The Guru Report: Princeton Drops Near Upset at No. 3 UCLA; Lehigh Stays Unbeaten; No. 7 LSU Gets Homecoming Win For Mulkey But Reese Left Behind

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

 

It was stated going into first month of the season that multi-defending Ivy champion Princeton had put together a non-conference schedule befitting an application to join a Power 5 (ok the way the future looks, Power 4) organization.

 

On Friday afternoon out in Southern California, the Tigers looked like they have the chops, even though they were edged by No. 3 UCLA 77-74 in the Bruins’ Pauley Pavilion.

 

Had the outcome gone the other way then South Carolina, which quickly returned to the top of the Associated Press rankings after a 38-straight week streak at No. 1 ended with a drop to sixth in the preseason vote, would have been the only school in that poll in the Top 10 not to lose in early action.

 

Princeton (2-1) had arrived in Los Angeles beating Atlantic 10 contender Duquesne at home in Jadwin Gym in central New Jersey and then beating Conference-USA favorite Middle Tennessee 65-60 in Murfreesboro on Sunday.

 

The Tigers get a breather of sorts this Sunday while on the Pacific Coast visiting the University of San Diego at 5 p.m. on ESPN+.

 

Then next week in the Fort Myers Tip-Off Island Division in Florida on Thursday at 3 p.m. Princeton plays No. 25 Oklahoma followed two days later meeting No. 18 Indiana, which was ninth a week ago.

 

The Tigers finish the month on Nov. 29^th hosting Seton Hall then next month visit Atlantic 10 choice Rhode Island, Villanova, and Vermont while hosting Quinnipiac and Rutgers.

 

On Friday, the Bruins (2-1), who meet No. 8 UConn next week in the Cayman Islands Classic, besides MAAC favorite Niagara, were saved by Stanford transfer Lauren Betts, who was a perfect 9-for-9 from the field along with connecting on all four free throw attempts for a career-high 22 points, besides grabbing 10 rebounds, while Charisma Osborne was like a baseball relief pitcher in the final quarter when she scored 13 on the way to collecting 21 points.

 

“It shows you about the growth of our game,” said UCLA coach Cori Close about the early upheaval. “There are so many more good players and good teams. How awesome is that? You’ve been seeing that on the men’s side for a long time.”

 

There was a time Princeton, and the rest of the Ivies, were akin to UCLA’s previous three opponents the Bruins had handled with an average victory margin of 43 points.

 

But in recent times the league frontrunners including Columbia, Harvard and Penn, have played those higher-tiered teams ready to battle.

 

“This game forces us to new level of toughness,” Close said. “I don’t think we’ve been tough with our attention to detail.”

 

Kiki Rice scored 13 and Gabriela Jaquez had 11 points.

 

Princeton’s Kaitlyn Chen, the reigning Ivy player of the year, scored 24 points while Skye Belker, a freshman, tallied 20 on what was essentially a homecoming trip for the duo. Madison St. Rose added 15 points and Mari Bickley scored 10.

 

“We Did a great job, but UCLA had a couple more things in their bag and made some big shots,” Tigers coach Carla Berube said. “I knew Charisma would make some big plays.”

 

Last season Berube took her team to her alma mater at UConn and nearly upset the Huskies.

 

“There's no hanging our heads period. I thought we really competed for 40 minutes and had an opportunity to win a game against a very very good team,” Berube observed.

 

“We have a very good team so there was never a doubt that we'd be in this game and fighting to the end.”

 

Lehigh Still Perfect: Only one other game was on the local portion of Friday’s card and with Lehigh’s 90-75 win at home over Ivy representative Yale off a 30-15 ruling of the fourth quarter in Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa., the Mountain Hawks (4-0) have yet to lose while the Bulldogs (0-4) are still winless.

 

The teams entered the final period tied 60-60 when Lehigh erupted.

 

“It was going to be a tough game,” said Lehigh second-year coach Addie Micir, a former Ivy star and assistant at Princeton. “I’ve had some history with Yale from the time I was 18 on. I always say they play to their mascot — they’re Bulldogs.

 

“They defend really really hard, and they have really, really talented offensive players, so we knew we were going to be in for a fight. I love how our players brought it.”

 

Colleen McQuillen had a team and career-high 21 points for the Mountain Hawks, who have had a different high scorer in each game. 

