The Guru Report: Brugler Gets 1,000th Point While Combining With Ziegler Leading Saint Joseph’s Over New Hampshire in Hawk Classic Opener

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

 

PHILADELPHIA — Saint Joseph’s took care of business in the opener Wednesday in its annual Hawk Classic, defeating New Hampshire 72-54 as Talya Brugler and Laura Ziegler inside combined for 41 points.

 

Among Brugler’s total was her 1,000^th career point, becoming the 29^th player in the program’s history gto reach that milestone and by the time of the game’s finish, she moved up to 27^th on the list with a total of 1,013 points.

 

In the nightcap, UAB had an easy time handling Wagner 79-39 to set up Thursday afternoon’s title game in Hagan Arena, scheduled for 1 p.m. but perhaps actually tipping a little later pending how long the third-place game that tips at 11 a.m. takes to get completed.

 

Both games will air on ESPN+.

 

In rolling to a 10-1 record, the one loss being here to No. 11 Utah, the start of the non-conference portion of the season schedule matches two previous best ones in the 23-season era of Cindy Griffin, who also played for the Hawks at guard under Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Jim Foster, graduating in 1991.

 

The three-ball was a prime weapon for both teams, the Hawks shooting 9-for-24 from beyond the arc, while the Wildcats were more efficient at 8-for-15.

 

“You look at the percentages, they definitely shot much better than they had all year,” Griffin alluded to New Hampshire’s 40.4 percent from the field, though Saint Joseph’s shot 43.8 percent, making two less field goals.

 

“We knew they were good shooters, and they’re very well coached,” Griffin continued.

 

“I thought we had a great offensive first quarter (10-19 for 52.6 percent, including six made from deep), and we kept that distance most of the way.”

 

Several times the Hawks would get to a 15-point lead and then New Hampshire (5-7) would make a run to get the differential to single digits, but each time Saint Joseph’s would answer the run.

 

“We knew they weren’t going to go away,” Griffin said. “I was really happy with the way Talya and Laura came out today, very, very efficient. 

 

“Ziegler hit some critical threes and Talya had some big buckets those times they were coming at us a little bit.”

 

Brugler scored 24 points, shooting 7-for-15 from deep, also a near-perfect 9-10 from the line, while Ziegler was .500 from the field, 5-for-10, and connected on 4-of-7 from beyond the arc to score 17 points.

 

With Saint Joseph’s ability this season to get lots of contributions, Davidson transfer Chloe Welch was 3-for-7 with eight points and eight rebounds, Julia Mystrom also scored eight, while a new name in the depth production emerged in Paula Maurina, who scored seven, basically with 5-of-7 on the line, in 15:53 of playing time off the bench.

 

“Paula did a great job coming off the bench,” Griffin said. “She did a great job, defensively, and then being able to get to the free throw line. Again, if we can get her to grow in that role, it’s just going to help us as the year goes on.”

 

Both rosters have their shares of foreign players, though New Hampshire had a nice cheering section, likely to root for freshman Maggie Cavanaugh from Point Pleasant, N.J. Given a start, she scored six points on a 2-of-2 effort from deep.

 

Breezie Williams scored 15 points for the Wildcats, shooting 6-for-10 from the field, including 3-of-5 from beyond the perimeter, while Clara Gomez scored 10.

 

For all of the game’s flow, in an oddity showing where the game was won statistically, the Hawks took advantage of their size and made good on the line completing 21-of-24, while the Wildcats never got a chance to shoot free throws.

 

The 0-for-0 has infrequently occurred throughout the the history of the sport, so it was not a precedent.

 

Of the win and her day, Brugler said, “We knew they weren’t going to go away, so we just had to get stops and scores. A couple times when it got to single digits, we knew we had to turn it up.

 

“I knew I had an advantage inside and so did Laura, so we both did well today. Paula did a great job; she’s been doing a great job during practice.”

 

Brugler was 11 points shy of 1,000 as it got under way, but her mind wasn’t focused on her own looming achievement.

 

“I just thought, ‘run the plays, run the sets we’re looking for.’ I didn’t want to force it, for me, it will come eventually.”

 

In the second game, Mia Moore had a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds for UAB (9-2), while Kylee Schneringer scored 11, and reserves Jad Weathersby scored 14 points, while Molly Moffitt scored 11.

 

Semie Brar was the only one in double figures for Wagner (2-8), scoring 10 points.

 

Of the championship game, Griffin said of playing UAB, “We are looking forward to playing for a title. They have a young talented roster that produces on both ends of the floor.

 

“It will be a great game closing out our non-conference schedule.”

