The Guru Report: Three-Point Shot at the Finish Enables Rider to Join Rutgers and Lafayette in a Saturday Local Sweep

By Mel Greenberg @Womhoopsguru

 

Thanks to Sofie Bruintje’ 3-point shot with 3.3 seconds left in regulation Rider recovered from a blown 13-point lead entering the fourth quarter and held on Saturday afternoon to edge Boston University 58-55 at home in the Broncs’ Alumni Gym in Lawrenceville, N.J. to complete a 3-0 sweep by the locals who played.

 

Just a half-hour away to the north the freshmen tandem of Lisa Thompson and Jillian Huerter combined for 31 points to power Rutgers at home in Jersey Mike’s Arena to an 80-51 win over Saint Francis (Pa.) in Piscataway, N.J., while up in Brooklyn, N.Y., Lafayette got its first win off a narrow 54-51 triumph over Long Island University (0-4) in the Steinberg Wellness Center.

 

Nationally, No. 16 Notre Dame topped Illinois 79-68 in the second annual Shamrock Classic, aired on NBC this time in Washington, D.C., as freshman Hannah Hidalgo and Maddy Westbeld each scored 24 points over the Illini (2-2).

 

In the Pacific Northwest after Oregon had been part of a 33-0 start by PAC-12 Conference schools until No. 21 Baylor at home earlier in the week upset No. 4 Utah, the Ducks suffered their first loss being an 89-50 wipeout at home at the hands of Santa Clara.

 

A 17-8 third quarter put Rider (2-2) in solid shape to get to .500 on the season until the Terriers (3-1) exploded with an 11-0 run that grew to 18-2 for a 51-48 lead with 2:44 left in regulation.

 

The teams exchanged leads with Boston U. regaining the advantage 55-52 with 43 seconds left.

 

Rider then cut it by one when Taylor Langan went 1-for-2 from the line with 39 ticks left on the clock.

 

The Terriers missed a jumper and Rider’s Jessika Schiffer got the rebound.

 

The Broncs drove and fed Sanaa Redmond in the corner. Rather than take the 3-point attempt she passed off to Bruintjes who scored from deep to put the home team back in front.

 

But plenty happened in the closing moments.

 

Caitlin Weimar, the top Boston U. scorer, went to the line with a chance to negate Bruintjes’ heroics.

 

But she missed both foul shots and Makayla Firebaugh grabbed the rebound for the Broncs, got fouled and scored both free throws.

 

Going for the tie as time expired Boston U. hit the rim but the attempt did not drop.

 

“That wasn’t by any means a lucky shot,” Rider coach Lynn Milligan said. “Our offensive philosophy is to give up the shot that you Can make for the shot we can't miss, and Naa had a look. And she knew soof’s was better and she sees Soof shoot that shot every day.”

 

The meeting with the Patriot League contenders was the first for the Broncs.

 

Langan had a game-high 18 points, while Firebaugh scored 12.

 

The Broncs next host La Salle Tuesday at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.

 

Rutgers newcomers gaining career-highs were the story of the day for the Scarlet Knights (3-2) with Thompson collecting 16 points with six rebounds while Huerter had 15 points fueled by 5-of-7 from deep.

 

“I am really happy that they had breakout games today,” said second year coach Coquese Washington. “They are getting better at practice and more comfortable. Today was the day that I was hopeful that it would come together for them, and it did.”

 

Chyna Cornwell and Destiny Adams each added 11 points against their winless opponent (0-4) from the Northeast Conference.

 

Rutgers connected on a season high 12 shots from beyond the arc and has beaten the Red Flash in all three games in the series between the two schools.

 

Next up Fairfield will visit Monday night at 7 p.m. on the subscription B1G+.

 

Meanwhile, Lafayette (1-3) picked up its first win in four tries while LIU is still looking for its first after four games.

 

Makayla Andrews had 13 points and six rebounds being the only Leopard to score in double figures.

 

The home team’s Ashley Austin scored 18 points while Maria Elohim and Amaya Dowdy each scored 10 points.

 

Lafayette next hosts NJIT Tuesday at 6 p.m. on ESPN+

 

The National Scene: Beyond what was mentioned in the opening, in a local battle in the Steel City host Duquesne edged Pittsburgh 56-55, the winning points on a pair of free throws from Kiandra Brown with two seconds left in regulation which was enough to overcome Bella Perkins’ 3-pointer just before time expired.

 

Megan McConnell scored 20 for Duquesne and Naelle Bernard scored 11 points.

 

Pitts’ Perkins, a reserve, and Liatu King each scored 11 points with King grabbing 11 rebounds and  Rapuluchi Ayodele grabbing 13 boards.

 

In the Battle for Atlantis’ first day action South Dakota beat DePaul 83-71 while Michigan beat Middle Tennessee 63-49 setting the winners to meet in one semifinal Sunday on FloHoops, which is broadcasting the whole event, while the losers will play in a consolation semifinal.

 

In the other part of the bracket No. 23 Ole Miss beat Howard 67-54 to advance while Arizona advanced by beating Memphis 90-67.

 

Results from the North Shore Showcase using predetermined pairings each round in Laie, Hawaii, saw Saint Louis rout Chaminade 109-63 while BYU beat Wake Forest 67-44.

 

The McNeese tourney in Lake Charles, La., also using predetermined matchups in its third and final day had Milwaukee beat Mississippi Valley 67-61 and UL Monroe beat McNeese 87-53.

 

In the only other tourney Saturday the Great Alaska Shootout, a true tourney format, saw Eastern Kentucky beat UAB 68-64 while No. 4 Utah bounced back from its Baylor upset loss to roll over hosts Alaska-Anchorage 101-57 as Gianna Kneepkens scored 22 points with six steals and Reese Ross had 20 points and 10 rebounds over the Division II opponents.

 

Alissi Pili, who transferred from Southern Cal to the Utes before last season, marked her homecoming with 18 points and three blocked shots.

 

Another single game saw No. 5 Colorado, which leaped 15 spots after its opening day upset of No. 1 LSU, win at SMU 84-69 in Dallas to stay unbeaten at 4-0 as Aaronette Vonleh scored 23 points off 10 of 15 shooting and Quay Miller had 18 points and 10 rebounds.

 

Looking Ahead: The local action Sunday has two games of major interest with the second of 10 Big 5 meetings sending Temple to Villanova at Finneran Pavilion at 2 p.m. on FloHoops for the 50^th get-together in their long-running series that pre-dates their City Series games.

 

Saint Joseph’s visits Drexel at 4:30 p.m. at the Daskalakis Center on FloHoops the last ongoing meeting before the Drexel women begin playing in Big Five events next season. 

 

Two other local contests have Princeton at the University of San Diego at 5 p.m. while Penn is at Siena in suburban Albany, N.Y. at 2 p.m.,both games on ESPN+

 

Nationally, No. 8 UConn is at Minnesota at 4 p.m. the game on FS1 serving as a homecoming for Paige Bueckers in Minneapolis. 

 

No. 6 Stanford hosts Duke on ABC at 3 p.m., while Rhode Island is at No. 14 NC State at 2 p.m.

 

Baylor on ESPN+ at 2 p.m. hosts Harvard in Waco, Texas.

 

And that’s the report.