The Guru Report: Princeton Powers Rutgers to Claim Central Jersey Bragging Rights; Marquette Handles Creighton in Big East Opener; Texas Tops Arizona

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

 

When Princeton has won four of the Tigers’ last six games over Rutgers, including Wednesday night’s 66-55 triumph at home in Jadwin Gym, at some moment coach Carla Berube’s group will have grown a lead differential accounting for a point for every mile between the two campuses in central New Jersey in creating distance in the outcome.

 

A year ago, up in Piscataway at Jersey Mike’s Arena, the Tigers overcame a 10-point deficit at the half to outscore the Scarlet Knights by 31 the rest of the way.

 

In this one, just 48 hours after collecting a gritty three-point win at Villanova, the home team raced to a 21-point lead at the break, more than enough to withstand being outscored 22-13 in the fourth quarter.

 

The victory gives Princeton (8-3) a 2-0 sweep in the annual Jersey round-robin that includes Seton Hall, which extended the Tigers in double overtime last month at Jadwin. However, the Pirates by also beating Rutgers gained a 1-1 split.

 

Reigning Ivy player of the year Kaitlyn Chen scored 19 points for Princeton, shooting 7-for-13 from the field, and also dealt five assists, while Madison St. Rose, last season’s top Ivy freshman, scored 17, duplicating Chen’s field goal effort, but also connecting on 3-of-4 from deep.

 

 Freshman Ashley Chea came off the bench to connect on 5-of-9 from the field, including 2-of-4 from beyond the arc for 13 points and Ellie Mitchell grabbed ten rebounds.

 

Princeton is now off until a road trip Friday afternoon, Dec. 29, playing Vermont in Burlington at 1 p.m. (ESPN+) followed by a New Year’s Eve stop in Syracuse at noon to play Le Moyne.

 

On the Rutgers (6-7) side, Kaylene Smikle and reserve Kassondra Brown each scored 14 points, Smikle also shooting 3-of-5 from deep, while Antonia Bates and Destiny Adams each scored 10 points, and Chyna Cornwell grabbed 10 rebounds.

 

 With finals under way, the two locals against each other were the only ones playing Wednesday night, likewise two more against each other Thursday night when Delaware visits Temple at the Liacouras Center at 7 p.m. (ESPN+).

 

No one is scheduled locally on Friday, while Saturday will see Villanova visiting St. John’s at 6 p.m. in Madison Square Garden in New York City (FloHoops), the start of Big East play for both teams, and Rider travels to Manhattan at 2 p.m. in Riverdale outside the city as both begin play in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) (ESPN+).

 

On Sunday, Rutgers will host No. 16 Virginia Tech at 5:30 p.m. in FS1, while Penn State will host St. Francis (Pa.) in the Bryce Jordan Center at 1 p.m., the same time La Salle hosts Temple at 1 p.m. (ESPN+) in the Tom Gola Arena in a Big Five game that’s a must win for the Explorers to stay mathematically alive for a tie in the City Series, the visiting Owls looking to finish with a 2-2 record.

 

Drexel will host No. 22 Florida State at 2 p.m. in the Daskalakis Athletic Center (FloHoops).

 

The National Scene: There were only a few games placed on the Guru radar for Wednesday, which leads with No. 5 Texas winning at Arizona 88-75 in Tempe at the McHale Center.

 

Rori Harmon scored 19 points, dealt 11 assists and grabbed nine rebounds, one short of a triple double for the unbeaten Longhorns (11-0). Taylor Jones scored 16 points.

 

“Offensively we're pretty hard to deal with,” said Texas coach Vic Schaefer period. “We came out one team to punch first, and I think we did.”

 

Texas has scored 80 or more points in all but two games and is averaging 91.6 points a game.

 

Schaefer praised Harmon, saying, “She's a stat stuffer. There's not another guard in the country like her.”

 

Arizona (7-3) got 26 points from Kailyn Gilbert, though she struggled from the field after the first quarter, shooting 4-for-15.

 

“We're young and we're learning, but we'll get there,” said Arizona coach Adia Barnes.

 

In a Big East opener featuring two ranked teams, No. 19 Marquette (10-0) stayed unbeaten by topping No. 20 Creighton 76-70 at home in Milwaukee. 

 

Liza Karlen scored 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Golden Eagles, who pulled away from a 64-64 tie with the Bluejays (7-2) with 4:28 left in regulation. Rose Nkumu and Jordan King each added 11 points for Marquette.

 

Creighton’s Emma Ronsiek scored 29 points, Molly Mogensen scored 21, and Lauren Jensen added 13.

 

Morgan Maly was held to 4 points, way below her 16.5 average.

 

Creighton will be at Drake in Iowa, Sunday, while Marquette will host Appalachian State.

 

In a virtual neighborhood Big East/Big Ten challenge, DePaul of the Big East jumped to a 20-10 lead after one quarter on Northwestern and cruised to a 90-65 victory at the Wintrust Center in Chicago.

 

Anaya Peoples scored 21 points and grabbed 7 rebounds for the winning Blue Demons (6-5), while Michelle Sidor and Katlyn Gilbert each scored 15.

 

Casey Harter from Harleysville, a freshman, and reserve Melannie Daley each scored 13 for the Wildcats (3-7), coached by Father Judge grad Joe McKeown, whose team will visit Temple at 11 a.m., Dec. 21. The game will also be a homecoming for Paige Mott, who scored 11, while Caroline Lau dcored 10.

 

Games of note on the national schedule Saturday has No. 18 Louisville playing No. 17 Connecticut at noon in the XL Center in Hartford at noon.

 

No. 23 UNLV is at Seton Hall at 1 p.m.; Liberty is at Richmond at 2 p.m.; No. 24 Miami is playing No. 10 Baylor in San Antonio, Texas, at 5 p.m., part of the Hall of Fame series; No. 3 NC State is at South Florida at 7 p.m.; Cleveland State is at No. 4 Iowa at 7 p.m. on the Big Ten network.

 

Noteworthy: Since there are not a lot of games to report, the NCAA has begun releasing the daily .NET ratings. Here is how the local 13 were listed Tuesday:

 

Penn State 34

Princeton 42

Villanova 43

Saint Joseph’s 46

Temple 114

Drexel 124

Delaware 140

Lehigh 141

Rutgers 160

Penn 201

La Salle 280

Lafayette 298

Rider 326

 

Here’s How They Rank in Conference

 

AAC

North Texas 1-65

Temple 5-114

*South Florida 7-134

*-Preseason Pick

 

Atlantic 10

Davidson 1-39

Saint Joseph’s 2-46

*Rhode Island 6-84

La Salle 13-280

 

Big East

*UConn 1-15

Villanova 5-43

 

Big Ten

*Iowa 1-6

Penn State 7-34

Rutgers 13-160

 

CAA

Stony Brook 1-64

Drexel 2-124

Delaware 3-140

*Towson 7-182

 

Ivy League

*Princeton 1-42

Columbia 2-77

Harvard 3-91

Penn 5-201

 

MAAC

Fairfield 1-72

*Niagara 8-313

Rider 9-326

 

Patriot

*Holy Cross 1-137

Lehigh 2-141

Lafayette 7-298

 

And that’s the report.