The Guru Report: Saint Joseph’s Snaps Seven-Game Losing Streak to Villanova to Clinch Big Five Title Tie; Mullin Powers Drexel to Win Over Buffalo; UNLV Wins at Oklahoma

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

 

PHILADELPHIA — Moneyball overcame a money player at Saint Joseph’s Saturday night at Hagan Arena on Hawk Hill and as a result coach Cindy Griffin’s team ended seven seasons of futility in the highlight Big Five series on the women’s side and cashed in with a come-from-behind 73-67 victory over Villanova to clinch a tie for the City Series championship.

 

The length of the drought had been the largest by either team in the long-running series.

 

The win comes on the heels of the recent men’s team’s triumph over the Wildcats during the Big Five Classic, making it the first time since 1994-95 that both squads won — the men 60-57 at The Palestra and the women a 48-47 thriller.

 

The Hawks (9-1, 3-0 Big Five) can clinch the title outright on Jan. 15 when they host a noon game against La Salle that will air on CBSSN.

 

Villanova (6-3, 2-1) has a chance to come back and share the crown if the Wildcats win at La Salle Dec. 21 and then the Explorers beat the Hawks. And at this hour if La Salle beats Temple, Villanova, and Saint Joseph’s, then coach Mountain MacGilivray’s squad would get a piece of the glory.

 

Maddy Siegrist may be gone from the Wildcats, but in winning the game, Saint Joseph’s committee of scorers overcame a visiting player arena-record performance by Lucy Olsen, who scored 32 points, shooting 11-for-23 from the field, 4-of-9 on 3-point attempts, and 6-for-8 from the line.

 

Former Hawks star Chelsea Woods also scored 32, but just 48 hours after Utah’s Alissa Pili set the visiting mark by scoring 31, Olsen edged past her with a three-pointer that became the last Wildcats’ threat.

 

Christina Dalce had 15 points and 11 rebounds, though she missed two foul shots at a critical point late in the game and Hawks defenders were able to counteract her normal dominance in the post just enough to help turn the momentum.

 

Freshman Maddie Webber added 10 points to the Wildcats attack.

 

Coming off Thursday’s loss here — the first of the season — to No. 11 Utah, the home team was able to do what they failed to do against the Utes — score, though that was still a problem in the first half.

 

As opposed to Villanova, where Olsen has picked up to an extent what Siegrist provided as the nation’s leading scorer last season, Saint Joseph’s has had a rotating versatility where someone different has been the star of the night with solid support from the rest of the squad.

 

On Saturday, it was Mackenzie Smith with the hot hand, turning the game around in the third period when she scored 13 of her team-high 21 points as the the Hawks inched ahead and stayed there the rest of the way.

 

Smith sizzled from the field, shooting 9-for-15, including 3-for-5 from deep.

 

Laura Ziegler, who played all 40 minutes, and Talya Brugler, who was just 15 seconds short of matching her, continued their dual post presence, each scoring 16 points, while Ziegler double doubled with 11 rebounds. 

 

Chloe Welch, the grad transfer from A-10 rival Davidson, had 11 points and was 5-for-5 from the line.

 

Julie Nystrom hit a key triplet, as did freshman Gabby Casey, while Emma Boslet off the bench added to support on the defense.

 

“I’m really, really, very, very proud of our team showing a lot of resilence today, being relentless,” Griffin said. “Just really proud of the way that the whole team stepped up and did what they needed to do against a very good team.”

 

In past games with these two schools, whose campuses are not very apart, the issue had been decided quickly by the Wildcats, especially in the Siegrist era.

 

In this one, though unable to score in the first half, as they were the entire game against Utah, they seemed capable of being competitive, though it took a bit of a halftime lecture from Griffin.

 

“I thought the mentality change, and we turned it up a notch defensively, and we’re capable of doing it,” Griffin said, noting the lack of committed fouls seemed to indicate her group was playing soft.”

 

Smith, who had only scored two points in the first half, credited a brief lecture in a timeout, from changing her approach.

