free throw line. Cassie Murphy added 12 points.
Rachel Conran led Purple with 13 points while Leah Johnson added 12.
Trailing 39-24 at halftime, Black scored the first nine points of the third quarter enroute to a 19-3 run to take their first lead since the opening minute of the game 43-42 following a Morgan Robinson basket with 2:30 left in the period.
The lead changed hands three more times in the final minutes of the quarter with purple drawing ahead 48-45 heading into the final period.
Black took to the free throw line to complete their comeback in the fourth quarter making 14 of 22 foul shots to go along with three baskets to pull away in the final minutes.
Black scored their first nine points of the period from the charity stripe to close within 56-54 before Murphy tied the game at 56-56 with a basket at the 3:12 mark.
It was Black’s first field goal of the quarter.
Another Murphy bucket followed by a basket from Yencha gave black a 60-56 lead with 1:40 left.
Purple used a 6-2 spurt over the next minute to tie the game at 62-62 with Conran sinking the game tying three-pointer with 40 seconds left.
Emily Spratt then sank a pair of free throws to give her team a 64-62 lead.
Purple failed to score on their next possession and Robinson was fouled with 13 seconds left, making one of two from the line to push black’s lead to three. Again, Purple failed to score, turning the ball over with 2.7 seconds left as Black held on for the win.
Red 51 Sun 50
Team Red (D2-Chestnut Hill College) held off a furious comeback from Team Sun to pick up their fifth win of the season, 51-50 in one of the two early games Tuesday night at Kelly Bolish Gym.
Red improves to 5-1 and remains a game behind Black in third place in the league standings. Sun remains winless on the season, falling to 0-6.
No Red player reached doubles figures on the night, but all ten players scored with five of them scoring six or more points.
Avery White and Bridie McCann led the victors with nine points apiece after getting off to a slow start in the early portion of the game. Lindsey Lane and Caraline Herb added seven points apiece and Bri Rider chipped in six.
Mia Stock (Bloomsburg ’27) led Sun with 14 points while Taylor Gurysh (Kutztown ’27) and Abigail Marino (Illinois Institute ’27) added 13 and ten, respectively.
Red took an early 8-2 lead on a three-ball from Rider with another three pointer, this one from McCann, pushed the lead to 11-4 in the first quarter. Sun closed out the quarter with an 8-2 run to trail by one 13-12.
Sun still trailed by one late in the second quarter when Herb and White connected on two baskets apiece for an 8-0 run to give Red a 29-20 lead at halftime.
White scored the first five points of the third quarter, boosting her team’s lead to its biggest margin at 34-20.
Red scored just two baskets the rest of the period while Sun had three field goals to close the gap to 12, 39-27 heading into the final period.
A Marino three-ball capped a 10-2 spurt by Sun to open the fourth quarter, cutting Red’s lead to four, 41-37.
Red pushed the lead back up to double digits with a 7-0 run, capped by a Rider three-ball to lead 48-37.
Both teams exchanged three-point baskets before Sun began its final push, scoring the final ten points of the game. Sun had the ball in the final seconds, but Gurysh’s baseline shot as time was expiring fell short as Red held on for the 51-50 win.
Pink 40 Kelly Green 37
In what was the lowest scoring game of the 2023 summer league season, Team Pink (alumni players) mustered just 40 points for the game, but it was enough to defeat Kelly Green 40-37 to even their record on the season.
Pink is now 3-3 overall and holds down the fifth place slot in the league standings. Kelly Green falls to 2-4 and slides down to sixth place.
Neither team had a player reach double figures in scoring on the night with Jen Kremp, Cassie Sebold and Taylor Hamm scoring nine points apiece for Pink with the rest of their team adding 13 points. Dana Bandurick (Swarthmore’ 24), Sydney Blum (College of New Jersey ’23) and Leah Dubin (Dickinson ’26) had eight points apiece to lead Kelly Green with the rest of their team also scoring just 13 points.
Pink trailed early but finished the first quarter with a 6-2 run to tie the game at 11-11. Kremp’s three-point field goal to open the second quarter gave Pink their first lead since a 1-0 margin in the opening minute.
Kate Connelly’s follow-up pushed the lead to 16-11 but Kelly remained within striking distance as the quarter wore on. Two three-point buckets from Pink pushed their lead to 28-21 at halftime.
Sun opened the third quarter with an 8-4 run to close within three 32-29. A three-pointer from Kremp doubled their lead before Bandurick cut the lead to four, 35-31 as the quarter was winding down.