 

Of the many holiday events occurring this week before the entire NCAA goes on Christmas break, the Hawk Classic is one of only three using a true tournament format, and oddly an Atlantic 10 team is participating in each one.

 

Besides the host Hawks here, Duquesne, as a participant in Tulane’s tourney in New Orleans, fell in a close game to Maine, 80-72, to land in Thursday’s third-place contest against Little Rock, which lost to the host Green Wave 66-57. Richmond in the Cherokee Invitational near Asheville, N.C., lost to Michigan State 83-76, Maggie Doogan held to eight points, while Coastal Carolina edged Southern Conference favorite Chattanooga 53-49.

 

Penn State Dominates Central Connecticut: The Lady Lions completed their non-conference schedule blasting Central Connecticut 101-73 at home in the Bryce Jordan Center, sophomore Shay Ciezki leading the way with a career-best 40 points and the team setting a game-day record for the program connecting with 15 three-pointers.

 

PSU (9-3) has won all three-games in its series with Central Connecticut (2-10), which is under first-year coach Waynetta Veney, who was associate head coach to former Temple head coach Tonya Cardoza.

 

The 15 made long shots came on 28 attempts. In other areas, the winners won the rebounding battle 42-31 as well as scoring in the paint 48-36.

 

Ciezki was 15-for-23 to reach 40 points, which became a tie for third in program history, and only the fourth milestone achievement at that category.

 

 Kapinus, who had a big game earlier in the week, followed with 13 points, graduate guard Tay Valladay and redshirt freshman Moriah Murray.

 

Leading scorer Makenna Marisa, who suffered a leg injury in the overtime loss at Ohio State, being carried off the court early in the extra period, did not play.

 

While the injury at the time created fear it might cause a long absence from the lineup, knowledgeable people have since told the Guru she would not miss too many games and be good to go.

 

Though she has only missed two games so far, neither required her presence, and now Penn State will be off until a week from Saturday when the Lady Lions begin the resumption of Big Ten play the rest of the season, hosting Michigan State at 4 p.m. in the Bryce Jordan Center on campus.

 

Drexel Overwhelmed by Florida Gulf Coast

 

The Dragons were the third and last of the locals playing Wednesday and opened play in the Homewood Suites Classic at Alico Arena in Fort Myers, Fla., falling to reigning ASun champion Florida Gulf Coast 61-35.

 

FGCU (8-4) was the team Villanova beat at home last March to advance to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA tournament.

 

While the Dragons (4-5) were outscored in every quarter, it was after the break in which the opposition held a 26-18 lead that the bulk of the damage was done to Drexel, being outscored in the third 23-9 for a 49-27 deficit.

 

Brooke Mullin, the transfer from Villanova for her graduate season, was the only player on the Dragons to score in double figures, collecting 12 points.

 

FGCU was 6-for-20 from beyond the arc, while Drexel shot blanks in a few attempts at four.

 

The Dragons were outrebounded 35-23.

 

Emani Jefferson scored 31 points, Dolly Cairns scored 13, and Uju Ezeudu scored 11 for the opposition, who served as a home team being from the area.

 

In the other game, whom Drexel will play Thursday at 3 p.m., the match predetermined in advance of the event, reigning Horizon champion Cleveland State beat Sun Belt member Southern Miss 70-63.

 

Four starters scored in double figures for the Vikings (10-2), led by Mickayla Perdue, with 24 points, fueled by five from deep, Colbi Maples scored 18, Jordana Reisma scored 12, and Carmen Villalobos scored 10.

 

Cleveland State fell at Villanova in the NCAA first round last March.

 

Three players scored in double figures for Southern Miss (7-2), led by Dominique Davis with 16 points.

 

After Thursday, Drexel will be off until completing its non-conference slate a week from Friday hosting area Division III squad Arcadia at 2 p.m. on FloHoops at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.

 

The Dragons begin play in the newly named Coastal Athletic Association for this season on Friday, Jan. 5, hosting Hampton at 6 p.m. on FloHoops.

 

Besides Saint Joseph’s and Drexel each playing one more game Thursday going into the holiday break, in four single games, Temple will host Northwestern of the Big Ten at 11 a.m. at the Liacouras Center on ESPN+, Delaware will make a short in-state trip to Dover to play Delaware State at 2 p.m., and Lafayette at noon will be at Dartmouth of the Ivy League at noon in Hanover, N.H. on ESPN+.

 

In the next-to-last Big Five in the ten-game City Series slate, La Salle (0-2) hosts Villanova (2-1) at 12 p.m. at the Tom Gola Arena on ESPN+.

 

Villanova (6-5) has lost three in a row, while La Salle (3-7) has dropped five straight.