 

Lily Fondre and Ella Stemmer each scored 19 points for the winners and Meghan O’Brien scored nine points.

 

“We’re willing to share it and shoot it,” Micir said. “We pick spots, and we find matchups that we really like. 

 

“it's not a shock that Lily has 19 points- we wanted to go inside and then Ella and Colleen were ready to knock it down once we collapsed. I'm so pumped for Colleen- the lid got off the hoop with her- that kid is an elite 3-point shooter, and to have those two step up was great.”

 

Yale’s Jenna Clark had a game high of 25 points.

 

“Yale battled, but we battled back,” McQuillen said. “We had to make some tough plays down the stretch, but it came from different people at different times, and that's what makes this team really special.”

 

Lehigh is off until Wednesday when at 2:30 p.m. the squad opens with Marist in the Savannah Invitational in Georgia.

 

The National Scene: Light on the schedule but nonetheless interesting starting with No. 7 LSU, the defending NCAA champs, who’s just under 50-mile trip from Baton Rouge to coach Kim Mulkey’s hometown of Hammond to grab a 73-50 win over SE Louisiana in front of a sellout crowd of 7,500 became noteworthy over the absence of Angel Reese.

 

While the Tigers (4-1) haven’t lost since their opening day upset by then-No.20 Colorado in Las Vegas. Reese, a transfer from Maryland who collected an NCAA-record 34 double-doubles was benched by Mulkey in the second half of the previous game. 

 

With Reese away from the trip, LSU still had plenty of firepower with Flau’jae Johnson scoring 17 points and grabbing 11 rebounds while DePaul transfer Annesah Morrow had 10 points and 11 rebounds.

 

“Angel was not in uniform tonight,” the AP reported Mulkey’s postgame comment vaguely addressing the cause. “Angel is a part of our basketball team, and we hope to see her sooner than later.”

 

That was all Mulkey said, and LSU did not make any players available for interviews.

 

SE Louisiana got 12 points each from Kennedy Paul and Hailey Giaratano.

 

The 61-year-old Mulkey is now 3-0 in her Hammond homecomings winning midseason as a star guard for Louisiana Tech in January 1984, later as a Baylor coach in her third season with the Bears in November 2002 and Friday night.

 

Elsewhere, Vermont, an America East contender, won 58-53 at MAAC-contender Quinnipiac, while in a battle of New England local schools Atlantic 10 favorite Rhode Island took a 67-56 triumph at Brown in Providence. 

 

The holiday run of tournaments has started phasing in and in the second day of predetermined games at McNeese State, Milwaukee beat the hosts 88-67 while UL Monroe topped Mississippi Valley State 73-62.

 

In the middle of the Pacific Ocean at the Bank of Hawaii Classic in Honolulu, Idaho beat Fullerton 56-48 while host Hawaii beat San Francisco 65-51.

 

Looking Ahead: On Saturday the second annual Citi Shamrock Classic will be held, this year No. 16 Notre Dame meets Illinois in the nation’s capital at the home of the WNBA Washington Mystics at 1 p.m. on NBC/Peacock.

 

The Battle 4 Atlantis in true tourney format begins in Nassau, Bahamas, on FloHoops, No. 23 Ole Miss plays Howard at 12 p.m. followed by Memphis and Arizona at 2:30 p.m., the winners move on to the semifinals Sunday, the losers, the consolation semifinals.

 

The other part of the bracket has Michigan playing Middle Tennessee at 5 p.m. before DePaul and South Dakota wrapping the day at 7:30 p.m. with the same structure for advancement.

 

The Great Alaska Shootout, also a true tourney, has Eastern Kentucky playing UAB at 9:15 p.m. before No. 4 Utah in a homecoming for Alissa Pili meets Alaska-Anchorage at 11:30 p.m.

 

Another Hawaiian event of predetermined pairings, this one the North Shore Showcase in Laie, has Saint Louis and Chaminade meeting at 9 p.m., followed by an ESPN+ broadcast of BYU playing Wake Forest at 10:30 p.m.

 

A single game of interest, No. 5 Colorado, which after the upset of No. 1 LSU on opening day last Monday made the biggest one week jump in the AP Poll 48-year history from 20, will visit SMU in Dallas, Texas at 9 p.m. on ESPN+.