The Guru Report: Obi’s 30-Point Double Double Carries Penn Over Merrimack

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

 

On the way to playing its final Big 5 game of the season Sunday afternoon at Temple at 2 p.m. in the Owls’ Liacouras Center (ESPN+) Penn took a detour north Friday night for a quick trip to play Merrimack in North Andover, Mass., the only local action on a very small card with finals under way.

 

Trailing early, the Quakers eventually went ahead by 10 and stayed there the rest of the way for a 71-62 victory, though Merrimack got within striking distance a few times.

 

It was the first meeting between the two schools.

 

Jordan Obi had a career-high 30 points and grabbed 13 rebounds while freshman Mataya Gayle in the backcourt continued to impress with 14 points and dealt four assists, and Lizzy Groetsch had a well-rounded effort for Penn (6-4) with nine points, eight rebounds, and five assists.

 

Merrimack (3-7) got 18 points and 12 rebounds from Amaya Staton, while Diamond Christian scored 12 points.

 

Madison Roman gave the hosts a 13-12 lead with three minutes left in the first quarter and they built on it to close out the period ahead 21-14.

 

Elsewhere, nationally, the Guru had four games on the radar for Friday and result from then had host Miami edge DePaul, 75-70; Seton Hall beat Central Connecticut 77-46, the visitors now under former Temple associate head coach Waynetta Veney; host Drake beat North Dakota State 77-66; and Grand Canyon on the road beat Arizona State 66-59.

 

Looking Ahead:  On Saturday, Drexel hosts Buffalo at 2 p.m. on FloHoops at the Daskalakis Athletic Center, Rutgers opens its Big Ten slate on the Big Ten Network at 4 p.m. hosting No. 16 Indiana at Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, N.J., and then the Big Five showdown with Villanova at Saint Joseph’s at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.

 

Harvard is at Boston U. at 7 p.m., while UNLV is at Oklahoma at 3 p.m., both on ESPN+. 

 

On Sunday No. 25 Penn State opens its Big Ten slate at No. 12 Ohio State at 1 p.m. 

 

The WNBA Draft lottery positioning will be held at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN.

 

On Monday Princeton is at Villanova at 7 p.m. on FloHoops from Finneran Pavilion.

 

And that’s the report.