The Guru Report: Gayle Leads Penn to Comeback Win; Olsen Get’s 1000th in ‘Nova Trouncing; Saint Joseph’s Keeps Rolling; Temple Takes AAC Opener; Rider’s Milligan Gets 200th Win

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

 

PHILADELPHIA – Appropriately, in the Cathedral of Basketball known as The Palestra on Saturday afternoon, as the budding career of star freshman Mataya Gayle burst into full bloom driving Penn to a comeback 72-69 victory over America East contender Maine, her 28-point performance in an instant transformed Quaker nation from the longing for its recently graduate point guard sensation to the glowing promise of what Kayla Padilla’s successor is bringing to the program’s future.

 

The omens were quite coincidental with Gayle’s photo adorning the game-day program cover and all this happening at a time when the final moments of the past 12 months give way to arrival of the new year.

 

As Penn (7-5) fought back from an early nine-point deficit and the name of the native of Woodstock, Ga., became increasingly repetitive over the public address system, especially during Gayle’s 22-point explosion in the second half, her play recalled the play of Padilla a year ago leading the Quakers to a Big 5 comeback here over Temple.

 

“I wouldn’t say ‘carry,’ but I was feeling good today and sometimes when you’re feeling good, it rubs off on your teammates, and brings everyone else together, and I really felt everyone had great energy coming out,” Gayle said.

 

“I felt Jordan (Obi) had the best energy I’ve seen from her, and that for me was really inspiring and made me want to like play better and I think my team energy really elevated me a lot to play my best ever.”

 

Overall, on a busy day on the nation’s schedule, locally, Temple and Saint Joseph’s got off to winning starts in their respective conference competitions, while Villanova delivered vintage work returning to the Big East for the rest of the way and Rider pulled a nice overtime win at Lehigh before returning to MAAC pursuits the rest of the way.

 

On the flip side, things didn’t go well for Penn State, Rutgers, and La Salle, while nationally, in two battles of the dwindling list of unbeaten Top 10 teams facing each other, a program record sellout crowd of 13,659 in UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion, saw the No. 2 Bruins top crosstown rival No. 6 Southern Cal 71-64 in a mutual opener in the final season of the PAC-12 and down in the Lonestar State opening up the Big 12 season, No. 10 Baylor won 85-79 at No. 5 Texas in Austin.

 

The losing Longhorns (13-1) played their first game since learning a day earlier that Rori Harmon, Big 12 preseason player of the year, is lost for the season with an anterior cruciate ligament injury in her right knee.

 

In the Big Ten, Michigan stunned visiting No. 17 Ohio State 69-60 at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, as Laila Phelia had a career-high 26 points for the Wolverines (11-3, 2-0 Big Ten). The Buckeyes (10-3, 1-1) got 16 points from Celeste Taylor and Taylor Thierry had 15 points and nine rebounds, but Jacy Sheldon was held to seven points.

 

Ohio State’s two previous losses were to Southern Cal on opening day and UCLA, who both join the Big Ten next season.

 

Back here at Penn, Obi had 15 points and Stina Almqvist had 14 points, while freshman Abby Sharpe from Plymouth Whitemarsh had her best game, scoring six points on a pair from deep in under 11 minutes to help spur Penn’s rally.

 

Floor Toonders had her best game since returning from an injury with six points and eight rebounds, while Gayle grabbed seven rebounds.

 

Maine (7-7), which shot the lights out at 50 percent in overall field goal and three-point attempts in the first period, got 18 points and 10 rebounds each from Caroline Bornemann and Adrianna Smith, with Bornemann also 4-of-7 beyond the arc, while Anne Simon, a past USBWA national player of the week, scored 17 points, and Sarah Talon had 14.

 

In choosing Penn, Gayle said, “‘Coach (Mike McLaughlin) always says he’s not trying to sell you on the school, he’s just trying to like educate you, and give you an opportunity and that’s what he spoke to me and when I came up here, I liked the vibe, I liked the people.”

 

Of the team’s development, Gayle said, “Everything’s a learning adjustment, we’re still a new team trying to figure each other out, but I think as time goes on we really like each other and off the court and these are really my good friends and it makes it a lot easier to play together, but I think we're still learning our chemistry part, but I think it's going to be a good end of the season.”

 

Penn on an on-purpose back-to-back, of which three will occur on the Ivy schedule, is back here Sunday at 1 p.m., hosting area Division III Gwynedd Mercy (ESPN+) on New Year’s Eve.

 

The Quakers open Ivy competition this Saturday at contending Columbia off Broadway on the Upper West Side in New York City.

 

The Lions are on a Western Swing, playing at Pacific Sunday at 5 p.m. after rallying Thursday over San Francisco with Abby Hsu scoring 31 points.

 

At Penn, McLaughlin in his 15 seasons since moving up from Holy Family in Northeast Philly, which he made a Division II powerhouse, he has recruited a collection of players getting freshman honors from both the Ivy League and Big 5.