The two teams combined for just 12 points in the fourth quarter with Pink scoring just on field goal, three-point basket from Cassie Sebold.
Blum hit two three-point baskets in the final period to tie the game at 37-37 with four minutes left.
Sebold then followed with her three-pointer which turned out to be the final points of the game with 3:20 left as neither team would score in the final three minutes as Pink hung on for the win.
In the only lopsided scoring game of the night, Sky Blue (D2-Holy Family University) kept place with league leading Black with an 80-45 win over Team Royal Blue (D3-Cabrini University).
Sky Blue improves to 6-1 and remains ½ game behind first place Black, the only team to defeat them.
Royal Blue falls to 1-6 on the season and sits in eighth place.
Kara Meredith (17 points), Lindsay Tretter (14 points) and Carolyn Prevost (12 points) led Sky Blue. Miranda Liebtag was the only Royal Blue player in double figures with 15 points.
Sky led virtually the entire game except for a brief 2-2 tie early in the opening quarter.
The score remained close for much of the first five minutes before Sky took control of the contest with a 16-3 run to close out the quarter and take a 24-9 lead.
A basket from Dakota Schultice to open the second quarter increased Sky’s lead to 26-9.
Liebtag’s three-ball closed the gap to 13 at 30-17 but Sky followed with a 10-2 spurt to lead 40-19 at the half.
Royal opened the third quarter with an 11-5 run highlighted with a three-point basket from Tamia Wessels and a solid two pointer form Katie Rodriguez to pull within 15, 45-30. The two teams exchanged three point baskets before Sky closed out the quarter on a 9-2 run to lead 57-35.
Sky outscored Royal 23-10 in the fourth quarter as they cruised to the win.
Standings (Thru Wed., July 12)
Team W L Pct. GB PF PA
Black 6 0 1.000 — 340 286
Sky Blue 6 1 .857 0.5 455 369
Red 5 1 .833 1 367 312
Purple 4 2 .667 2 448 349
Pink 3 3 .500 3 299 348
Kelly Green 2 4 .333 4 293 307
Maroon 1 5 .167 5 318 355
Royal Blue 1 6 .143 5.5 357 445
Sun 0 6 .000 6 241 286
Players Scoring 20 or More Points
29-Cassie Murphy, Black, W, vs. Royal Blue, June 15
23-Michelle Kozicki, Purple, W, vs. Maroon, June 15
22-Anna McTamney, Purple, W, vs. Royal Blue, June 29
20-Ava Morrow, Sky Blue, W, vs. Pink, June 29
20-Sam Yencha, Black, W, vs. Maroon, June 27
20-Bridie McCann, Red, W, vs. Royal Blue, June 27
20-Taylor Hamm, Pink, W, vs. Sun, June 27
20-Valerie McGriff, Purple, W, vs. Maroon, June 15
22-Haley Meinel, Black, (W-OT) vs. Sky Blue, June 13
20-Cassie Murphy, Black (W-OT), vs. Sky Blue, June 13
20-Ava Morrow, Sky Blue (L-OT), vs. Black, June 13
Running Results/Advance Schedule
Tuesday, July 11
Red (Chestnut Hill) 51, Sun (Draft Team-3) 50
Pink (Draft Team-2) 40, Kelly Green (Draft Team-1) 37
Black (Jefferson) 65, Purple (West Chester) 62
Sky Blue (Holy Family) 80, Royal Blue (Cabrini) 45
Bye: Maroon (Arcadia)
Tuesday, July 4/Thursday July 6
Dark (Holiday Week)
Thursday, June 29
Purple (West Chester) 84, Royal Blue (Cabrini) 55
Maroon (Arcadia) 58, Sun (Draft Team-3) 55
Black (Jefferson) 55, Kelly Green (Draft Team-1) 43
Sky Blue (Holy Family) 67, Pink (Draft Team-2) 51
Bye: Red (4-1)
Tuesday, June 27
Sky Blue (Holy Family) 70, Purple (West Chester) 63
Black (Jefferson) 83, Maroon (Arcadia) 52
Pink (Draft Team-2) 59, Sun (Draft Team-3) 52
Red (Chestnut Hill) 61, Royal Blue (Cabrini) 47
Bye: Kelly Green (2-2)
Thursday, June 22
Black (Jefferson) 2, Sun (Draft Team-3) 0, forfeit
Red (Chestnut Hill) 67, Pink (Draft Team-2) 51
Royal Blue (Cabrini) 61, Maroon (Arcadia) 48
Sky Blue (Holy Family) 50, Kelly Green (Draft Team-1) 41
Bye: Purple (3-0)
Tuesday, June 20
Purple (West Chester) 62, Red (Chestnut Hill) 52
Pink (Draft Team – 2) 49, Royal Blue (Cabrini) 42
Kelly Green (Draft Team -1) 59, Sun (Draft Team – 3) 40
Sky Blue (Holy Family) 63, Maroon (Arcadia) 54
Bye: Black (Jefferson)
Thursday, June 15
Black (Jefferson) 64, Royal Blue (Cabrini) 61
Red (Chestnut Hill) 76, Kelly Green (Draft Team-1) 54
Sky Blue (Holy Family) 57, Sun (Draft Team-3) 44
Purple (West Chester) 94, Maroon (Arcadia) 58
Bye: Pink
Tuesday, June 13
Black (Jefferson) 71, Sky Blue 68 (Holy Family), ovt.