 

A Wildcats win, the last game in the non-conference slate before resuming Big East play the rest of the way after the break, keeps Villanova alive for a potential 3-1 tie with Saint Joseph’s if La Salle beats the Hawks at Hagan Arena on Jan. 15 at noon on the CBSSN.

 

If the Explorers win, their last game before beginning Atlantic 10 competition visiting George Mason on Dec. 30 in Fairfax, Va., on ESPN+, Saint Joseph’s automatically becomes outright champions without needing to beat La Salle because every other team would have at least two losses and the most the Hawks could lose is 1 p.m.

 

The Hawks and Explorers play two games on the schedule, the second counting just in the A-10 standings.

 

Next season, the women in the Big Five will play a pod setup in the City Series like the men did for the first time this season when Drexel began as an official Big Five team, as the Dragons will do so on the women’s side in 2024-25.

 

Some teams to keep their series alive are scheduling beyond the setup for the next season, the way Saint Joseph’s and La Salle play the second non-counting game in the home-and-home series in the Atlantic 10.

 

Temple and Saint Joseph’s are known to have done so because they will not be in the same pod, though they could play twice if both advance to the title game, which happened on the men’s side earlier this month.

 

The site for the Big Five championship is still being determined.

 

The National Scene: Going into the break, Hall of Fame coaches Tara VanDerveer of No. 9 Stanford and Geno Auriemma of No. 17 Connecticut kept pace on Wednesday as the 1-2 punch with the most career wins in women’s basketball history.

 

VanDerveer, who leads with 1,196, guided the Cardinal (10-1) to a 92-52 win over UC Davis (4-6) in a non-conference Bay Area game as Hannah Jump became Stanford’s all-time career three-point scorer, while Kiki Iriafen had 20 points and 11 rebounds.

 

The Stanford coach is seven wins away from eclipsing retired Duke men’s coach Mike Krzyzewski (1,202) for the combined men’s and women’s mark. 

 

As for the 3-point program record, which Jump reached early in the game to top Kiana Williams, she needs 61 to set the PAC-12 mark above the 373 held by former Oregon State star Sydney Weise.

 

Cameron Brink had 21 points, four rebounds and two blocks for Stanford, while Elena Bosgana had 14 points and six rebounds.

 

Jump is a grad student in her fifth year, while Williams set the previous mark within four.

 

“There’s a lot of great shooters that have played at Stanford and it really is an honor to play after them,” Jump said, “and every time we play for them as well.”

 

She has a brother Sam, a medical school student at Penn State, who was in the stands at Maples Pavilion with other family and friends to see Jump’s accomplishment.

 

VanDerveer offered congratulations during her postgame press conference remarks, calling the fete “an incredible accomplishment considering all the great 3-point shooters we’ve had at Stanford.

 

“Hannah decided she wanted to be a great player. It wasn’t my decision. She put the work in,” VanDerveer said.

 

Evanne Turner had 17 points for UC Davis.

 

Though Jump is in her fifth year, she set the 3-point mark playing less minutes to date then Williams did.

 

VanDerveer is in her 45^th season as a head coach, 38 at Stanford after previously coaching at Ohio State.

 

Stanford is off until Dec. 29 playing at Bay Area rival Cal to start PAC-12 play in the final season before the conference dissolves.

 

Both schools begin play in the ACC next season in what will be coast-to-coast competition.

 

Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and Arizona State are heading for the Big 12, while Southern Cal, UCLA, Oregon and Washington are bound for the Big 10.

 

The only two schools whose fate to be determined are Oregon State and Washington State, though a report surfaced Wednesday, saying a vote will be taken in the West Coast Conference concerning allowing the two abandoned schools to compete next season in the WCC in all sports other than football.

 

Meanwhile, Auriemma, is just seven behind VanDerveer at 1,189, getting a bonus win Wednesday in what was originally believed to be an exhibition game serving as a homecoming trip for Aliyah Edwards, the Huskies playing before a Canadian crowd sellout in defeating Toronto Metro 111-34.

 

Earlier in the day an NCAA spokesman said the contest would count as an official game in all ways except calculated as a win or loss in the .Net used to help determine selection and seeding for the NCAA tournament.

 

Edwards made the most of her trip, scoring 26 points and grabbing 10 rebounds for the Huskies (9-3), while freshman Ashlynn had a second-straight big game with 20 points, shooting 4-for-6 from deep, while another freshman, KK shot 10-12 for 21 points and Paige Bueckers scored 11.

 

A third freshman off the bench, Qadence Samuels, scored 18 with nine rebounds, shooting 7-9.

 

Auriemma, who routinely schedules homecoming trips for his players, said Pittsburgh was originally on the schedule but the Panthers dropped the game after changing coaches.

