The Guru Report: Dalce Career Night Helps Villanova Hold Off Penn While St. Joe’s (8-0)Tops Boston U; Rutgers Routs LaSalle; Jefferson 6th and 5th Nationally

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

 

VILLANOVA — With the rarest of exceptions it’s always someone that has made the difference in the Big Five battles dominated by Villanova when it comes to playing Penn.

 

In recent times it may have been a shower of three-pointers from Adrianna Hahn, or Maddy Siegrist being Maddy Siegrist.

 

On Tuesday night just 48 hours after a tough narrow loss up at Penn’s Ivy rival Columbia, the Wildcats were back home in Finneran Pavilion to host the Quakers in a needed win to match Saint Joseph’s 2-0 in the City Series standings to set up Saturday night’s 7 p.m. clash down the road on Hawk Hill in Hagan Arena.

 

Penn, though, could stay in the hunt for shared honors and the way it went on what was marketed as Disney Night, the Quakers got a fantasy wish in junior Lucy Olsen for Villanova having her first offensive struggle of the season, shooting a dismal 4-for-18 on the back of succesive 30 plus games.

 

But as was stated it’s always someone and this time Christina Dalce became the new nightmare for Villanova’s opponent, scoring a career-high 18 points while grabbing 17 rebounds.

 

Added to Wildcats coach Denise Dillon’s dream of needing others to be ready in case her star successor to Siegrist’s acclaim goes off the mark, freshman reserve Maddie Webber back from a recent injury picked up where she was developing, shooting 6-for-13 from the field for a personal best 16 point, and with 11 of her 14 points in the second half, Olsen was there at the right moments, all of which enabled Villanova to blunt a Penn rally for a narrow 68-62 victory.

 

“I knew I had to step up a little bit,” Webber said. “But honestly, I didn't think of it as Lucy's not scoring, it was just me making shots.”

 

Zanai Jones with eight points and Maddie Burke with seven also helped the cause with timely scores.

 

All that said, Villanova (6-2, 2-0 Big Five) almost let it get away after taking a 16-point lead with 6:23 left in the third period.

 

In the final 10 minutes Penn (5-4, 1-2) got a hot hand shooting 9-of-11.

 

Olsen spurred the game-breaker with a shot from beyond the arc to make it 65-58 with 2:27 left.

 

Then Ese Obevire got two back inside the paint and Jordan Obi made it a three-point game at 65-62 with 33 seconds to play.

 

Webber got two on the line for Villanova with 19 seconds left making it 67-62, Obi missed a 3-point shot.

 

Webber got back to the line making 1-of-2 with 15 seconds left, then on the next possession Kaitlyn stole a ball from Stina Almqvist.

 

Obi had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Quakers, freshman Mataya Gayle scored17, and Almqvist, who also had been high scoring, finished with 14 points.

 

“It was a really good game. I thought we did some really good things defensively,” Penn coach Mike McLaughlin said. ‘I’m a huge fan of Denise, she does an awesome job. Couldn’t keep this team of the boards.

 

“I was really proud. We fought all the way back. We had a chance.”

 

Dalce said she was already looking forward to Saturday night and to try and get get some redemption after the men’s team loss here to the Hawks.

 

“With the men's team unfortunately losing to Saint Joe's, we have to venture for that,” Dalce said. “No hard feelings, but we have to do what we have to do.”

 

Saint Joseph’s Keeps Rolling:  With a busy week under way playing three ahead of hosting the Wildcats, the Hawks don’t have the luxury of looking yet to Saturday night.

 

But they’re two-for-two after winning 62-47 at Boston U. Tuesday night to stay unbeaten overall at 8-0.

 

Coach Cindy Griffin’s squad overcame early foul trouble to Talya Brugler and Chloe Welch to go up by 14 until the Terriers (5-3) of the Patriot League scored at the buzzer to make it 37-25 at the half.

 

 The visitors pushed it up by as many as 15 in the third but B.U. made it a contest at the two-minute mark moving within eight points. However, the Hawks got back above double digits at 54-42 heading to the final quarter.