 

Gayle currently is dominating statistically among newcomers at the six city schools, averaging 14.5 points per game.

 

“I love what she did, obviously scoring the ball, but she’s growing, in situations in games she’s learning from, she’s starting to put it together,” McLaughin said. “It’s a big responsibility at that position as a freshman to score and pass and rebound and defend at this level and I thought what she did today was special.

 

Gayle shot 10-20 from the field, 2-6 from deep, 6-8 from the line, with the seven rebounds, dealing three assists and grabbing three steals.

 

“It was one of the better performances as a freshman, maybe outside of Alicia Barron in one or two situations, just dominated the game,” McLaughlin said.

 

After the Quakers got back into contention, the game featured 20 lead changes and eight ties.

 

In the fourth quarter, Gayle gave the Quakers a cushion, 61-54, with a layup off a fast break, just under six minutes left in regulation, but the Black Bears erased that over the next three and went up two from Smith in the point.

 

Obi then answered from deep, Penn going ahead 64-63 and Saniah Caldwell extended it with a pair of foul shots.

 

Almqvist drew Maine into an offensive foul and then Tooners twice kept the ball alive with two tough rebounds, but Penn still couldn’t convert the effort to score.

 

“Those were three good plays at crunch time,” McLaughlin noted.

 

Smith on the foul line made it a one-point game with 44 seconds left, then Obi scored inside the paint 22 seconds later. 

 

Maine’s Simon cut the lead to 68-67 with 17 seconds remaining, Gayle hit two from the line with 15 seconds on the clock for a 70-67 advantage.

 

Talon then lost the ball on a Gayle steal, resulting in a 71-67 lead with her going the line with four seconds to play.

 

Smith with two free throws cut it to 71-69 with three seconds left.

 

Gayle at the line made the second shot, having missed the first, but time expired before Maine could attempt to tie.

 

“She’s continuing to mature as a basketball player,” McLaughlin said of Gayle. “She’s got the skills, she’s got the will, she’s got the athleticism, she's got great foot speed, she wants to win, and now it's putting all the lessons into play, and the more plays she sees, the better she’s going to be.”

 

Sharpe also drew McLaughlin’s praise.

 

“Abby’s getting there. I thought the first nine minutes of the first half, she played very well. I think she's learning how to play off the ball a lot better drama, she got two open threes, She slid down the lane, usually she's just waiting for the ball,.

 

“She can really shoot it, she wants to be good, she's getting better and better, she's going to play a big role for us the rest of the way.

 

‘’Stina’s starting to develop defensively, she's so much better than she was,” the Penn coach said.

 

“That’s a good win, Maine’s a team that may end up in the tournament.”

 

As for coming right back on Sunday, “We needed to play against a good team, which we did,” he said while also addressing the back-to-back. “That's one of the things we talked about, we did it in California, it was a successful day.”

 

Olsen Scores 31, Gets Her 1,000^th Point in Villanova Win

 

 Coming out of a nine-day layoff since winning at La Salle, the name of the game was defense for Villanova as the Wildcats got their first Big East win in an 86- 45 triumph over Xavier (1-10, 0-2 Big East) at home in Finneran Pavilion.

 

Lucy Olsen led the way for the winners (8-5, 1-1), scoring 31 points, including the 1,000^th of the junior’s career, which is now 1,001 overall in college.

 

The intensity on defense led to a lopsided 49-12 lead at the half.

 

“We talked about the importance of getting these guys focused on what needs to happen, and it did show, and our full court press works for us,” said Villanova coach Denise Dillon. “Lucy (Olsen) and Z (Zanai Jones) are doing a nice job of being disruptive with all our defenses.

 

 “We need to continue to find that consistency in all of our players.”

 

Noted Olsen, “Our defense has been wavering, so we wanted to come out and establish defense early,” she said. “I think we did a great job of getting deflections and everyone was involved. It helps the offense when the defense is good.”

 

 Christina Dalce had 11 points and six rebounds, while freshman Maddie Webber scored 11 for Villanova.

 

Xavier’s Daniela Lopez was the only Musketeer scoring in double figures, collecting 12 points.

 

Villanova mined 40 points off 32 turnovers, 18 were Wildcats steals, five from Olsen, while the home team, second in the nation in ball control, committed just 9 miscues.

 

 Of her milestone moment, Olsen said, “I put a lot of hard work over my whole life. I'm glad it's paying off right now. And I wouldn't have gotten it without my teammates. They were looking for me. Everyone was hitting shots period. It was a fun game.

 

She said of the squad making a fuss when she came off the court, “These are my best friends. It's awesome to celebrate it with everyone.”

 

Villanova is 20-1 in the series since Xavier joined the conference, leaving the Atlantic 10.

 

 On Wednesday, the Wildcats travel to Seton Hall at Walsh Gym in South Orange, N.J. (7 p.m., FloHoops).

 

 On Saturday, the Pirates (9-4, 1-1) were upset at home 51-46 by Providence (7-7, 1-0).

