The Guru Report: Rider Rally Falls Short in MAAC Game Hosting Quinnipiac; No. 2 UCLA Tops No. 13 Ohio State while No. 17 UConn Opens Big East Beating Butler

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

 

LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. — There was one game on the local card Monday and while it seemed Rider was on the way to a second straight beatdown in the start of play in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), the Broncs fought back down the stretch from a double-digit deficit of 14 points early in the third quarter against Quinnipiac here at home in Alumni Gym.

 

The Bobcats, however, prevailed 60-57, powered by 20 points from Karson Martin, while Ella O’Donnell scored 10 points, freshman center Anna Foley did a little of everything scoring eight points, grabbing six rebounds, dishing three assists and swiping four steals.

 

 Unlike Saturday at Manhattan in Riverdale, N.Y., where the game was long since decided before the 73-39 outcome headed to the record books in the league opener for both teams, there was hope here when Kaylan Deveney knotted the score with a pair of foul shots 56-56 in the final minute.

 

But as regulation time was ending, the Bobcats (4-5, 1-0 MAAC) missed a shot and as a Rider player attempted a rebound the ball deflected into hands of the opposition. Grace LaBarge, who had nine points for Quinnipiac, got opened to the side and zinged a 3-pointer to snap the deadlock with 5.9 seconds left on the clock.

 

Makayla Firebaugh, with a chance to tie, whipped an attempted trey that hit the iron.

 

Deveney, matching a career high, and Taylor Langan each scored 13 for Rider (2-8, 0-2) and Langan made it a double-double with 14 rebounds.

 

Jessika Schiffer nine points but she and Firebaugh struggled from the field, Schiffer shooting 3-for-11 while Firebaugh was 1-for-8.

 

“It was a really good game, and we just came up a little short at the end,” said veteran Rider coach Lynn Milligan. “We’re starting to see what we’re capable of and it’s definitely something to build on.

 

“We’ve got to shoot the ball together. We got some good looks, and they didn’t go.

 

“We executed exactly what we drew at the end of the game and got two good looks,” Milligan said of the strategy at the close. “We got the looks we wanted. We felt like if we could win the rebounding battle (33-33), we could win the game and it was a push.”

 

Langan, a graduate guard, said of the two halves and her role, “I don’t think I did a good job in the first quarter. I need to be more efficient.

 

“I think I was very efficient in the second half, but everything I have is credit to the team.”

 

Rider is off until Dec. 30, traveling to Lehigh of the Patriot League in Bethlehem for the final non-conference game before continuing in MAAC competition the rest of the way.

 

No local games are scheduled Tuesday.

 

Saint Joseph’s closes out its non-conference schedule ahead of the holiday break and start of Atlantic 10 competition hosting the annual Hawk Classic at Hagan Arena on Wednesday and Thursday.

 

On Wednesday, veteran coach Cindy Griffin will have her team open at 11 a.m. meeting New Hampshire before UAB and Wagner play at 1 p.m.

 

The event is one of the few using true tourney competition. The Hawks slotted themselves to play at 1 p.m. Thursday, so pending the outcomes that will be either a third-place game or championship. The other game on Thursday will tip at 11 a.m. All four games will air on ESPN+.

 

Drexel will play Wednesday and Thursday in the Homewood Suites Classic in Fort Myers, Fla.

 

On the first day the Dragons will meet reigning ASUN champion Florida Gulf Coast at 7 p.m. on ESPN+ while on the second they’ll meet Cleveland State, the reigning Horizon League champs at 3:30 p.m.

 

Penn State on Wednesday will host Central Connecticut at 11:30 a.m. in the Bryce Jordan Center in State College.

 

On Thursday, other local teams wrapping up before the break are Temple, going for its fourth straight in hosting Northwestern at 11 a.m. in the Liacouras Center on ESPN+.

 

Delaware is at Delaware State at 2 p.m. in Dover, and Lafayette will visit Ivy member Dartmouth at noon on ESPN+ in Hanover, N.H.

 

Two teams with current losing streaks collide in the next to last Big Five game when Villanova travels to La Salle in the Tom Gola Arena at noon on ESPN+.

 

The Wildcats need to win for a potential 3-1 tie with Saint Joseph’s if the Explorers bounce back and beat the Hawks Jan. 15 at noon at Hagan Arena on the CBS Sports Network. If La Salle wins, then Saint Joseph’s clinches the title outright without regard to a result in its first of two A-10 conference games.

 

The National Scene: Having lost to then-No. 21 Southern Cal on opening day, No. 13 Ohio State fell Monday to the other Los Angeles power coming to the Big Ten next season from the imploding PAC-12 in No. 2 UCLA, which beat the Buckeyes 77-71 in Columbus to stay perfect at 10-0.

 

The two setbacks are the only ones for Ohio State (9-2), which had a rally fall short in the fourth quarter.