 

A six-minute drought enabled the Terriers to get within 10 but Julia Nystrom’s 3-pointer from the corner ended the threat as a Saint Joseph’s claimed victory in Beantown.

 

Mackenzie Smith was 7-for-11 from the field, including 3-of-4 from deep, for 22 points, with four boards, three helpers, three swipes, and a block. Laura Ziegler snatched 11 rebounds, scored seven, dealt five, and blocked two.

 

Brugler got all 13 of her points in the second half.

 

Now comes a gold opportunity to make national noise hosting No. 11 Utah Thursday at 7 p.m. (ESPN+), the visitors choosing to stop at Hawk Hill on the way to playing No. 1 South Carolina Sunday part of the big Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase.

 

Can you say trap game?

 

The Utes are the preseason favorites in the lame-duck PAC-12 and were in the top 5 early last month until upset at Baylor. On Saturday night they ran into adversity, losing reigning conference freshman of the year Gianna Kneepkens to a right foot injury in the game against state rival BYU whom they’ll join in the Big 12 next season.

 

A year ago they nearly upset eventual NCAA champion LSU in the Elite Eight round.

 

The game may draw some WNBA scouts eyeing Alissa Pili, a transfer from Southern Cal last season who became PAC-12 player of the year.

 

Rutgers Downs La Salle: Abington product Kassondra Brown scored her 1,000^th point, while reaching a season-best 12 for Rutgers in a 98-67 victory over La Salle at Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, N.J.

 

She shot 5-for-8 from the field, while Kaylene Smikle scored 21 and hauled down 11 boards for the Scarlet Knights (6-5). 

 

Destiny Adams had 17 points and 10 rebounds, while freshman Jillian Huerter had a personal best 16 points and Lisa Thompson with 11 points and Erica Lafayette with 10 also collected double digits.

 

La Salle (3-5) only led for 17 seconds.

 

Nicole Melious and Jolene Armendariz each scored 12 for the Explorers, the latter also getting 10 rebounds.

 

La Salle visits Lehigh Thursday 7 p.m. (ESPN+)  at Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa., while Rutgers opens its Big Ten slate at home Saturday at  4 p.m. against No. 16 Indiana on the Big Ten Network.

 

National Roundup: DePaul at home in Chicago edged Green Bay 68-64 as Anaya Peoples scored 22 for the Blue Demons (5-4), while the visiting Phoenix (5-3) got 16 from Natalie McNeal.

 

In an A-10 opener, Duquesne edged visiting Fordham 75-73 in overtime in Pittsburgh as Tess Myers scored the winning point for the Dukes (4-3) with 23 seconds left. Taylor Donaldson missed a jumper at the finish for the Rams (5-4).

 

TCU (9-0) has its second longest win streak as Madison Conner and Sedona Prince combined for 53 points in a 77-60 win Abilene Christian. Conner had 29 points, including 9-of-19 on threes, and Prince recorded 10 blocks. With 24 points and the blocks she’s tied nationally at the top with six double doubles.

 

Looking Ahead: Princeton off its narrow loss at Rhode Island Sunday host Quinnipiac Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Jadwin Gym (ESPN+), while the other four games involving locals are also 7 p.m. tips; Rider at Virginia; Rider at Marist; and Lafayette at No. 14 Notre Dame.

 

Nationally, No. 17 UConn hosts Ball State  at 7 p.m. on the FOX app; Also at 7, No. 4 Iowa visits Iowa State on ESPN2; Harvard is at Maine at 6 p.m. on ESPN+; Michigan is at Toledo at 5 p.m. on CBSSN; Tennessee is at Middle Tennessee in Huntsville, Ala., at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN+.

 

Noteworthy: In the WBCA Division II coaches poll Jefferson (8-0) is 6^th and close to 4^th while West Chester (6-1), the loss recently to Jefferson, is 11^th. 

 

In the D2CSC poll Jefferson is 5^th and West Chester is 14^th; Jefferson is No. 1 in the East Region Top 10 while Holy Family is tied for 6^th; West Chester is 2^nd in the Atlantic Region Top 10.

 

And that’s the report.