 Elsewhere in the Big East, No. 21 Creighton (10-2, 1-1) defeated visiting St. John's 67-56 in Omaha,Nebraska.

 

 Saint John’s (7-7, 1-1) upset Villanova earlier this month in Madison Square Garden, opening Big East play.

 

“It was a tough one in Madison Square Garden, and you can't get it back,” Dillon said. “That’s what this group has to realize. There aren't any do-overs. They're learning that you've got to be ready against every team in the Big East.”

 

On Sunday, No. 18 Marquette (12-0, 1-0) visits No. 15 Connecticut (9-3, 1-0) in Hartford at 1 p.m. on SNY.

 

Saint Joseph’s Routs Fordham While La Salle Falls at George Mason

 

Maintaining the second best start in program history the Hawks opened play in the Atlantic 10 by traveling to the Bronx in New York City and whipping Fordham 76-49 in Rose Hill Gym to improve to 12-1.

 

 Talya Brugler had a game high 20 points with eight rebounds against the Rams (5-8, 0-2). Laura Ziegler had 15 points, seven assists, and seven rebounds, while Mackenzie Smith had 14 points, seven in one possession, and Chloe Welch finished with nine points and six rebounds.

 

The last time there was that much disparity in an outcome in the series, Saint Joseph’s, which snapped a six-game losing streak to Fordham, won 72-43 in January 2007.

 

The Hawks are back home in Hagan Arena Wednesday, hosting George Washington (7-6), which fell 70-66 at home in the Smith Center to Richmond (11-3), Grace Townsend scoring 26 points.

 

Elsewhere in the Atlantic 10, La Salle’s struggles continued, dropping its seventh straight game in losing 74-37 at George Mason (10-2) in Fairfax, Va.

 

No one scored in double figures for the Explorers (3-9), but Jolene Armendariz grabbed nine rebounds.

 

None of the starters were in double figures for the Patriots, but off the bench Zahirah Walton had 12 points, while Kennedy Harris and Page Greenburg each scored 11.

 

The disparity in turnovers were gruesome, La Salle on the wrong end of a 24-13 differential.

 

The Explorers will be home in Tom Gola Arena Tuesday, hosting Davidson at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN+ 

 

Temple Tops Newcomer UTSA in AAC Opener

 

The Owls made it 3-of-4 last games in the win column, beating Texas-San Antonio 71-58, pulling away in the closing minutes in their American Athletic Conference opener at home in the Liacouras Center.

 

All the new arrivals dropped games except UAB, which fell to Saint Joseph’s in the title game of the Hawk Classic, beating Florida Atlantic 65-53 while Charlotte beat visiting North Texas 74-64.

 

The four teams are all new arrivals.

 

Preseason favorite South Florida took a 70-61 win over SMU, which leaves the AAC next summer.

 

In the win by Temple (7-6) four starters scored in double figures but it was reserve Tarriyona Gary with a team high 14 points.

 

Aleah Nelson scored 13 and dished four assists, Tiarra East scored 11, while 10 each came from Ines Piper and Rayne Tucker, who completed a double double with 11 rebounds.

 

Kyra White had a game-high 16 points for UTSA (6-6).

 

Temple stays home Tuesday, hosting North Texas (10-3) at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.

 

In a non-conference game, defending AAC tourney champ East Carolina got routed at home in Greenville, N.C., by No. 1 South Carolina 73-36. 

 

The winning Gamecocks (12-0) stayed perfect while the Pirates fell to 7-4.

 

Rider Bests Host Lehigh in Overtime as Milligan Gets 200^th Win

 

The Broncos have something to build on when they return to MAAC play Thursday hosting Iona in Alumni Gym in Lawrenceville, N.J. after getting a 67-57 in overtime against the Mountain Hawks of the Patriot League in Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa.

 

Veteran coach Lynn Milligan got her 200^th win.

 

Coming into the contest the host Mountain Hawks (8-3) had been humming along while Rider (3-8) had been struggling.

 

Once the extra period began Rider took care of business with an 11-0 run.

 

“Our preparation and the way we came off of break said a lot about who this team is and who we want to be,” Milligan said afterwards.

 

“To hold a team like Lehigh under 60, when they're averaging close to 80 a game, it shows what we're capable of when we're prepared and put our mind to it.”

 

 “I've been surrounded by some really phenomenal people from every coach I've had on my staff to the wonderful young ladies that I get to coach every day,” she said after achieving her milestone. “I told them in the locker room, ‘There is nobody that I’d rather share this with than this group.”

 

Taylor Langhan had 31 points and 16 rebounds for the Broncs, the only Rider player in double figures, while Lehigh’s Lily Fandre scored 15, and Maddie Albrecht scored 11.

 

“Overtime, we put the pedal to the metal,” said Milligan. “Taylor, she was super woman today, and her teammates stepped up in overtime. It's not just buckets, everybody had a piece of it.”

