By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru
PHILADELPHIA — Back in the day when retired Hall of Fame coach Theresa Grentz, the former Immaculata star, was guiding a powerful Rutgers team, she used to say that January was a necessary evil to get to February.
Translation: You start conference play, get battle tested when you have big aspirations and then start your momentum to March Madness.
This city, when it comes to women’s collegiate basketball, has been offered a variety of excellence in the current decade. The first highlight was Drexel and its two centerpieces of Kieshana Washington and Hannah Nihill taking the then-named Colonial Athletic Association tournament title and a place in the NCAA field for the second time in program history.
The achievement was under first-year coach Amy Mallon, who moved up when Denise Dillon left after a long run to coach out in the burbs at her alma mater of Villanova following the retirement of Harry Perretta.
The Drexel attraction was followed last season by the Maddy Siegrist show at Villanova, busting every women’sscoring record in the area, as well as leading the nation in the category, while also leading the Wildcats to second in the Big East, a home court in the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament and advancement to the Sweet 16.
Now it appears Saint Joseph’s can claim to be the next big thing to gravitate around after the Hawks to date have met everything needed to date, including a first sweep of the Big Five in over a decade, in their drive to win the Atlantic 10 or at worst become good enough to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA field.
There’s one game left for this month, on Wednesday at Loyola Chicago at 7 p.m. (ESPN+), and Saint Joseph’s has made it through the conference with just one nick, a narrow loss here to Richmond, but good enough for the moment to hold first by a half-game over the Spiders, who play Saint Louis on Sunday to try to rejoin the deadlock.
The 10-0 record in true road wins is currently best in the NCAA and in looking at what games the Hawks would be decided favorites the rest of the way, the secondary goal of top four seed is attainable baring upset losses or injury situations as a cause to become disruptive.
Heading near conference tourney time, two tests near the end of the schedule will be at VCU and here in a second game with Rhode Island, which the Hawks already won the first meeting. On Feb. 8, another challenge will be a visit to George Mason, enjoying one of the team’s best seasons.
Unlike recent seasons, the A-10 actually has become good enough to offer an increased quality in the upper portion of the standings.
So instead of the years when it was Dayton and/or Fordham and no one else, getting the No. 1 seed is ideal but placing in the top four is acceptable enough to get a double bye for the league tourney in March at the new Henrico Sports and Events Center outside Richmond.
The latest success for Saint Joseph’s came here on Hawk Hill at Hagan Arena Saturday afternoon, where the home team powered its way to a 68-42 triumph over Davidson.
Ironically, the win came on a day the 50th anniversary of the program was celebrated with alums either attending or giving remarks on a video presentation. In special focus, three members of the original team in 1973-74 were introduced during the game.
Only two seasons ago, unless one could witness the team despite its record to see potential, speculation existed whether the Hawks could return to the days of yesteryear.
Well, given the overall record of of 19-2, the other loss to nationally ranked Utah here in December, it’s yesteryear once more.
This is the best start in the 23-year history of Cindy Griffin guiding her alma mater and it ties for the second best start in the program’s history, the other under Women’s Hall of Fame coach Jim Foster.
The best was under the late Rene Portland, another former Mighty Macs star and Grentz teammate, who guided Saint Joseph’s to a 22-2 start in 1976-77 in her first season after Grentz departed for Rutgers.
In the recent past, the highlight Drexel and Villanova teams had an individual star towering over the rest of a complementary lineup.
Saint Joseph’s has a lineup this season that just towers in performance.
Against Davidson (14-6, 4-5), which has recently lost two key players to injuries, the Hawks won their sixth straight, outscoring the Wildcats in all but the third quarter and finishing with a punishing 21-4 attack in the fourth.
“We executed really well after the beginning and we got thee shots that we wanted to get, but I can’t emphasize enough how well our defense is really growing together as a team,” Griffin said. “When you hold a team to 42 points and four points in the fourth, it’s pretty special.”
