The Guru Report: A Save The Date Local Guide for Key Area and Regional Women’s Division I Games for 2023-24

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

 

Don’t think you can afford to make it to Cleveland next spring for the Women’s Final Four?

 

Or even a week earlier might even be a stretch getting up to Albany where under the second year of the new format, two sets of four teams will make up half of the Sweet 16 round sending two teams forward in successive days.

 

Don’t fret. The group of what the Guru calls his 13 local division I teams besides what they offer of themselves will be playing schedules consisting of much talent from the opposition.

 

So, consider this first step into looking ahead to the collegiate winter a planning guide of choices, and some nights some will be tough when two or more are playing the same time.

 

Geographically speaking, the 13 include the Big Five; the duo of Drexel and Delaware out of renamed Costal Athletic Association, keeping the CAA but dropping the original Colonial in the conference name; up north the Patriot League duo of Lehigh and Lafayette; the trio out of New Jersey — Rider of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference; Princeton, the powerhouse rival of Penn in the Ivy League; and Rutgers, one of two entries in the Big Ten, the other and last of this notation in Penn State.

 

Down below this written overture are groupings of selected games from the Guru’s annual local/national composite schedule that serves as a guide of where to go and what has to go into the overnight report.

 

The first segment is the complete composite Big Five schedule. Unlike their male counterparts, the women won’t go into the tournament format until next season, but Drexel will still play its ongoing slate against La Salle and Saint Joseph’s.

 

Maddy Siegrist, who turned into a player for the ages last season for Villanova and had the option of playing a fifth year is back, just not in uniform. Following a summer playing for the fourth place Dallas Wings, getting to the playoffs, Siegrist will be working for the program behind the scenes, whose duties we’ll describe in the near future.

 

Her influence, though, is already showing because the Wildcats’ season sales are already over 1,000 purchases.

 

Penn’s former star guard Kayla Padilla, who under Ivy rules couldn’t stay on for year five, is now near her home with two other Ivy stalwarts on what will be Southern Cal’s nationally ranked squad along with the nation’s top recruit in JuJu Watkins.

 

Keishana Washington has graduated Drexel, but the Dragons are bolstered with Brooke Mullin for her fifth year her transferring across town from Villanova.

 

Saint Joseph’s has its core back led by junior Talya Brugler, while La Salle returns the nation’s tunover/assist leader at point in Molly Masciantonio and is excited over incoming freshman Nicole Melious.

 

Temple, following a brutal first season under Diana Richardson brought about by injuries and player dismissals limiting the roster, is in much better shape and has Aleah Nelson still around to lead the backcourt.

 

So that’s just a taste.

 

Other games between locals and listed has Rider at Saint Joseph’s, Princeton at Villanova and Rutgers at Princeton, while Delaware will be at Temple.

 

Team by team, America East contender visits La Salle, so does ACC-member Virginia while inside the Atlantic 10 not counting the Hawks rivalry, big games in the Atlantic 10 will be here hosting Rhode Island and defending champion Saint Louis and visiting Duquesne.

 

As for Saint Joseph’s, the Hawks visit Patriot contender Boston U, and get this, on a night that will be not be conflicted by other games on Dec. 7, Utah, the defending PAC-12 champs, and a Final Four contender, will be visiting Hagan Arena after opening the season among the five top nationally ranked teams.

 

Saint Joseph’s in its Hawk Classic hosts New Hampshire, with Wagner and UAB on the other side of the bracket. Key game in the Atlantic 10 has home-and-home tilts with Rhode Island and Duquesne, and a trip to Saint Louis.

 

Penn visits Big East power Maquette, also hosts Maine, travels west to play UC San Diego and San Diego State, while in the Ivies, home-and-home slates with Princeton, Harvard, and Columbia, which hosts this season’s conference tourney, are the big games but Yale can’t be overlooked.