 

Fandre’s driving layup with 3.7 left in regulation forced the overtime.

 

“Credit to Rider,” said Lehigh coach Addie Micir. “They did what they do, and they did it better than what we did today.

 

 “Taylor Langan just made sure that she got to the spots she wanted. She got the shots she wanted, and she knocked them down, and we had no answer for it.

 

“That’s something we're going to have to take a look at, but i want to give credit to them. They slowed the game down. They got the shots they wanted, and they defended us really, really hard.”

 

Lehigh’s last game was 20 days ago.

 

“We're a rhythm team and we had some things the past couple of days that threw us off our rhythm, and that's all right, but we have to find a way to battle through adversity,” Micir said. “One thing is we can't shoot that poorly, and we know it, but we're not going to make any excuses for it. We just have to play better.”

 

Lehigh begins Patriot League play Wednesday, hosting American at 6 p.m. on ESPN+.

 

Penn State and Rutgers Suffer Losses in Big Ten Play

 

The Lady Lions (9-4, 0-2 Big Ten) fell at home in the Bryce Jordan Center in State College to Michigan State (11-2, 1-1) in a high scoring 98-87 contest, while Rutgers (6-9, 0-2) fell on the road at Northwestern 77-70 at Welsh-Ryan Arena in suburban Chicago.

 

The winning Spartans had six players in double figures against Penn State, led by reserve Theryn Hallock with 21 points. Tay Valladay had 32 for the home team and Moriah Murray scored 21.

 

The Lady Lions next host Northwestern on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

 

The Wildcats (6-7, 1-1), will be coming off its home win against Rutgers, in which Caileigh Walsh scored 22 points, Melannie Daley scored 20, and Mya Petticord scored 12.

 

Rutgers got 17 points each from freshman Lisa Thompson and reserve Kassondra Brown, while Mya Petticord scored 12.

 

The Scarlet Knights stay on the road traveling to Purdue Tuesday at 7 p.m.

 

Having referenced the upset in the conference earlier, the other news was from reigning national player of the year Caitlin Clark, the nation’s leading scorer, and her No. 4 Iowa Hawkeyes, who beat visiting Minnesota 94-71 to improve to 13-1 and 2-0 in the conference.

 

Clark had her sixth double-double with 35 points and 10 assists, the latter making her the all-time Big Ten leader with 904.

 

She’s now fifth on the all-time NCAA scoring list with 3,149 points.

 

Clark is now the only men’s or women’s player with 3,000 plus points, 900 or more assists, and 800 or more rebounds.

 

On Tuesday, Iowa will host Michigan State ahead of Friday’s trip to Rutgers, a game sold out over a month.

 

Looking Ahead: Finishing off 2023 locally Sunday, besides the Penn game here, Delaware hosts Harvard at 2 p.m. in the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark (FloHoops), while Princeton at noon is in Syracuse playing Le Moyne (NEC Front Row).

 

And that’s the report.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Guru Report: Drexel and Princeton Win; Texas’ Harmon Has Season-Ending ACL; Impeccable Guru Timing Catches a “Bird” Becoming a Hawk!!!

By Mel Greenberg @womhoops

 

PHILADELPHIA — Two days from the end of 2023 there was much more news and amusement on Friday than games that were just local — just being Drexel here at the Dragons’ Daskalakis Athletic Center hosting area Division III Arcadia while Princeton was at the first of a two-game New England road swing visiting America East contender Vermont.

 

Both were handled with relative ease, Drexel winning 63-39 while the reigning Ivy champs cruised over the Catamounts 67-47.

 

Nationally, two ranked teams played, No. 9 Stanford opening PAC-12 play across the San Francisco Bay against its rival Cal in Berkeley, as Hall of Fame coach Tara VanDerveer guided the visitors to a 78-51 win moving her within seven triumphs of becoming both the men’s and women’s all-time career achiever, while No.  22 Florida State downed visiting Atlantic Coast rival Georgia Tech 95-80 in Talahassee.

 

Saturday will be much busier before a sprinkling will be played on New Year’s Eve.

 

Before getting into the local action, the top story of the day was the announcement that Texas junior point guard Rori Harmon, the Big 12 preseason player of the year, is lost for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee, a non-contact occurrence at Wednesday’s shoot-around prior the No. Longhorns’ 97-52 win against Jackson State later that evening.

 

The news comes on the eve of one of two opening conference Top 10 battle of the unbeaten teams set for Saturday.

 

In the Big 12, No. 5 Texas (13-0) hosts No. 10 Baylor (11-0) in Austin at 2 p.m. on FOX, while later that evening on the PAC-12 network at 8 p.m., No. 6 Southern California (10-0) will travel across town in Los Angeles to meet No. 2 UCLA (11-0) at Pauley Pavilion.

 

“I’m heartbroken that I won’t be able to play with my teammates this season, but I’m going to support them and be the best teammate I can be,” said Harmon in the release issued by the university. “We have big goals. For this season and those are not going to change.”

