The Guru Report: Clark’s Triple Double Leads No. 4 Iowa to Cruise Before a Rutgers Sellout: Drexel and Delaware Start CAA With Wins; Padilla Rescues No. 9 USC in PAC-12

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

 

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — A large portion of the first sellout crowd of 8,000 at Rutgers women’s basketball since 2006 here at Jersey Mike’s Arena Friday night were able to enjoy what they traveled from near and far to pay to see and little of it had anything to do with the Scarlet Knights’ attempt to notch their first Big Ten triumph of the season.

 

Reigning national player of the year Senior Caitlin Clark, the nation’s leading scorer, did not let them down, the maestro of her sport picked up her 14th triple double with 29 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists as she and her teammates continued to make beautiful music together enabling No. 4 Iowa to cruise to a 103-69 victory, the 12^thstraight victory for the Hawkeyes (15-1, 4-0 Big Ten).

 

The previous sellouts all involved UConn in the old Big East when Rutgers also was a Top 10 ranked team.

 

“There are times out there, the phrase is ‘watching genius at work,’” Rutgers coach Coquese Washington said in admiration from watching Clark on film either scouting ahead or rehashing the results afterwards.

 

“It can be a surreal experience watching genius at work, watching excellence at work, and certainly when you coach against Caitlin Clark, you’re watching genius at work. She is an amazing player. I go to the teamwork aspect and energy that’s out there with her teammates that’s really unusual,” Washington continued.

 

“You see that at times with certain champion teams like the (NBA) Golden StateWarriors. There’s a synergy out there you don’t always see with really good teams.”

 

Iowa and eventual winner LSU perhaps had an indirect hand in the NCAA’s new deal with ESPN in the eight-season extension announced Wednesday after playing in the tournament championship in April drawing 9.9 million viewers to the ABC telecast.

 

“There are people driving here from Pittsburgh just to see her play,” a Rutgers spokesperson noted before the opening tipoff.

 

Indeed, while Iowa coach Lisa Bluder talked about preparing to play in a hostile arena, the crowd here was more akin to what it might be if Rutgers and nearby Seton Hall were playing each other both ranked in the top 10, the way No. 2 UCLA had its first sellout last Saturday night when then No. 6 Southern Cal came across town, both unbeaten, for their early PAC-12 showdown.

 

Many young girls could be seen wearing Hawkeye jerseys.

 

“The crowd was incredible,” Clark said. “There were a lot of little girls, most I've seen in a long time.

 

“We don't get to come out to the east much. It's really special the cheer I got when I ran on the court.  Some moments you're never going to forget.”

 

Clark is currently fifth with 3,218 points on the NCAA’s all-time scoring list behind Brittney Griner (3,283), Jackie Stiles (3,393), Kelsey Mitchel (3,402) and 309 short of record holder Kelsey Plum, who had 3,527 at Washington.

 

The crowd included past Rutgers Hall of Fame women’s coaches Theresa Grentz and C. Vivian Stringer, who was honored before the opening tip for being named a 2024 Naismith Outstanding Contributor to basketball.

 

Stringer was the first men’s or women’s coach to lead three different teams – Cheyney, Iowa, and Rutgers — to Final Fours.

 

Bluder gave Stringer flowers and both teams assembled behind Stringer for photos in the brief ceremony.

 

“Coach Stringer is a legend in our game,” Washington said. “All that she's accomplished taking three teams to the Final Four and being a trailblazer as a woman and a Black woman.”

 

Kate Martin had 17 points for Iowa, Gabbie Marshall scored 12, all from four 3-pointers, and Hannah Stuelke and Sydney Affolter each scored 10, the latter also with 10 rebounds.

 

Five players were in double figures for Rutgers (6-11, 0-4), which was missing leading scorer Kaylene Smikle, out with an undisclosed injury.

 

Chyna Cornwell, Mya Petticord, and Kassondra Brown each scored 12 points — Brown also with 11 rebounds, while Destiny Adams, who got in early foul trouble, and Lisa Thompson, each scored 11 points.

 

Iowa has beaten every team on its schedule but is not on the dwindling list of teams with perfect records because of a loss in November to Kansas State that was shortly avenged in a Thanksgiving weekend multiple team event.

 

This is Iowa’s fifth 15-1 start, the most recent previous in 1995-96, but the first under Bluder.

 

There was a pre-game moment of silence in tribute to the slain victims in the recent school shooting in Perry, Iowa.

 

Iowa goes to Purdue next Wednesday while Rutgers next goes to No. 20 Ohio State on Thursday.

 

In the only other Big Ten game Friday, the Buckeyes (11-3, 2-1) won at Northwestern 90-60, dropping the Wildcats to 6-9 overall and 1-3 in the conference.

 

All five OSU starters scored in double figures, topped by Jacy Sheldon with 18 points.

 

Drexel and Delaware Get Winning Starts in CAA

 

Villanova transfer Brooke Mullin had 22 points to lead Drexel to a 72-57 win over Hampton at home in the Daskalakis Athletic Center on opening night in the Coastal (formerly Colonial) Athletic Association.

 

“We are really proud of the team effort,” said Drexel coach Amy Mallon. “We have four players in double figures, and that's a stat that any coach wants to see, especially at this time of year.

 

“So really happy with our overall offensive performance. And defensively we're doing what we needed to do to put ourselves in position to win the game today.”

 

Momo La Claire tied her personal best with 12 points for the Dragons (6-6) while Jasmine Valentine had a career high 10 points, and Grace O'Neill also scored 10.

 

Hampton (0-11) had a career-high 26 points from Camryn Hill, tying Saint Joseph’s Talya Brugler for most points by an opposing player this season.

 

Drexel won this game on the defensive end repulsing several attempts by the Pirates to go ahead.

