The Guru Local Report: Explosive Sunday Yields Big Scoring Wins From Penn State, Villanova, Temple and Delaware Though Drexel Routed at Stony Brook

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

 

For the five local teams who played it was an explosive Sunday though in the case of Drexel it went the wrong way at league-leading Stony Brook in the Coastal Athletic Association.

 

Penn State’s dimensions were megaton explosive in a long-running series with Maryland going all the way back to the days as Region 1B rivals in the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW).

 

Making it five straight in the Lady Lions’ current win streak in the Big Ten, all since transfer Ashley Owusu first donned the uniform of the blue and white, Penn State rocked the Terrapins 112-76 at home in the Bryce Jordan Center ending a two decade-long losing streak against the opposition.

 

The eruption was the largest by a Maryland (12-8, 4-5) foe in the program’s history which began in 1971-72, a season that saw Title IX began federal law.

 

Speaking of decades, the Lady Lions (15-5, 6-3) holding fourth place in the conference are off to their best start since 2013-14 and have the most Big Ten wins in three seasons.

 

The last time PSU put triple digits on a Big Ten opponent was 101-80 against Illinois on February 15, 2001.

 

Makenna Marisa scored 24 points shooting 10-13 from the field including four makes from deep. Owusu playing against one of her former teams had 16 points with seven assists and six rebounds. Leilani Kapinus had 15 points off a near-perfect 5-7 from the floor and Tay Valladay scored 14.

 

Penn State shot 12 of a program-record 16 treys in the second half.

 

Next up is a trip to Minnesota Wednesday at 8 p.m..

 

Villanova Dominates DePaul: The Wildcats (13-7, 6-3) bounced back from their Big East disaster at Providence winning 95-64 at DePaul in Wintrust Arena in Chicago.

 

The Blue Demons fell to 10-12 overall and 2-7 in the conference.

 

The Wildcats won each quarter exploding on a 30-18 differential in the fourth.

 

Lucy Olsen scored 24 with nine assists, freshman Maddie Webber scored 18, Zanai Jones had 16, and Bella Runyan 10. 

 

Off the bench Maddie Burke and Abby Jegede each scored nine, a career high for the latter who was 3-3 from deep.

 

Next up is a visit from Uconn Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in Finneran Pavilion.

 

Temple Topples Tulane: In recent weeks the Owls have been like the nursery rhyme playing in the American Athletic Conference. When they’ve been bad like in last week’s loss at SMU but when they’ve been good Sunday’s 68-50 win at Tulane in New Orleans is exhibit A.

In the victory Temple (11-9, 5-3) the Owls went through the air with seven three-pointers. 

 

“They played us in zone,” second-year coach Diane Richardson said. “I don’t think they expected us to knock down threes today. Thank goodness we were on with threes because they were clogging the middle, so we had to take outside shots.”

 

Demi Washington had a career-high 22 points against the Green Wave (8-11, 1-7) while Tarriyona Gary had 16 points.

 

‘We talked about lessons learned from our last games and the other two games that we lost,” Richardson said on the postgame zoom. “We started slow defensively. This team has some great shooters. Without hesitation, they can knock down shots. I thought defense helped today by defending the three-point line really well. 

 

The Owls are currently in fourth but just one game behind two teams tied for second and two behind leading and newcomer North Texas.

 

When one considers the close ones that got away Temple could easily be in first, so it is no pipe dream to talk about winning the AAC tourney and NCAA automatic bid in March in Fort Worth, Texas.

 

The big test is coming soon with a visit from preseason favorite South Florida, which has not been invincible.

 

In the secondary case, considering the new second-run NCAA tourney and if still planning to exist WNIT, the Owls are not many wins away from a place in the postseason, which is still progress.

 

It starts Wednesday at 7 p.m. (ESPN+) in the Liacouras Center when Wichita State visits and Temple goes for a 2-0 sweep in the series.

 

Delaware Wins; Drexel Falls in CAA: The Blue Hens (7-12, 3-4) snapped a losing streak with a key triumph 73-59 against preseason favoriteTowson (11-7, 3-4) in the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark at home and ending the visiting Tigers’ three-game win streak.

 

Freshman Ande’a Cherisier had a career-high 21 points with a near-perfect 11-12 from the line while Klarke Sconiers scored 17, with 9-10 from the line, and Chloe Wilson matched her personal best with 15 points.

 

Towson’s India Johnston scored 19 points.

 

Next up is the first of two in the annual long rivalry, this one at Drexel at the Daskalakis Athletic Center Friday at 6 p.m. on FloHoops.

 

The Dragons (9-9, 4-3) will be coming off Sunday’s 62-41 rout from league-leading Stony Brook (16-2, 6-1) on Long Island.

 

Drexel’s fate was sealed going scoreless 14-0 in the first quarter which negated one of the overall better defensive jobs done on the Seawolves this season.

 

No one scored in double figures for Drexel, whose Jasmine Valentine had eight points and eight rebounds.

 

Looking Ahead: In games coming up for teams that were idle Sunday, Rutgers, still looking for its first Big Ten on the season, hosts Michigan State Tuesday at 7 p.m.

 

On Wednesday, Saint Joseph’s tries to maintain first in the Atlantic Ten, visiting Loyola, Chicago at 7 p.m., while La Salle at 11 a.m. in the A-10 visits Massachusetts in Amherst, both on ESPN+.

 

In the Patriot League, Lehigh is at Navy at Alumni Hall in Annapolis, Md., while nearby at the same time Lafayette visits American U. In Bender Arena in Washington, D.C., both on ESPN+.

 

Rider on Thursday hosts league-leader Fairfield in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game in Alumni Gym at 7 p.m. in Lawrenceville, N.J. on ESPN+.

 

On Friday in the Ivy League Penn has a key game in The Palestra at 6 p.m., while league-leader Princeton hosts Yale at 7 p.m. in Jadwin Gym at 7 p.m., both on ESPN+.

 

And that’s the local report.