Kelly Green (Draft-1) 59, Royal Blue (Cabrini) 46
Purple (West Chester) 83, Pink (Draft-2) 49
Red (Chestnut Hill) 60, Maroon (Arcadia) 48
Bye – Sun (Draft-3)
Thursday, July 13
Early Games (6:30 p.m.)
Court 1: Sky Blue (6-1) vs. Red (5-1)
Court 2: Black (6-0), vs. Pink (3-3)
Late Games (7:45 p.m.)
Court 1: Sun (0-6) vs. Purple (4-2)
Court 2: Kelly Green (2-4) vs. Maroon (1-5)
Bye: Royal Blue (1-6)
Tuesday, July 18 (Regular Season Ends)
Early Games (6:30 p.m.)
Court 1: Sun vs. Royal Blue
Court 2: Kelly Green vs Purple
Late Games (7:45 p.m.)
Court 1: Black vs. Red
Court 2: Maroon vs. Pink
Bye: Sky Blue
Playoffs
Thursday, July 20
Play-In Round
7 pm.
Court 1: 8th seed vs. 9th seed (Winner advances)
Tuesday, July 25th
Quarterfinals
Early Games (6:30 p.m.)
Court 1: 1-seed vs 8-9 winner
Court 2: 3-seed vs. 6-seed
Late Games (7:45 p.m.)
Court 1: 2-seed vs. 7-seed
Court 2: 4-seed vs. 5-seed
Thursday, July 27
Semifinals
Early Game (6:30 p.m.)
Court 1: Highest Advancing Seed vs. Lowest Advancing Seed
Late Game (7:45 p.m.)
Court 2: Other Advancing Seeds Meet
Tuesday, August 1
Championship (7 p.m.)
Court 1: Semifinal Winners Meet
Season Seed Tracker
Codes: BK – Black; KG – Kelly Green; MR-Maroon; PK- Pink; PU-Purple; RD-Red; RB-Royal Blue; SB-Sky Blue; SU-Sun; FW – Forfeit Win; FL-Forfeit Loss
Black (D2-Jefferson) 6-0: W-SB (OT); W-RB; Bye; FW- SU; vs. W-MR; vs. W-KG; vs. W-PU; vs. PK; vs. RD
Sky Blue (D2-Holy Family) 6-1: L-BK (OT); W-SU; W-MR; W-KG; vs. W-PU; vs. W-PK; vs. W-RB; vs. RD; Bye
Red (D2-Chestnut Hill) 5-1: W-MR; W-KG; L-PU; W-PK; vs. W-RB; Bye; vs. W-SU; vs. SB; vs. BK
Purple (D2-West Chester) 4-2: W-PK; W-MR; W-RD; Bye; vs. L-SB; vs. W-RB; vs. L-BK; vs. SU; vs. KG
Pink (Draft-2) 3-3: L-PU: Bye, W-RB; L-RD; vs. W-SU; L-SB; vs. W-KG; vs. BK; vs. MR
Kelly Green (Draft-1) 2-4: W-RB; L-RD; W-SU; L-SB; Bye; vs. L-BK; vs. L-PK; vs. MR; vs. PU
Maroon (D3-Arcadia) 1-5: L-RD; L-PU; L-SB; L-RB; vs. L-BK; vs. W-SU; Bye; vs. KG; vs. PK
Royal Blue (D3-Cabrini) 1-6: L-KG; L-BK; L-PK; W-MR; vs. L-RD; vs. L-PU; vs. L-SB; Bye; vs. SU
Sun (Draft-3) 0-6: Bye; L-SB; L-KG; FL-BK; vs. L-PK; vs. L-MR; vs. L-RD; vs. PU; vs. RB
posted by Mel Greenberg | 1:59 AM
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