 

“It was just staying focused and getting stops,” Mullin said. “You knew (Hill) was getting all the looks and we had to focus in on her trying to make it difficult for her to miss shots and take difficult shots.”

 

“We always say that's where we get our offense” Mallon noted. “Today was an example of us continuing to grind away. Our defense certainly led to opportunities for us on offense.”

 

Meanwhile, Delaware (5-8) snapped a five-game losing streak, winning in Boston 86-73 at Northeastern (4-7), which visits Drexel Sunday at 2 p.m. (FloHoops).

 

Chloe Wilson had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Blue Hens, who host Hampton Sunday at 2 p.m. (FloHoops) in the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark. Sydney Boone added 16 points, while reserve Michelle Ojo scored 15.

 

The latter of the game, Delaware coach Sarah Jenkins said, “I have two words for you, Michelle Ojo.

 

“It feels good to be in the win column, I am very proud of our kids’ resilience,” she said.

 

“We have had a tough week in not having some key players here, but they did a really good job of staying together. The big topic for us was how do we handle adversity and how are we going to manage when things aren't going our way.

 

“Wilson was phenomenal for us tonight with a double double; Sydney Boone with 16 points and Ojo was very clutch for us tonight in the fourth quarter. I am proud of everybody.”

 

The Huskies (4-7) got 32 from Derin Erdogan of Turkey, while Deja Bristol scored 13 and Yirsy Queliz of the Dominican Republic scored 10.

 

The National Scene: Padilla Rescues No. 9 Southern Cal

 

Friday night belongs to the PAC-12 with a bunch of ranked teams on the card and we start with No. 9 Southern Cal, which took visiting Oregon State at the Galen Center in Los Angeles off the list of what was six remaining unbeaten teams with a narrow 56-54 win over the Beavers (12-1, 1-1), courtesy of a critical pair of 3-pointers down the stretch from Penn transfer Kayla Padilla.

 

Freshman JuJu Watkins had 28 points, including a 9-0 run to rally the Trojans (11-1, 1-1) back to the lead, while Padilla scored 14, matching her season high. Rayah Marshall grabbed 14 rebounds, and Watkins also blocked five shots.

 

Oregon State got 18 points from Talia van Oelhoffen while Donovyn Hunter scored 13 points, and Time Gardiner grabbed 10 rebounds.

 

“I think one of the best parts of our team is everyone who steps onto the floor is a threat both offensively and defensively,” said Padilla. “So, when someone is struggling, the next person steps up and that person happened to be me in terms of a shooting night.”

 

 She had four three pointers in the contest and has scored in double figures in three of the last four games. Watkins it's second in the nation in scoring, averaging 27.0 points per game, behind Iowa’s Clark.

 

 Marshall’s block with one tick of the clock left in regulation of Reagan Beers’ attempted layup preserved the win, preventing the game from going into overtime.

 

No. 5 Colorado also had a narrow escape, winning 75-74 at Arizona in Tucson as Jaylyn Sherrod scored 18 for the Buffs (12-1, 2-0), including a three-point play for the lead with 1:50 left in regulation.

 

Kailyn Gilbert scored 19 for Arizona (9-5, 1-1).

 

Over at No. 9 Stanford at home in Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto, the Cardinal’s Tara VanDerveer moved closer to the combined men’s and women’s career coaching win record, needing four to pass retired Duke’s men’s coach Mike Krzyzewski’s 1,202 following a 74-65 win over Washington State (11-4, 0-2).

 

VanDerveer extended her women’s mark to 1,199, eight ahead of Connecticut’s Geno Auriemma.

 

Both will be on the sidelines Sunday, Stanford hosting Washington while the Huskies have a Big East visit to Georgetown in the nation’s capital at McDonough Arena.

 

In the win over Washington State by Stanford (13-1, 2-0), Cameron Brink had 20 points and 18 rebounds, Kiki Iriafen scored 17 with eight rebounds, Talana Lepolo scored four from deep and collected 13 points, and reserve Brooke Demetre scored 12.

 

The Cougars got 22 points and nine rebounds from Charlisse Leger-Walker and Bella Murekatete scored 13 points.

 

No. 2 UCLA (13-0, 2-0) stayed unbeaten with a 75-49 win over Oregon (9-6, 0-2) at home as Angela Dugalic had a career-high 17 points against her former team and Stanford transfer Lauren Betts had 13 points and 11 rebounds. Kiki Rice had 11 points and 10 assists.

 

No. 18 Utah (11-3, 1-1) won easily 58-41 in Tempe at Arizona State (8-6, 0-2) as Kennady McQueen scored 12 points and Jenna Johnson scored 10, while the duo each grabbed six rebounds. Alissa Pili, though was held to eight points.

 

In the other PAC-12 game, Cal at home in Berkeley upset Washington 70-57, dropping the opposition to 11-2 and 1-1 in the league.

 

Looking Ahead: Ivy League play opens Saturday – Penn is at Columbia and Princeton is at Cornell.

 

Saint Joseph’s has an early Atlantic 10 showdown while La Salle hosts Fordham.

 

Temple is at Tulsa in the American, while in the Patriot League Lafayette is at Boston U., and Lehigh hosts Loyola, Md.

 

All games begin at 2 p.m. except Temple is a 3 p.m. start in the East and all games are in ESPN+.

 

In a Big 12 game of note, unbeaten No. 24 West Virginia (13-0), one of the national five remaining unbeaten teams, hosts No. 10 Texas at 2 p.m. on ESPN+.

 

The other four are No. 3 NC State (14-0), No. 1 South Carolina (13-0), No. 6 Baylor (13-0), and No. 2 UCLA (13-0).

 

And that’s the Report.