 

Harmon, with an average of 14.1. points and 7.8 assists, was both the Associated Press and United States Basketball Writers Association national player of the week early this month when her 27 points and 13 assists led Texas to its first-ever win over UConn, which happened in Austin.

 

The Longhorns are also without 6-4 Taylor Jones, their leading scorer, who has missed two games with a. hip injury and her return to action remains unknown.

 

Holiday Cruising for Drexel and Princeton

 

Though Drexel got back on the winning side, departing from a three-game losing streak, people who thought the overwhelming matchup right before the holiday period concludes couldn’t possibly draw much were very mistaken, especially with Arcadia, once known as Beaver College, traveling very well crowd-wise from suburban Glenside to West Philadelphia.

 

The Knights, who play in the offseason in the Philadelphia/Suburban Women’s Summer Basketball League in Hatboro, Pa., arrived at 9-0 coached in her second season by Jackie Hartzell, who was temporarily sidelined when the University of the Sciences disbanded its sports teams during the merger with Division I Saint Joseph’s.

 

Part of the motivation to schedule Arcadia on Drexel’s part, the schools’ last meeting 52 years ago in 1971, was needing some kind of competition this weekend with the Coastal (Formerly Colonial) Athletic Association decision to begin conference competition a week later.

 

The CAA wasn’t the only mid-major to do so since this season the NCAA selections and tournament begin and end a week later than they did last March.

 

As was the case with UConn recently playing a game in Canada thought at first to be an exhibition but the NCAA saying its official and every aspect counts except it won’t be part of the .Net measurement the tournament committee uses to select the at-large teams and seed the field.

 

Friday’s outcome was determined quickly, Drexel (5-6) jumping to a 17-0 lead, though after that differential it stabilized until the Dragons moved further away near the end of the game.

 

Hetta Saatman and Chloe Hodges each scored 12 points for the winners, Villanova transfer Brooke Mullin had nine points and ten assists, Hodges, from Australia, also had seven rebounds.

 

With Grace O’Neill sitting this one out, Momo LaClair got to see more minutes as did other changes provide likewise for those normally relegated to the bench.

 

Hannah Rhoades, Arcadia’s leading scorer, had 17 points and was 5-for-11 from deep.

 

“Happy with today’s performance overall,” said Drexel coach Amy Mallon.  “We were able to perform on some goals that we set.

 

“You look at 21 assists, that’s Drexel team basketball.”

 

The Dragons begin play in the CAA next weekend, hosting Hampton at 6 p.m. Friday night and Northeastern, 2 p.m., next Sunday. Both games are streamed on FloHoops.

 

Princeton, meanwhile, got 23 points, from Madison St. Rose,  and 17, including the 1,000^th career point, from reigning Ivy player of the year Kaitlyn Chen over Vermont (8-6).

 

Freshman Skye Belker added 11 for the Tigers (9-3).

 

The Catamounts got 23 points from Emma Utterback.

 

Princeton wraps up non-conference play Sunday moving over to Syracuse to play LeMoyne at 12 p.m., streamed on NEC Front. Row, the service associated with the Northeast Conference.

 

In the two national games of note, No. 9 Stanford, with its conference win over Cal, brings Tara. VanDerveer’s extended record women’s career total total to 1,197, which is eight ahead of UConn’s Geno Auriemma.

 

Both coaches have games. Sunday, Stanford hosting Morgan. State at. 9 p.m., while No. 15 UConn hosts No. 18 Marquette (12-0), off to its best start, in a key Big East game in Hartford at 1 p.m. on the Fox network that carries the SNY broadcast.

 

Retired Duke men’s coach Mike Krzyzewski has the combined record at 2,202.

 

Talana Leopolo had a career-high 20 points, including 6-10 from beyond the arc, and Kiki Iriafen had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the winning Cardinal (11-1, 1-0 PAC-12).

 

“Today belonged to Talana and Kiki, inside-outside,” said VanDerveer. “These two, playing the way they’re playing, it was awesome.”

 

The game was the 100^th meeting between the two local rivals, both headed for the ACC next season.

 

Ioanna Krimili had 12 points for the Bears (10-3).

 

No. 22 Florida State (10-3), which visited Drexel on Dec. 17, got 30 points from Ta’Niya Latson, last season’s national freshman of the year, while Makayla Thompson had 20 points and 14 rebounds, her 19^th career double double.

 

O’Mariah Gordon scored 17 for the Seminoles.

 

Georgia Tech (9-4) got 24 points from Kara Dunn, while Kayla Blackshear had 22. Rusne Augustinaite had 14 points and Tonie Morgan scored 13.

 

Florida State stays home Sunday hosting Wake Forest, while Georgia Tech is off until Thursday, hosting Virginia.

 

In two other games that were on the Guru radar, Vanderbilt at home in Nashville beat Fairleigh Dickinson 73-41, improving to 12-1 while the visitors fell to 2-11.

 

North Dakota State took an 84-69 win at South Dakota.