 

Charisma Osborne scored 14 of her 19 points in the second half for the Bruins, while Stanford transfer Lauren Betts had 17 for the game, which saw Ohio State jump to a 7-0 start before UCLA rallied to a 17-17 tie at the end of the quarter.

 

Kiki Rice added 15 points and Gabriel Jaquez scored 11 for the winners.

 

“They've responded from one loss at the beginning of the season to just really soaring and getting a lot better,” UCLA coach Cori Close said. “This means a lot because we have a lot of respect for them.”

 

Jacy Sheldon scored 30 for the home team and Taylor Thierry scored 20.

 

“I thought the problem tonight is we had too many possessions where the ball just kind of stuck and quit moving,” Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff said. “For us, to be at our best on offense, it's when we get to what I like to call the next level of the offense, and we just didn't get there enough tonight.”

 

Each team has one more game before the break, UCLA hosting Hawaii on Thursday, and Ohio State hosting Belmont on Friday.

 

No. 17 UConn opened Big East play with its fourth straight win, breaking away in the second half to beat visiting Butler 88-62 in Hartford as freshman Ashlynn Shade scored 22 points for the Huskies (8-3, 1-0 Big East).

 

Aubrey Griffin scored 14 points for the winners, while Aaliyah Edwards had 12 points and 12 rebounds. 

 

Butler (7-4, 0-1) had 13 points each from Rachel Kent and Caroline Strande.

 

The Huskies will play an exhibition game in Canada Wednesday serving as a homecoming for Edwards when they meet the Toronto Metropolitan.

 

After the break UConn will host No. 18 Marquette at 1 p.m. on New Year’s Eve in Hartford.

 

Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma now has 1,188 wins, seven behind women’s record holder Tara VanDerveer at No. 9 Stanford, which comes out of finals break Wednesday to host UC Davis at 4 p.m.

 

The coach of the Cardinal at 1195 is eight wins away from breaking the combined men’s and women’s mark held by retired Duke men’s coach Mike Krzyzewski at 1,202 victories.

 

No. 6 Southern Cal came out of its finals break to beat visiting Fullerton 93-44 at home in the Galen Center in Los Angeles as freshman sensation JuJu Watkins scored 23 points with six assists and six rebounds for the Trojans (9-0). 

 

Penn transfer Kayla Padilla had 13 points, shooting 5-7 from the field, including 3-of-4 from deep for her hometown Trojans (9-0), who will open PAC-12 play Dec. 30 at 8 p.m. across town at UCLA.

 

Playing one more before the holiday break, USC travels Wednesday to nearby Long Beach State at 5 p.m.on ESPN+.

 

All five starters scored in double figures against Fullerton (4-5), including Harvard transfer Mckenzie Forbes with 17 points, including three of USC’s 16 from deep. Watkins also had three while Taylor Bigby’s five accounted for all 15 of her points.

 

 No. 12 Kansas State crushed visiting Oral Roberts 102-59 as Ayoka Lee set a record for career double-doubles with the Wildcats (11-1) at 53 after scoring 24 points and a career-high 21 rebounds, just two short of the program record. Lee also blocked five shots.

 

No. 15 Indiana topped visiting Evansville 109-56 as Yarden Garzon, whose sister Lior played at Villanova, had a career-high 30 points, shooting 12-of-14 from the field for the Hoosiers (9-1). Mackenzie Holmes had 22 points and 10 rebounds.

 

Louisiana Tech took visiting Cal Baptist off the unbeaten column with a 77-51 victory.

 

In the first of a bunch of multi team events this week, in FIU’s Christmas Classic in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the host team fell to Texas State 67-61 while Alabama A&M beat Chicago State 80-43.

 

On Tuesday, in the first of two single-game nights at the Jumpman Invitational, No. 24 North Carolina will play Oklahoma at 9:30 p.m. in Charlotte on ESPN2, while on Wednesday, Florida will meet Michigan at 6:30 p.m., also on ESPN2.

 

No.1 South Carolina is at Bowling Green at7 p.m. on ESPN+ as Dawn Staley goes against her former assistant Fred Chmiel.

 

In the Hall of Fame series in Phoenix on Wednesday, No. 20 Gonzaga plays Arizona at 4:30 p.m. while Fresno State plays Arizona State, both on ESPN+.

 

Other Wednesday games of note have No. 7 LSU meeting host Coppin State at 6 p.m. on ESPN+ giving Angel Reese a homecoming in Baltimore; No. 10 Baylor plays Providence at 3:30 p.m. in the West Palm Beach Classic in Florida; No. 19 Louisville at 7 p.m. on the ACC Network hosts No. 23 Washington, which entered the AP Poll Monday as did TCU replacing UNLV and Miami, which lasted one week.

 

No. 3 NC State is at Old Dominion at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN+.

 

On Thursday in the West Palm Beach Classic Baylor plays South Florida at 3:30 p.m.

 

And that’s the report.