The Guru Report: Staley Shows Who’s Still The Boss as No. 1 South Carolina Routs Bowling Green; No. 24 Carolina Edges Oklahoma; Hawk Classic Opens at Saint Joseph’s

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

 

The scene was in Norfolk, Va., where in the second round of the NCAA tournament at Old Dominion, a reunion of sorts occurred when Temple played UConn, thus making it the first time then-Owls coach Tonya Cardoza was facing Geno Auriemma on whose staff she had served for 15 seasons.

 

Prior to the opening tip the two met on the sidelines in a warm embrace and then the Huskies Hall of Famer spent the next 40 minutes showing her who still was the boss in a lopsided outcome.

 

Likewise, Tuesday night a similar scene occurred in the Midwest as No. 1 and unbeaten South Carolina paid a visit to Bowling Green in Ohio.

 

This time it was Hall of Famer Dawn Staley engaging in a warm embrace with first year Falcons coach Fred Chmiel, who had been on her staff with the Gamecocks and at Temple.

 

Having a trick up his sleeve Chmiel attempted to use a zone defense once the game got under way, but no such luck pulling an upset as the Gamecocks made quick work of the effort and rolled to a 93-62 victory extending the perfect season start to 11-0.

 

Chloe Kitts had a personal best 21 points as the winners connected on their first 10 shots to blast their way to an 18-point lead.

 

“We knew coming in we had to pick our poison,” said Chmiel. “You can't take everything away from a team like that.”

 

Bree Hall in the opening burst hit three shots from deep and finished with 18 points.

 

Staley afterwards did say Chmiel’s strategy was a bit of a surprise.

 

“I have to give him a hard time for that,” Staley said. “If I was a betting woman, I would have bet he would play man (to man). It's a zone he implemented with us, so it was pretty cool to see him stick with it.”

 

Morgan Sharps scored 21 of her 25 points with seven three-balls for Bowling Green (6-3).

 

A sellout crowd at the Stroh Center on campus attended the game.

 

“It's great to see Fred,” said Staley. “He's a great guy. I know this program is used to winning, and so is he. I wanted him to have his own program and to make an impact on young people the way he made an impact on me.”

 

Bowling Green has another date with a ranked team this week, playing at No. 16 Indiana Friday in Bloomington, while South Carolina is off until Dec. 30 visiting East Carolina ahead of the start of Southeastern Conference competition.

 

No. 24 North Carolina Tops Oklahoma: Being ranked in the lower area of the Associated Press poll does not allow room for error, as Maryland and Tennessee learned early in the season.

 

Oklahoma had a shortened stay after the Sooners were upset by Princeton, which earned a ranking off the victory \but was out a week later having lost by a point at A-10 favorite Rhode Island.

 

In the first of the two-night Women’s Jumpman Invitational featuring a game a night in Charlotte, Courtney Banghart’s Tar Heels made sure they wouldn’t be made a steppingstone back to the poll, beating Oklahoma 61-52.

 

Deja Kelly had 21 points for UNC (8-4), while Alyssa Ustby double-doubled with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Transfer Lexi Donarski added 10 points.

 

During the slide down the rankings, North Carolina had lost to South Carolina, UConn, Kansas State, and Florida Gulf Coast, all but the last one in the rankings.

 

Payton Verhlust scored 15 for Oklahoma (6-4), which struggled from the field. Skylar Vann had 10 points and 12 rebounds.

 

The Tar Heels are off until getting into the ACC schedule New Year’s Eve hosting Clemson while the Sooners will be home Friday to host Southern before moving into Big 12 action after Xmas.

 

Night two on Wednesday will see Florida play Michigan at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN2.

 

Locals did not play Tuesday.

 

In single games not affiliated with Multi Team Events, Tennessee at home beat Wofford 85-63 while Illinois State beat Saint Louis, 87-81.

 

In Day 1 of the Trailblazer Classic in Utah, Oregon was upset by Utah Tech 92-86, while Ball State beat Pitt 73-62 in Day 1 of the Sun Coast Challenge in Tampa, Fla.

 

Out in the Hawaiian Islands the opening day of the Maui Classic saw Tulsa beat Texas Tech 66-58, while Oregon State beat SE Louisiana 92-69.

 

Looking Ahead: 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 over Villanova, then Saint Joseph’s clinches the title outright without regard to a result in its first of two A-10 conference games with the Explorers.

 

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

 

After the break the Huskies 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.

 

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.

 

Besides, the Hawk Classic here in the area, there are several other pure tournament formats around the nation that begin Wednesday.

 

In New Orleans, host Tulane meets Little Rock at 1 p.m. on ESPN+ while Duquesne plays Maine at 3:30 p.m. in the Tulane Holiday Tournament.

 

In the Cherokee Invitational near Asheville, Chattanooga plays Coastal Carolina at 7 p.m., followed by Richmond playing Michigan State at 9:30 p.m.

 

Playing one more before the holiday break, No. 6 USC travels Thursday to nearby Long Beach State at 5 p.m. on ESPN+.

 

And that’s the report.