 

“(Griffin) looked at me in the timeout and told me to stop being emotional and start playing basketball,” Smith related. “That’s exactly what I tried to do.”

 

The Hawks trailed by as many as 10 points in the second quarter, though got back within five 33-28 at the half.

 

It got back to 10 again, however, on an Olsen shot for her 25^th point to make it 44-34 before the Hawks suddenly erupted on a 10-1 run.

 

“We knew today the ball needed to move and we needed to make shots,” Griffin said. “When we were down ten, we weren’t making many shots, and they were making shots.

 

“You put yourself in a little bit of a hole, you start making shots, you become a little more confident and that helps both ends of the floor, then it becomes a game.” 

 

Down the stretch, Villanova’s attempt to regain control continued to evoke a successful response by Saint Joseph’s.

 

“Great game by Saint Joe’s,” said Villanova coach Denise Dillon. “We got a chance to watch a lot of them. They were coming off a tough loss against Utah.

 

“They bounced back real fast. They played with the same intensity they’ve shown from the beginning (of the season), they’re really stepping up and playing a lot of great basketball together,” Dillon said.

 

“Tough one our end, we’ve got a lot of growing up to do, speed it up, but it’s going to take some time.”

 

Saint Joseph’s ended up going 3-1 on a compacted stage of the schedule the last week, while Villanova in a similar deal, lost a tough one last Sunday at Columbia, turned it around fast to beat Penn, had a little more rest than the Hawks coming into this game, but now the Wildcats have to host reigning Ivy champion Princeton Monday night at 7 at Finneran Pavilion (FloHoops).

 

“Cold spell is certainly an appropriate term,” Dillon said of stretches the Wildcats’ shooting fell off. “We have to figure who else we could get the ball to, besides Lucy. I thought we got some clean open loks, but couldn’t knock those down, then some defensive lapses came into play after not knocking down some shots.”

 

Of Smith, Dillon said, “She did a great job taking what was given to her.”

 

Saint Joseph’s is now off until the annual Hawk Classic in which the opening day, the opponent will be New Hampshire at 11 a.m. followed at 1 p.m. by UAB meeting Wagner on Dec. 20.

 

On the second day, the Hawks will meet either UAB or Wagner at 1 p.m. in which it will either be a third-place or championship contest pending first day results, while New Hampshire will play either the winner or loser at 11 a.m. on Dec. 21. The entire event will air on ESPN+.

 

“We harp on being prepared every day and challenging each other every day,” Smith said. “In our huddle before the game I said this is our chance to at least secure a spot for the first championship we’re going to win.

 

“I think we did a really good job coming back in the end to do that.”

 

The Hawks’ last claim to the title was a tie in 2014-15 and outright the season before.

 

Mullin Propels Drexel Past Buffalo: Despite the Villanova loss, Wildcats positive DNA existed elsewhere in town — the men snapping a losing streak by topping UCLA at the Wells Fargo Center, while here (yes was elsewhere in the afternoon) transfer Brooke Mullin broke her previous career-high scoring 27 points on 11-for-22 from the field, including 3-of-7 from deep and a 2-for-2 on the line to rally Drexel to a 65-57 victory over visiting Buffalo at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.

 

The Dragons (4-3) were coming off a recent win at Marist in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., in which Chloe Hodges had a career-high 18 points.

 

Hodges had 11 in this one and Grace O’Neill scored 10.

 

Chellia Watson nearly matched Mullin, scoring 25 points, while Kirsten Lewis-Williams scored 13 for the Bulls (5-3).

 

Buffalo drew a nice crowd, in part the homecoming flair provided to Woodbury High grad alum Alexis Davis, a freshman who started and shot 3-for-4 and scored seven points.

 

Drexel’s defense forced 17 turnovers giving the Dragons a 25-7 advantage in yielding points off miscues.