The front court continued to be forceful, Talya Brugler led in this one with 19 points while Laura Ziegler had another double double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
“It’s just making plays,” Griffin said of the matchup. “In this time of year everybody knows what everybody is going to do. So, you can run your stuff, but you've got to be able to make plays and know how to play with each other. I thought we did a good job of that.”
Additionally, Mackenzie Smith had 12 points and 10 rebounds, and transfer Chloe Welch, playing against her previous school, had 13 points. Freshman Gabby Casey had a career-high 11 rebounds.
“We know exactly what Davidson is looking for,” Brugler said of the similar styles used by both teams. “Defensively, knowing we have similar styles of play. We play against that everyday in practice. So that helped us.”
The Hawks owned the boards with a 43-23 advantage.
“They had some open threes that didn’t drop where we made mistakes but were fortunate enough to be able to grab them,” Griffin said of Davidson. “Had they scored, the game could have been a lot closer.”
Brugler and Ziegler have been past A-10 freshmen of the year in successive seasons.
Davidson’s Charlise Dunn had 16 points while Issy Morgan scored 10 points.
Welch afterwards spoke of her previous five seasons with Saturday’s opponents before coming to Hawk Hill, where she is probably the clubhouse leader for top newcomer (as opposed to freshman) in the city.
Speaking of the emotions surrounding the situation, Welch, a native of Colorado, said, “I kind of prepared myself mentally leading up to it, and I talked to coach about it.
“We all understand that it was kind of difficult for me, so she was like, ‘As much as you can, try to treat it like another game; when you’re between the lines, it’s just anothert basketball game.’
“That’s what I tried to do to the best of my ability, and it turned out well for us today.”
Welch said she still has close friendships with teammates and coaches from her former team but said as the game neared there was no texting or calling, and things were kept “professional.”
In latest twice-weekly ESPN mock bracket from Charlie Crème, Saint Joseph’s is listed as first four out, or on the bubble. In the Hawks’ case, its progress, but in others, sliding the other way, it’s regression.
“We approach every game like it's a championship game, with that mentality,” Brugler said.
Lehigh Tops Patriot Leaders While Lafayette Falters: Just when Holy Cross (13-6, 7-1) was threatening to run away with the regular season crown in the Patriot League, Lehigh (12-7, 4-4) handed the Crusaders their first in conference defeat, and snapped and overall nine game win streak, triumphing 70-60 at home in Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa.
The Mountain Hawks stopped Holy Cross in a similar situation a year ago.
“Holy Cross is a really good team,” said Lehigh coach Addie Micir. “An experienced team, and they make comebacks like that all the time, but I'm so proud of our players.
“They stuck with the game plan, and we had a lot of different people step up in a lot of different ways. That's what you need to be a really good team.”
Maddie Albrecht had 17 points, six rebounds, and two assists for Lehigh, while Meghan O’Brien had four makes from deep for a personal best on the way to 15 points with six rebounds, and Lily Fandre had 11 points and 14 rebounds.
Holy Cross got 13 points each from Kaitlyn Flanagan and Bronagh Power-Cassidy.
Lehigh Wednesday travels to Annapolis, Md., to play Navy at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.
Meanwhile, Lafayette fell 51-39 on the road to Boston U. (13-6, 5-3) at Case Gymnasium in Massachusetts, wasting 11 points from Abby Antognoli, while Makayla Andrews and Kayla Drummond each scored 10 points.
Andrews had seven boards, Drummond grabbed eight, and Halee Smith nine for the Leopards (6-13, 1-7).
Lafayette on Wednesday will be at American U. for a 7 p.m. tip (ESPN+) at Bender Arena in Washington, D.C.
Penn Swept by Columbia While Princeton Downs Cornell: If Penn has designs on returning to the Ivy Tournament, then this Friday night 6 p.m. visit (ESPN+), the first of two with the Bears, is a must-win but not the only one to be part of the four-team field in March in New York City.
Attaining the top seed likely went out the window Saturday afternoon, on one of the tougher Ivy slates in terms of stronger teams early, losing to the host of the tourney, Columbia, 85-55, making it a 2-0 sweep by the Lions (13-5, 4-1), who lost on the road to league-leading Princeton, the reigning champions, last weekend.