 

Temple visits nationally ranked Ole Miss, hosts the Big Ten’s Northwestern, whose coach Joe McKeown was a long timer at George Washington and is a Father Judge grad, inside the American Athletic Confeence, overwhelming favorite South Florida is here as is defending conference tourney champion East Carolina, and road trips to new member Rice.

 

Villanova, by virtue of the Big East, has a lot on its plate, headed by the home-and-home with returned to health Uconn.

 

They open the season in the Northwest visiting Portland and Oregon State, the latter which is one of two teams not yet knowing what conference they’ll land.

 

Pat contender visits, whole the ‘Cats visit Ivy power Columbia, and in the conference on Dec. 6 on a day with not other events happening in our world they will play Saint John’s in Madison Square Garden.

 

Had this been done a year ago, it likely would have become Maddy Square Garden with the entire town of Poughkeepsie descending down to Manhattan.

 

Drexel hosts Mid-American contender Buffalo and Atlantic Coast Conference stalwart Florida State and plays a holiday tourney meeting host Florida Gulf Coast and Cleveland State, the two teams Villanova beat on the Main Line in the NCAA to advance to the Sweet 16.

 

Delaware also plays Florida Gulf Coast in another tourney in the Sunshine State on Thanksgiving in a field that includes America East contender Vermont, and North Carolina, a nationally ranked team out of the ACC coached by former Princeton mentor Courtney Banghart.

 

The picks come out Thursday in the CAA but the big rivals for Delaware and Drexel are said to be Stony Brook, Northeastern, and Towson. The CAA tourney this year is in Washington at the home of the WNBA Mystics.

 

The Princeton schedule is like an in-season NCAA tourney. Besides the front-running contenders for the Ivy title, the home slate features Duquesne and Seton Hall but on the road stops include UCLA, playing  Oklahoma in a tourney in Fort Myers, Fla., followed by Big Ten contender Indiana in the same event. There are also visits to America East contender Vermont and Atlantic 10 contender Rhode Island.

 

Rider visits Virginia and hosts Boston U, while big MAAC threats are said to be Niagara, Marist, Fairfield, and Quinnipiac.

 

Rutgers will be playing a preseason game at South Carolina this Sunday in support of the memory by former Tennessee star Nikki McCray Penson, who served on both staffs and recently succumbed to cancer.

 

The Knights see Texas Tech and Boise State in Las Vegas and host Final Four contender Virginia Tech, while Big Ten rival Penn State sees Oklahoma State and Southern Cal in a tourney in the Bahamas.

 

Within the conference, a motherlode of huge games exist off Iowa with national player of the year Caitlin Clark, Indiana, Maryland, Ohio State and Illinois, while Michigan and Purdue can’t be ignored.

 

In the Patriot League, Lehigh out of conference visits Pittsburgh while Lafayette will be going to Notre Dame, making up for a game that got postponed a year ago. Inside the Patriot, the 1-2 favorites are Holy Cross and Boston U.

 

All that said here’s the listings to save the dates.

 

Women’s Big 5 Slate

 

Nov. 14 Tuesday 6 p.m. Saint Joseph’s at Penn ESPN+

Nov. 19 Sunday 2 p.m. Temple at Villanova FloHoops

Nov. 22 Wednesday 6 p.m. Saint Joseph’s at Temple ESPN+

Nov. 29 Wednesday 6 p.m. La Salle at Penn ESPN+

Dec. 5 Tuesday 7 p.m. Penn at Villanova FloHoops

Dec. 9 Saturday 2 p.m. Villanova at Saint Joseph’s ESPN+

Dec. 10 Sunday 2 p.m. Penn at Temple ESPN+

Dec. 17 Sunday 1 p.m. Temple at LaSalle ESPN+

Dec. 21 Thursday 12 p.m. Villanova at LaSalle ESPN+

Jan. 15 Monday 12 p.m. La Salle at Saint Joseph’s CBSSN

 

Non Big 5

 