 

“Truly excited about today’s game for this team,” said Drexel coach Amy Mallon. “I think a lot of things we’ve been working towards, we saw happen a little bit, when they went on a little bit of a run, we kept our composure and executed on offense.

 

“You look at the stats, we had 25 shots on 18 assists, that’s Drexel basketball and something we’re going to continue doing,” Mallon noted.

 

Buffalo’s biggest lead of the day was seven in the first period, while Drexel went up nine early in the third, only to have it erased as the Bulls went on to lead in the fourth by a point several times until Jasmine Valentine got the Dragons back on course.

 

“Every game I do whatever it takes for a win, so I just stepped up,” Mullin said.

 

Unlike, her time at Villanova, Mullin is getting a bigger role in the offense, and said of her comfort level with the change, “Yes, definitely.

 

“Coming over here is similar (playing defense).”

 

Drexel is off until next Sunday, hosting No. 20 Florida State.

 

No. 16 Indiana Top Rutgers in Big Ten Opener: The third and final local game on the slate saw No. 16 Indiana open its Big Ten schedule with a 66-56 win at Rutgers (6-6, 0-1 Big Ten) at Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, N.J.

 

Indiana (8-1), whose only loss was a rout at Stanford, which was skyrocketing in the Top 10, got 25 points from Mackenzie Holmes, as the Hoosiers went in front to stay in the second minute of the first quarter though the lead didn’t get until double digits until late in the first quarter.

 

Sydney Parrish had a double double of 14 points and 10 rebounds in the effort, which saw Indiana coach Terri Moren get her 100^th win in the conference.

 

Yarden Garzon and Chloe Moore-McNeil each had 11 points, the latter dishing seven assists.

 

Rutgers’ Kaylene Smikle had 19 points, 14 in the second half, Antonia Bates scored 11, and Destiny Adams and Kassondra Brown each had 10 points and eight rebounds.

 

Indiana is off until Saturday hosting Evansville while Rutgers is at Princeton Wednesday night at 7 (ESPN+) at Princeton in Jadwin Gym.

 

The National Scene: In another Big Ten opener, Nebraska won at Michigan State, 80-74, while No. 23 Gonzaga won at Rice 80-72; UNLV stayed unbeaten at 9-0, winning 92-76 at Oklahoma. The Rebels have a chance to return to the rankings for the first time this season. 

 

No. 13 Kansas State easily beat Missouri 84-56, while in a Beantown battle, Boston U. edged visiting Harvard 80-77.

 

Looking Ahead: Penn coming off a nice win at Merrimack Friday night is at Temple at 2 p.m. (ESPN+) in the Liacouras Center, the Quakers looking to finish 2-2 in the Big Five, while the host Owls are 0-2, still to play La Salle after Sunday’s game.

 

No. 25 Penn State may end up a one-week wonder in the rankings after losing at West Virginia on Monday night, so the Lady Lions are now in a must-win state with that regard when they visit No. 12 Ohio State, the Big Ten opener for both, in Columbus at 1 p.m.

 

Lehigh, off its record-setting night on the scoreboard over La Salle, visits Pitt at 1 p.m.

 

Nationally, the focus is on the triple-header at the Mohegan Sun for the Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase.

 

Utah finishes its Eastern swing playing No. 1 South Carolina at 2:30 p.m. on ESPN following the opener with No. 20 Florida State playing No. 2 UCLA at noon on ESPN2.

 

At 4:30 p.m., ESPN will have a half-hour show featuring the WNBA lottery draft — the four teams in the mix for the top four picks next April are Indiana, Seattle, Phoenix, and Los Angeles.

 

Then at 5 p.m., in an interesting matchup, No. 24 North Carolina and No. 17 UConn meet on ESPN.

 

Elsewhere, a mid-major/power five games has Liberty at No. 3 NC State, Washington is at No.21 Washington State in a PAC-12 opener, Kentucky is at No. 18 Louisville, No. 22 Creighton is at Wyoming, and No. 4 Iowa is in a Big Ten opener at Wisconsin at 2:30 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.

 

And that’s the report.