 

Looking Ahead Locally: We start Saturday with St. Joseph’s at 11-1 visiting Fordham in Queens to open Atlantic 10 play at 4 p.m. on ESPN+, while on the same network at 6 p.m., La Salle does likewise at George Mason in Fairfax, Va.

 

Temple begins American Athletic Conference play hosting new member Texas-San Antonio (UTSA) at 1 p.m. (ESPN+) in the Liacouras Center, while Villanova resumes Big East play hosting Xavier in the Pavilion at 2 p.m. on FloHoops.

 

Penn at 1 p.m.  in The Palestra in a non-conference game hosts America East contender Maine on ESPN+. And NBCSP+, while on Sunday the Quakers still at home at. 1 p.m. on ESPN+ hosts Area Division III Gwynedd-Mercy.

 

In the Big Ten, locally on Saturday, Rutgers is at Northwestern in suburban Chicago at 3 p.m., and Penn State hosts Michigan State at 4 p.m. in the Bryce Jordan Center on the main Big Ten Network.

 

Rider and Lehigh are both local but not in the same conference as they meet at Lehigh’s Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa., at 2 p.m. on the ESPN+ service.

 

On Sunday, not already mentioned among the three local games, Delaware hosts Harvard. In the Bob Carpenter. Center in Newark at 2 p.m. on. FloHoops.

 

Looking Ahead Nationally: As mentioned in a previous blog, there are only 10 teams in Division I yet to lose, and after the two games already mentioned, the number logically drops Saturday to eight before Sunday comes on the horizon.

 

And if UConn wins Sunday Big East game, the number is seven.

 

No.  23 TCU, one of the other seven with perfect performances begins Big 12 play Saturday at 5 p.m. on ESPN+ while another. Big 12 unbeaten, No.  25. West Virginia visits Kansas at 1 p.m. on. ESPN+.

 

Another key PAC-12 collision has No. 12 Utah at 3 p.m. visiting No. 8 Colorado at 3 p.m. on the PAC-12 network.

 

No. 1 South Carolina, which is unbeaten, at noon travels to defending AAC tourney champion East Carolina on ESPN+.

 

In the Big Ten at 2 p.m. No. 4 Iowa with Caitlin Clark has a matchup with Minnesota on the Big Ten network.

 

Other games of note, Saturday, in the Atlantic 10, preseason favorite Rhode Island is at defending A-10 tourney champion Saint Louis at 7 p.m.

 

No. 17 Ohio State at noon in the Big Ten is at Michigan on FOX.

 

Columbia finishes its West Coast Trip at 5 p.m. on ESPN+.

 

Impeccable Guru Timing Catches a Bird Becoming a Hawk

 

Our tale starts on Wednesday coming out of the holiday break.

 

Looking ahead to Friday, the only option as the only local game was to be at Drexel for an early afternoon game.

 

So, as yours truly often does with the local pr types in town, especially when a season credential is the same for both men and women, with an early finish and a night wide open, I checked which men’s teams were playing to go kill time, perhaps continue there to build the two big March madness composite conference tournament skeds — one a conference by conference breakdown, the other a day by day version. 

 

Aha, Saint Joseph’s, not far from Drexel, was playing at 7 p.m.

 

So I called men’s SID Jack Jumper, who used to be a longtime women’s SID with the Hawks and was told not a heavy request load, seats available.

 

I arrived early and went to hang out for a while in the SID office.

 

I did hear somebody mention “…all these cameras.”

 

But then everyone I was running into as they sighted me, they gave me a big greeting, followed by oh, of course you’d be here. Or, oh I know why you’re here.

 

Huh?

 

Then it turns out my seat was floor level near the end opposite the home team bench.

 

After plugging in all the technology to operate, I headed to the concession stand to get some holdover snacks. 

 

On the way back a colleague at an adjoining table grabs me and says, “I’m told Sue Bird is going to be here, she’s filming some kind of documentary, and (alum) Natasha Cloud is also coming, point them out when you see them.

 

Turns out all-time men’s scorer Jameer Nelson was going to get a public address shoutout.

 

Then right before the game, a friend and Hawk Hill source said, with a smile, I can’t confirm or deny,  but Sue Bird is going around making an ESPN film on college traditions and is going to be the Hawk in the first half, and Cloud will be here to.

 

It was obvious it was her because there was an extra load of cameras filming every arm flap and move.

 

Then, it became funny because some of the original whisperers were telling me, “I don’t see her anywhere,” and I told them, she’s the Hawk.

 

I took some quick video with the phone and some stills and sent them around to common WBB media friends at UConn, telling them to pass to Geno, as well as at AP and a few others.

 

Imagine, once upon a time Geno was in the building sitting on a bench assisting Jim Foster while the Hawk was flapping all over the place.

 

He goes on to coach one of the great players the history of the game and one night years later, she’s on Hawk Hill as the active mascot.

 

It turns out, after she had filmed, Bird and Tosh were seated behind me with a clear path. I leaned over and I called to them, and they responded, and we exchanged pleasantries.