Nov. 15 Wednesday 6 p.m. La Salle at Drexel FloHoops

Nov. 19 Sunday 4:30 p.m. Saint Joseph’s at Drexel FloHoops

Feb. 18 Sunday 2 p.m. Saint Joseph’s at LaSalle ESPN+ - 2^ND A-10

 

Other Intra-Local

(Broken Down by Month)

 

Nov. 6 Monday 4 p.m. Delaware State at Temple ESPN+ - NCF

Nov. 7 Tuesday 7 p.m. Rider at Saint Joseph’s ESPN+ - NCF

Nov. 10 Friday 5 p.m. Drexel at Delaware State – NCF

Nov. 14 Tuesday 7 p.m. Lehigh at Delaware – NCF

Nov. 21 Tuesday 7 p.m. La Salle at Rider ESPN+ - NCF

Nov. 28 Tuesday 6 p.m.Drexel at Lehigh ESPN+ - NCF

 

Dec. 1 Friday 7 p.m. Lafayette at Rutgers B1G+ - NCF

Dec. 5 Tuesday 7 p.m. La Salle at Rutgers B1G+ - NCF

Dec. 7 Thursday 7 p.m. La Salle at Lehigh ESPN+ - NCF

Dec. 11 Monday 7 p.m. Princeton at Villanova FloHoops – NCF

Dec. 13 Wednesday 7 p.m. Rutgers at Princeton ESPN+ — NCF

Dec. 14 Thursday 7 p.m. Delaware at Temple ESPN+ — NCF

Dec. 29 Friday 2 p.m. Arcadia at Drexel FloHoops — NCF

Dec. 30 Saturday 2 p.m. Rider at Lehigh ESPN+ — NCF

Dec. 31 Sunday 1 p.m. Gwynedd Mercy at Penn ESPN+ — NCF

 

Jan. 14 Sunday 2 p.m. Penn State at Rutgers B1G+ — Big Ten

Feb. 2 Friday 6 p.m. Delaware at Drexel FloHoops — CAA

Feb. 10 Saturday 2 p.m. Princeton at Penn ESPN+ — IVY

Feb.10 Saturday 2 p.m. Lehigh at Lafayette ESPN+ — PAT

Feb. 18 Sunday 2 p.m. Drexel at Delaware FloHoops — CAA

Feb. 24 Saturday 7:30 p.m. Lafayette at Lehigh ESPN+ — PAT

Mar. 9 Saturday 2 p.m. Penn at Princeton ESPN+ —IVY

 

By Team: Highlight Other Games With Notes

 

La Salle

 

Nov. 9 Thu 4:30 p.m. Maine – America East Contender

Dec. 3 Sun 1 p.m. Virginia – Trying to restore glory days

Jan. 24 Wed 11 a.m. Rhode Island – A-10 contender

Feb. 10 Sat 2 p.m. at Duquesne – Key A-10 game

Feb. 28 Wed 6:30 p.m. Saint Louis – A-10 front Runner

 

Penn

 

Dec. 3 Sun 2 p.m. at Marquette – BEC power

Dec. 30 Sat 1 p.m. Maine – America East Contender

Jan. 6 Sat 2 p.m. at Columbia – Key Ivy

Jan. 20 Sat 2 p.m. at Harvard – Key Ivy

Jan. 27 Sat 2 p.m. Columbia – Key Ivy

Feb. 10 Sat 2 p.m. Princeton – Key Ivy

Mar. 2 Sat 4 p.m. Harvard — Key Ivy

Mar. 9 Sat 2 p.m. at Princeton — Key Ivy

 

Saint Joseph’s

 

Dec. 5 Tues. 6 p.m. at Boston U. – Patriot contender

Dec. 7 Thurs 7 p.m. Utah – Pac-12 Pick Final Four Contender

Dec. 20 Wed. 11 a.m. Hawk Classic vs. New Hampshire plus UAB/Wagner

Dec. 21 Thu. 1 p.m. Hawk Classic second day

Jan. 9 Tues 8 p.m. at Saint Louis – A-10 favorite

Jan. 13 Sat TBA Duquesne – A-10 contender

Jan. 21 Sun 12 p.m. at Rhode Island – A-10 contender

Feb. 24 Sat 2 p.m. Rhode Island – A-10 contender

Mar. 2 Sat 2 p.m. at Duquesne – A-10 contender

 

