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 1,000th 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 1,000th 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 200th 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 200th 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.
posted by Mel Greenberg | 9:50 AM
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