 

I said, they all think I’m here because of you guys. I’m here on a whim I set up two days ago.

 

They laughed and I turned back to prepare to file this report and now I’m done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Guru Report: Previewing the Locals Beginning Conference Races This Weekend Besides Some Power Collisions on the National Scene

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

 

The break is over and as the 2024 part of the season looms just ahead, here is how the locals stand with respect to their conferences.

 

Atlantic 10 – Saint Joseph’s and La Salle

 

The Hawks are one game ahead of a year ago record wise making the 11-1 start the best in the 23-year era of Cindy Griffin coaching at her alma mater.

 

Wins include ending a long drought against Villanova to clinch a tie for the Big Five and ending a medium dip in taking their own Hawk Classic a week ago.

 

The one loss was to then-No. 11 Utah, a game the home team was a heavy underdog.

 

If Villanova was clearly ahead of the city pack last year besides being nationally ranked so is Saint Joseph’s, which was picked second in the A-10.

 

But the Hawks were steaming into the A-10 a year ago and hit a rough patch of narrow losses not unlike Villanova’s recent misfortunes.

 

By conference tourney time after beating Saint Louis on the road the Billikens upset the Hawks, the loss was less terrible in terms of Saint Louis went on to win its conference crown.

 

With Talya Brugler and Laura Ziegler, each former A-10 rookies of the year, more experienced, and the addition of Davidson transfer Chloe Welch, the attack is more versatile.

 

But there is a lot of mystery as A-10 gets under way because there are a bunch of fine records and none belong to Rhode Island (8-5), the preseason pick, which barely closed non-conference beating Harvard, but still must be considered formidable until proven otherwise.

 

Richmond looked good on its visit to Villanova and is 10-3 while Davidson and VCU are also 11-1, while George Mason is 9-2.

 

The best formula for Saint Joseph’s is to own January while these other teams knock each other off because they are that good or because the records are a false read.

 

La Salle was picked low and performed as such, which happens with a young roster. But as the saying goes until Saturday everybody is 0-0 except Davidson (1-0) and Duquesne (1-0, 6-6) which won openers over Dayton and Fordham.

 

The Explorers have chance to create a stir opening at George Mason at 6 p.m. while Saint Joseph’s is at Fordham at 4 p.m. The bulk of the league schedule is streamed on ESPN+.

 

Big East – Villanova

 

It’s the year after Maddy Siegrist though in the offseason from the WNBA so she’s back at her alma mater in a created position in the front office. Lucy Olsen has made up for a lot of the scoring but the recent stretch with five winnable games until four weren’t and the other almost wasn’t.

 

Despite the injuries to UConn, going in, they still own the Big East but the Wildcats’ concerns are No. 18 Marquette (12-0), off to its best start, No. 21 Creighton (9-2), a Seton Hall (9-3) team that recently rallied from a 21-point deficit at Georgetown, and avoid potholes like the one they hit two weeks ago against St. John’s in Madison Square Garden. 

 

There are more unknowns than knowns in the Big East so while it may sound silly to say so, Saturday’s 2 p.m. from Xavier (1-9) is a must win (BEDN on FloHoops) because there’s not a lot of margins for error.

 

Coastal Athletic Association – Drexel and Delaware

 

Likewise, Villanova it’s the year after Keishana Washington for the Dragons (4-6), who were picked seventh, so consider the non-conference a tune-up with one more Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. hosting area Division III Arcadia (FloHoops) at the Daskalakis Athletic Center, one of only two locals playing before a heavy slate sets in on Saturday.

 

Drexel begins league action in the conference who changed names from Colonial next Friday at 6 p.m.

 

Delaware was picked fourth (4-7), but so far have managed to lose to the likes of Delaware State, which got routed by a bunch including at Temple, which also beat the Blue Hens.

 

There’s one more non-con coming Sunday on New Year’s Eve when Harvard visits the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark Sunday at 2 p.m. (FloHoops).

 

Delaware begins league play next Friday at 7 p.m. at Northeastern in Boston (FloHoops).

 

Towson (7-3) was picked to win the conference and has done well but Stony Brook (9-1) has been playing like gangbusters, including a win over Columbia.

 

Charleston (8-3) has been a surprise.

 

Ivy – Penn and Princeton

 

As the Quakers (6-5) re-tool, the pieces are coming together with Stina Almqvist and Jordan Obi leading the way.

 

Statistically, Mataya Gayle has been the best in the city to date, though we’ll see if conference play shakes up the list.

 

Penn is still a leading contender for the playoffs and should end up somewhere in the postseason either the new NCAA WBIT or if it’s not out of business, the WNIT.

 

The Quakers wrap up non-conference Saturday and Sunday at The Palestra first hosting American East contender Maine at 1 p.m. and then at the same time Sunday hosting Division III area team Gwynedd Mercy.

 

Ivy play begins Saturday in the deep end of the pool at Columbia, which is the host school for the league tourney. 