Temple

 

Nov. 15 Wed 7:30 p.m. at Ole Miss — SEC power

Dec. 21 Thur 11 a.m. Northwestern – Father Judge grad Joe McKeown

Feb. 10 Sat 3 p.m. South Florida – AAC Overwhelming pick

Feb. 25 Sun 2 p.m. at Rice – AAC Contender

Mar. 3 Sun 2 p.m. at East Carolina – AAC Contender

 

Villanova

 

 Nov. 12 Sun 4 p.m. at Oregon State – PAC-12 survivor for now

Nov. 21 Tuesday 7 p.m. vs. Holy Cross – PAT Favorite

Dec. 3 Sun 2 p.m. at Columbia Ivy contender

Dec. 16 Sat 6 p.m. at St. John’s in Madison Square Garden – BEC showcase battle

Jan. 3 Wed TBA at Seton Hall – Key Big East

Jan. 17 Wed 7 p.m. Marquette – Key Big East

Jan. 21 Sun 12 p.m. Creighton — Key Big East

Jan. 28 Sun 2 p.m. at DePaul — Key Big East

Jan. 31 Wed 6:30 p.m. Connecticut – Speaks for itself

Feb. 3 Sat 2 p.m. Seton Hall — Key Big East

Feb. 10 Sat 3 p.m. at Marquette – Key Big East

Feb. 24 Sat 12 p.m.at Creighton — Key Big East

Feb. 28 Wed 7 p.m. at Connecticut – Storrs —Key Big East

Mar. 3 Sun 5 p.m. DePaul – Key Big East

Drexel

 

Dec. 9 Sat 2 p.m. Buffalo – Mid-American Contender

Dec. 17 Sun 2 p.m. Florida State — ACC power

Dec. 20 Wed 7 p.m. vs. Fla. Gulf Coast at Ft. Myers, Fla. – ASUN pick – played Nova here in NCAA

Dec. 21 Thur 3:30 p.m. vs. Cleveland State at Ft. Myers, Fla. – Horizon pick – Same as above

Jan. 7 Sun 2 p.m. Northeastern – Key CAA game

Jan. 28 Sun TBA at Stony Brook – Key CAA game

Feb. 16 Fri 7 p.m. at Towson – Key CAA game

Mar. 1 Fri 6 p.m. Stony Brook – Key CAA game

 

Delaware

 

Nov. 24 Fri 5 p.m. Fla. Gulf Coast at Gulf Showcase Estero, Fla. – ASUN pick

Nov. 25 Sat Iowa or Purdue-Ft. Wayne – in either semi or consolation

Nov. 26 Sun Either Vermont, Kansas State, North Carolina, W. Ky

Dec. 3 Sun 2 p.m. Duquesne A-10 contender

Dec. 7 Thur 7 p.m. Old Dominion — Sun Belt contender

Dec. 31 Sun 2 p.m. Harvard – Ivy Contender

Jan. 5 Fri 7 p.m at Northeastern - Key CAA

Jan. 14 Sun 2 Stony Brook - Key CAA

Jan. 26 Fri 7 p.m. Northeastern - Key CAA

Jan. 28 Sun 2 p.m. Towson - Key CAA

Feb. 25 Sun 2 p.m. at Towson - Key CAA

 

Princeton

 