Penn (10-8, 2-3) has suffered all three Ivy losses, including at Harvard, to the three top of the league preseason picks, with the Palestra game hosting Harvard and two Princeton games yet to be played.
Last year the Quakers had two steals in those six games to help the cause.
Right now, the window is narrow and with Brown improved, the Bears are a contender for the fourth spot and because of the way the schedule has played out unknowns exist.
Penn is good enough to sweep the other five but will any of them do some stealing themselves and how would a stumble affect the Quakers’ aspirations.
A bright spot for the Quakers was Mataya Gayle, a clear frontrunner for Big Five freshman of the year though Gabby Casey of Saint Joseph’s could also have a strong case. The Georgian had 21 points, her fourth 20 plus game and 12th reaching double digits.
Columbia, still smarting over not making it to the NCAAs last year off an upset loss to Harvard in the semifinals, had a season-high 15 from deep, outrebounding Penn by 19, and scoring 26 points off 14 turnovers.
Abbey Hsu had a game-high 28 points with 10 boards and made six from deep, while Cecilia Collins scored 22 with three from deep, with four assists and seven boards.
Riley Weiss scored 11.
“We put together much more of a complete 40 minutes, which was nice to see,” said eighth year Columbia coach Megan Griffith, a native of King of Prussia.
Next weekend the Lions are back home in Levien Gym in a key game hosting Harvard Friday and then Dartmouth w4 hours later.
Princeton (15-3, 5-0), considering potentially two New York games with Columbia, continued to make a case for safety valve at-large status in trouncing Cornell 85-47 at home in Jadwin Gym.
The Big Red (6-11, 0-5) is winless so far in the league.
Reigning Ivy player of the year Kaitlyn Chen had a double-double with 12 points and a personal best 10 assists, two short of the program record, Madison St. Rose scored 15, and Ashley Chea had 11 for the Tigers whose 47 bench points equaled Cornell’s team total.
Next weekend Princeton will do back-to-back hosting of Yale at 7 p.m. Friday and Brown at 5 p.m. Saturday.
Rutgers Still Seeking First Big Ten Victory: The Scarlet Knights (6-16, 0-9) had a fourth-quarter rally die and was handed a 73-62 setback from Wisconsin (10-9, 3-6 on the road in Madison.
Trailing earlier by 19, the visitors pulled close within four of the Badagers.
Mya Petticord had 15 for the Scarlet Knights with six rebounds while Kassondra Brown scored 13, and Destiny Adams had 11 points.
Rutgers next is back home at Jersey Mike’s Arena Tuesday hosting Michigan State at 7 p.m.
Rider Falls at Saint Peter’s: The other local result saw the Broncs taken down 68-58 by the Peacocks (5-13, 2-7) in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Contest (MAAC) in Jersey City, N.J.
“We had too many defensive breakdowns and turnovers really hurt us again,” said veteran Rider coach Lynn Milligan.
The Broncs (5-13, 2-7) got 15 points and 13 rebounds from Taylor Langan while Mikayla Firrbaugh scored 14.
Next up is a visit Thursday at 7 p.m. (ESPN+) IN Alumni Gym in Lawrenceville, N.J., from league-leading Fairfield (17-1, 9-0), which at home defeated Canisius 64-51 running the Stags’ win streak to 15, the only loss a 73-70 setback at Vanderbilt early in the season in Nashville, Tenn.
Janelle Brown had 19 points and Meghan Andersen had 16 points.
The National Scene: No. 15 Notre Dame Upsets No. 8 UConn: Freshman Hannah Hidalgo from Haddonfield, N.J., just outside Philadelphia, scored 34 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Irish to an 82-67 win over the Huskies on the road at Gampel Pavilion on the UConn campus in Storrs.
Moving up with a 13-game win streak fed by a lopsided 9-0 run in the Big East from their worst ranking in three decades following a loss at then No. 10 Texas in early December the injury-riddled Huskies (17-4) were looking to this non-conference game to propel to a more solid position ahead of the NCAA tournament committee’s 16-team reveal coming soon.