 

It was the fifth straight win for the Huskies, who suffered another rash of injuries after being ranked in the preseason as No. 2, and suffered losses at then-unranked NC State, No. 10 Texas, which then jumped to fifth, and No.2 UCLA, plunging to their lowest ranking at 17^th in 30 seasons.

 

Among the victims in UConn’s reversal are then-No. 24 North Carolina and then-No. 18 Louisville.

 

The Huskies are now off until resuming Big East play hosting No. 18 Marquette on New Year’s Eve in Hartford at the XL Center.

 

Outside the Big East, Uconn still has a pair of major games hosting No. 14 Notre Dame Jan. 27, and visiting No. South Carolina, Feb. 11, a game that has been announced as an advanced sellout.

 

In other games Wednesday among teams ranked in the Associated Press women’s poll, No. 10 Baylor beat Providence 61-36 in the West Palm Beach Classic in Florida, a game containing 40 fouls and 41 turnovers.

 

The winning Bears in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., (10-0) got 14 points from Bella Fontleroy, while Sarah Andrews scored 12. Providence fell to 6-6.

 

Baylor on Thursday in the event will play South Florida, the favorite in the American Athletic Conference, of which Temple competes, and then begins Big 12 play meeting Texas in Austin on Dec. 5.

 

The No. 5 Longhorns on Wednesday in a single game crushed UTRGV 104-51 as Rori Harmon led a balanced attack with 12 points, becoming the fastest in program history to reach 500 assists.

 

A record crowd of 6,591 attended the game, largest women’s crowd ever in the Rio Grand Valley, just 83 less than the men’s record.

 

Texas is off until next Wednesday, playing SWAC contender Jackson State at home ahead of the Big 12. Opener.

 

No. 19 Louisville hosted and knocked No. 23 Washington (11-1) from the unbeaten column just two days after the Huskies of the Northwest had ended a long draught from the AP women’s rankings.

 

Olivia Cochran scored 14 and Nyla Harris had 11 for the Cardinals (11-2), who are off until playing Miami on New Year’s Eve at 4 p.m., picking up the ACC schedule.

 

Washington is off until returning to PAC-12 play on Jan. 5 at California.

 

In the Hall of Fame Series in Phoenix, Arizona State beat Fresno 80-76, while No. 20 Gonzaga (12-2) in beating Arizona 81-69, dropping the Wildcats to 8-4, got 27 points from Yvonne Ejim, 21 in the first half, and 17 from Brynna Maxwell, 14 in the third period.

 

No. 3 NC State on the road hit Old Dominion with its second straight loss on a night the Monarchs were paying tribute to the late Anne Donovan at the game in Norfolk, Va.

 

The visiting Wolfpack finished non-conference play at 12-0, the fifth perfect schedule in program history.

 

Madison Hayes scored 17 points, Aziaha James, who is from nearby Virginia Beach, scored 16 in her homecoming appearance, while freshman Zoe Brooks dished 11 assists.

 

In another homecoming, reigning NCAA champion and No. 7 LSU (12-1) brought Angel Reese to Baltimore playing Coppin State and she responded with 26 points in an 80-48 victory.

 

“I knew that people were going to come out and support. They love me here, right or wrong, up and down,” Reese said. “Baltimore has always had my back.”

 

The Tigers have won 12 straight since the opening day upset loss to Colorado.

 

Coppin State (3-10) has lost seven straight after the rare occasion of an NCAA champion playing at an HBCU school.

 

With a crowd of 4,100, the game was the first sellout at PEC Arena since it opened in 2009.

No. 25 TCU (12-0), which returned to the poll this week after a long absence, set a school record with its 12^th straight win, beating visiting Omaha 96-56 in Fort Worth, Texas, as Oregon transfer Sedona Prince had 26 points and 17 rebounds.

 

Madison Conner added 19 points.

 

It’s also the best start in program history.

 

Among unranked teams, down 21-2 and eventually 21 points to host Georgetown in a Big East game in the nation’s capital, Seton Hall bounced back with a 57-49 win over the Hoyas (9-2).

 

The Pirates (9-3), who upset and knocked previously unbeaten UNLV out of the poll last week after a brief appearance, got 14 points from Azana Baines, while Micah Gray scored 10.

 

Host Maryland (9-3) got a career-high 29 points from Shyanne Sellers in a 78-55 win over James Madison (8-4) at home at the XFinity Center in College Park.

 

Peyton McDaniel scored 25 for JMU, now in its second season with the Sun Belt after realigning from the CAA.

 

Late night, Tulsa beat SE Louisiana and Oregon State stayed perfect beating Texas Tech in the Maui Classic in Hawaii.

 

And that’s the report.