Nov. 6 Monday 7 p.m. Duquesne – A-10 contender

Nov. 12 Sun 1 p.m. at Middle Tennessee – C-USA contender

Nov. 17 Fri 2:30 p.m. at UCLA – Picked second in Pac-12;  F4 contender

Nov. 23 Thu 3 p.m. Oklahoma at Ft. Myers Tip-Off – Big 12 contender

Nov. 25 Sat 11 a.m. Indiana at Ft. Myers Tip-Off – Big Ten contender

Nov. 29 Wed 7 p.m. Seton Hall – Key Big East opponent

Dec. 3 Sun 1 p.m. at Rhode Island – A-10 contender

Dec. 29 Fri 1 p.m. at Vermont – Amer East contender

Jan. 13 Sat 2 p.m. at Harvard — Key Ivy game

Jan. 20 Sat 2 p.m. Columbia — Key Ivy game

Feb. 24 Sat 2 p.m. at Columbia – Key Ivy Game

 

Rider

 

Nov. 18 Sat 2 p.m. Boston U. – Patriot contender

Dec. 6 Wed 7 p.m. at Virginia — ACC member

Dec. 18 Mon 7 p.m. Quinnipiac — MAAC 

Jan. 4 Thurs 7 p.m. Iona — MAAC

Jan. 25 Thurs 7 p.m. Niagara — MAAC

Feb. 1 Thurs 7 p.m. Fairfield  — MAAC

Feb. 3 Sat 1 p.m. at Quinnipiac — MAAC

Feb. 15 Thurs 7 p.m. at Iona — MAAC

Feb. 29 Thurs 7 p.m. at Niagara — MAAC

Mar. 9 Sat 2 p.m. at Fairfield — MAAC

 

Rutgers

 

Oct. 22 Sun 1 p.m. at South Carolina — Exhibition

Nov. 15 Wed 7 p.m. at Seton Hall – Jersey rivalry

Nov. 20 Mon 7 p.m. Fairfield — MAAC contender

Nov. 24-25 Fri-Sat 9:30 p.m. both Texas Tech Boise State at Las Vegas

Dec. 9 Sat 4 p.m. Indiana B-10 contender F4 contender

Dec. 17 Sun. 5:30 p.m. Virginia Tech ACC F4 contender

Jan. 5 Fri 6 p.m. Iowa B-10 F4 contender

Jan. 11 Thurs 6 p.m. at Ohio State B-10 F4 contender

Feb. 6 Tues 8:30 p.m. Maryland B-10 F4 contender

Feb 21 Wed 7 p.m. at Maryland B-10 F4 contender

 

Penn State

 

Nov. 13 Mon 6 p.m. Kansas B-12 power

Nov. 16 Thurs 7 p.m. at St. John’s Big East elite

Nov. 20 Mon 6 p.m. vs. Oklahoma State – Nassau, Bahamas – B-12 power

Nov. 22 Wed. 9 p.m. vs. Southern Cal — Nassau, Bahamas — PAC-12 power

Dec. 4 Mon 6 p.m. at West Virginia B-12 power

Dec. 10 Sun 1 p.m. at Ohio State B-10 F4 contender

Jan. 10 Wed 7 p.m at Indiana B-10 F4 contender

Jan. 28 Sun 1 p.m. Maryland B-10 F4 contender

Feb. 8 Thurs 9 p.m. at Iowa 

Feb. 15 Thurs. 6 p.m. Illinois B-10 contender

Feb. 18 Sun 1 p.m. at Maryland B-10 F4 contender

Feb. 22 Thurs 6 p.m. Ohio State B-10 F4 contender

 

Lehigh

 

Dec. 10 Wed 2 p.m. Pittsburgh – ACC member

Jan. 13 Sat 2 p.m. at Holy Cross PAT favorite

Jan. 27 Sat 2 p.m. Holy Cross Pat favorite

Feb. 3 Saturday TBA Boston U PAT contender

Feb. 28 Wed 6 p.m. at Boston U PAT contender

 

Lafayette

 

Dec. 6 Wed 7 p.m. at Notre Dame ACC Contender

Jan 6 Sat 2 p.m. Boston U. PAT Contender

Jan. 17 Wed 6 p.m. Holy Cross PAT Favorite

Jan. 27 Sat 2 p.m. at Boston U PAT Contender

Mar. 6 Wed TBA at Holy Cross PAT Favorite