Instead, it revived their former Big East rival (15-4) from a recent home loss to Syracuse in the Atlantic Coast Conference where Notre Dame currently sits in a sixth-place tie with Duke.
“Hannah is just relentless,” Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey said of the new arrival this season at her alma mater. “She's a relentless player. What I love about her most is her confidence. She comes out, she's very fearless. She just loves to compete.”
Maddy Westbeld scored 23 for the visitors while Sonia Citron scored 15.
Trailing down nine at the half, the Huskies ignited off Paige Bueckers’ shot from deep on a 9-0 run to go in front 53-50.
Tied 60-60 near the nine-minute mark of the final quarter the UConn fortunes reverted when Nika Muhl fouled out soon thereafter and the Irish closed out on a 22-7 finish.
The Huskies, who visit Villanova at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday night, will be a decided underdog visiting No. 1 South Carolina next month.
“ It took a lot of guts for her to come in here and do what she did,” Hall of Fame Huskies coach Geno Auriemma said of Hidalgo. “She's damn good, right? Yeah.”
Auriemma remained with 1,197 career wins, third behind retired Duke men’s coach Mike Krzyzewski (1,202), and Stanford women’s coach Tara VanDerveer, the new leader who extended her record to 1,204
Friday night and has a game Sunday afternoon.
Aaliyah Edwards had 23 points and 11 rebounds for the Huskies while Bueckers scored 17 on a bad night 5-17 from the field.
Notre Dame has its own injury problems with Olivia Miles rehabbing from a right knee injury in the regular season finale last February not able to return anytime before or during March Madness, the AP citing a spokeswoman for the Irish.
The Huskies used the occasion to pre-game celebrate the 2003, 2004, 2013 and 2014 national champions from their collection of 11, with such WNBA and Olympic stars returning as Breanna Stewart and Diana Taurasi.
Elsewhere, nationally, in the Big 12, No. 4 Kansas State (20-1, 9-0) had a narrow 67-65 escape at home in Manhattan from new member BYU (12-9, 2-6) as Gisela Sanchez scored 18 for the Wildcats and Serena Sundell scored 14.
KSU recently lost center Aoki Lee to an injury and it is unknown when she’s able to return.
Lauren Gustin had 25 points and 21 rebounds for BYU.
No. 10 Texas at home beat new Big 12 member Cincinnati 67-50 but rookie sensation Madison Booker, a freshman, was sidelined with a hamstring injury she suffered at Friday’s practice. She recently moved to point guard to fill the role of Big 12 preseason player of the year Rory Harmon, who suffered a season-ending injury.
TCU, which started the season 14-0 but then had to forfeit two league games unable to have enough healthy players lost at Texas Tech 71-65 with a roster now containing several walk-ons.
In the Big Ten, No. 5 Iowa (19-2, 8-1) at home beat Nebraska 92-73 as Caitlin Clark, the reigning national player of the year, had 38 points, making eight shots from deep, grabbing 10 rebounds and dealing six assists.
Looking Ahead: Locally, on Sunday in the Big East, Villanova, ahead of its visit from UConn this week, visits DePaul in Chicago on Sunday at 2 p.m. on FS1 trying to bounce back from its recent upset loss at Providence.
In the CAA, Drexel is at league-leader Stony Brook at 2 p.m., while at the same time, Delaware hosts Towson at the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark, both on FloHoops.
Temple in the AAC is in the AAC in New Orleans playing Tulane at 3 p.m. on ESPN+ while in the Big Ten in a very major game Penn State hosts Maryland at 1 p.m. in the Bryce Jordan Center.
Nationally, No. 1 South Carolina hosts Vanderbilt at 3 p.m. on the SEC Network.
Richmond is at Saint Louis at 3 p.m. in the Atlantic 10 on ESPN+.
In the Pac-12, at 2 p.m. No. 6 Stanford is at Arizona; at 3 p.m. No. 3 Colorado is at Oregon; No. 16 Utah is at No. 25 Oregon State; and No. 11 Southern Cal hosts Washington; while at 4 p.m. No. 2 UCLA hosts Washington State.
And that’s the report.