 

Like the A-10, the bulk of Ivy games are on ESPN+.

 

Meanwhile after Courtney Banghart left for North Carolina, Princeton (8-3) has not missed a beat – CoVid shutdown excluded – under former UConn star Carla Berube. 

 

The Tigers have played a schedule to date befitting a Power 5 program. Had they not tripped up at Rhode Island after getting ranked, they likely would still be in the poll. The resume today with reigning Ivy player of the year Kaitlyn Chen includes a rally over host Villanova, Rutgers, then-ranked Oklahoma, double overtime win against visiting Seton Hall, a near upset of now-No. 2 UCLA in Pauley Pavilion, and competitive loss to No. 16 Indiana.

 

The only other local in action Friday, Princeton visits Vermont at 1 p.m. (ESPN+) and finishes non-league play Sunday at LeMoyne (NEC Front Row) at noon in Syracuse.

 

 Princeton opens defense of the Ivy title next Saturday at Cornell.

 

Columbia (7-4), a title contender, is finishing non-league, rallying to beat host San Francisco 74-67 as Abbey Hsu scored 31 and visits Pacific Saturday at Pacific at 5 p.m. (ESPN+).

 

Brown (8-3) has been a surprise on the high side while Yale (2-10) is on the low.

 

American Athletic Conference – Temple

 

The Owls (6-6) have improved of late and nearly had a four-game winning streak heading into the AAC, until succumbing at home to a rally by Northwestern.

 

The American has a bunch of unknowns to which the Owls can take advantage if their act is finally getting together.

 

South Florida (8-5), which recently lost one of its better players with an injury, could be vulnerable, newcomer UTSA (6-5), which is at Temple Saturday at 1 p.m. (ESPN+) and North Texas (10-2). Which is at the Liacouras Center Tuesday at 7 p.m. (ESPN+) give the Owls a chance to make an early statement. 

 

 

Aleah Nelson has been a force for Temple in her grad season.

 

MAAC – Rider 

 

The Broncs (2-8, 0-2) have struggled both in non-conference and MAAC play, needless to say.

 

They step out of league play Saturday at 1 p.m. to visit Lehigh at Staples Arena (ESPN+) in Bethlehem, Pa., and then back on Thursday to host Iona at 7 p.m. (ESPN+).

 

Niagara (5-7) was picked to win the league and is off to a 2-0 start but overall, down at 5-7.

 

Fairfield (9-1) has been performing well.

 

Big Ten – Penn State and Rutgers

 

The lady Lions (9-3) have performed well, even got ranked a week, ending a long drought, losing close to No. 6 Southern Cal and at now No. 17-Ohio State in overtime besides a loss at West Virginia right after returning to the poll.

 

Leading scorer Makenna Marisa got hurt in the Ohio State game but is expected to return soon after missing the last two games.

 

The signs are there that a return to the NCAA is possible and the Big Ten schedule the rest of the way will provide the answer.

 

It begins Saturday hosting Michigan at 4 p.m. hosting Michigan State in the Bryce Jordan Center on the Big Ten Network.

 

Kaylene Smike has been a bright spot for Rutgers (6-8), one of only two in the league with overall losing records.

 

The Scarlet Knights visit Northwestern Saturday at 3 p.m. and then next Friday at 6 p.m. host No. 4 Iowa in Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, N.J., in front of an advance sellout drawn by Iowa’s reigning national player of the year Caitlin Clark, the nation’s leading scorer.

 

Patriot League – Lehigh and Lafayette

 

While Holy Cross (6-5) was the preseason pick, Lehigh (8-2) has been the big surprise paced by Ella Stemmer, among the nation’s leading scorers at 19.5.

 

The Mountain Hawks host Rider Saturday (ESPN+) and begin league play Wednesday hosting American at 6 p.m. (ESPN+).

 

Lafayette (5-6) had an improved non-conference performance paced by Abby Antognoli and Makayla Andrews.

 

The Leopards begin league play Wednesday at Army at 6 p.m. (ESPN+).

 

The National Scene As conference play begins, right from the get-go are major games on the final weekend of 2023.

 

Friday at 5 p.m. No. 9 Stanford goes across the San Francisco Bay in the Pac-12 for its 100^th meeting with Cal as Tara VanDerveer with 1,196 victories needs seven more to eclipse retired Duke men’s coach Mike Krzyzewski for the most victories men or women in collegiate basketball.

 

Saturday at 8 p.m.on the Pac-12 network, unbeaten No. 6 Southern Cal visits unbeaten No. 2 UCLA at Pauley Pavilion. Earlier at 3 p.m. No. 12 Utah visits No. 8 Colorado in the Pac-12.

 

In the Big 12 on FOX No. 10 Baylor at 2 p.m. visits No. 5 Texas in Austin while later No. 23 TCU, one of the last 10 unbeatens, hosts new member BYU at 5 p.m. on ESPN+.

 

And That’s The Report.