The Guru Report: Richmond Edges Saint Joseph’s While Eight-Game Skid Ends for La Salle; Princeton Wins and Penn Falls in Ivy Openers; Texas Removes West Virginia From Unbeatens

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

 

PHILADELPHIA — The dual Atlantic Ten measuring stick of two top tier teams in the conference resulted in Richmond ending a perfect week Saturday afternoon with a rare win here in Saint Joseph’s Hagan Arena while the host Hawks’ blazing start to the season came to a temporary halt at 64-59.

 

The Spiders (13-3, 3-0 A-10) made their second visit to the area having just beaten another early conference heavyweight in crosstown rival VCU.

 

“We were due to win in Philadelphia at some point,” said Richmond coach Aaron Rousseau, whose team lost a non-league match earlier in the season at Villanova, the first of two homecoming affairs for Cardinal O’Hara grad Maggie Doogan, whose mom Chrissy starred at La Salle and now coaches at O’Hara.

 

Rousseau’s staff includes former Villanova star Alex Louin and former longtime Delaware assistant Jeanine Radice.

 

The difference in this one was the Spiders riding the three-point shot early, ultimately outscoring the Hawks with six more makes, while the home team couldn’t finish off defensive stops during several rallies.

 

“Getting 18 more points off three pointers than them is not something you’re expecting to see,” Rousseau said. “It’s a huge win for us.”

 

Saint Joseph’s came to a dead stop at a point the Hawks (13-2, 2-1) went into a skid of narrow losses a year ago.

 

However, the prospects of getting back on the winning side are good, considering they’ll be the favorites in their next three outings at reigning conference tournament champion Saint Louis on Tuesday, back here on Saturday against Duquesne, and then at home 48 hours later hosting crosstown rival La Salle in a Martin Luther King Day matinee in which a win will give Saint Joseph’s an outright 4-0 sweep of the Big Five.

 

The home team, which stopped a Richmond getaway with a 10-0 run in the first period, was down seven in the third but rallied once more moving within a point 52-51 in the fourth quarter on Talya Brugler’s basket with 8:32 left in regulation.

 

Richmond quickly answered, however, with a three from Addie Budnik.

 

Back within a point a few minutes later, Laura Ziegler drove for a go-ahead layup with 3:11 left only to be blocked by Doogan and Richmond converted at the other end on Grace Townsend’s shot.

 

There was still hope in the last minute, but Mackenzie Smith missed the go-ahead shot in the paint and Doogan nailed a dagger from beyond the arc for a four-point lead.

 

Smith got it back within two with 20 seconds left but the Hawks were forced to foul, and Rachel Ullstrom converted both from the line with 16 seconds left.

 

“We did not shoot the ball well at all today as opposed to what Richmond was able to do, which is shoot the ball and it's something they've been able to do all year,” Saint Joseph's coach Cindy Griffin said.

 

“We’ve got to be better executing our offenses down the stretch. I felt like we did a better job in the second half of defending, but it needed to translate to some easier baskets down the other end.”

 

The Hawks took 13 more shots than the Spiders.

 

“I think we missed a lot of layups today, layups that were makeable or open,” Griffin said. “We certainly took some contested ones as well, and they are tougher to make, but when you're getting downhill and getting as deep as we got, we've got to be able to make those shots.

 

The good thing is we're getting them, bad thing is we didn't make them today.

 

“They made a lot of shots early and got a lot of confidence shooting the ball,” Griffin continued. “There, late, they got a three on a miscommunication by our end and that was the game.”

 

Doogan and Budnik each scored 16 points, while for the Hawks Brugler scored 17, Smith had 14, and Ziegler had 11 points.

 

But Ziegler, who had seven rebounds, matching Richmond’s Katie Hill and Siobhan Ryan, was 5-12 from the field, and Smith was 7-17.

 

Chloe Welch, who had eight points, was 3-11.

 

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the A-10, locally, La Salle at home in Tom Gola Arena snapped an eight-game losing streak, beating Fordham 64-53.

 

That’s nice to be on the other side of the scoreboard,” said Explorers coach Mountain MacGillvray. “It’s been tough, this losing streak. But every single day, the team, they keep competing, they keep trying to grow, get better.

 

“It was nice to see some of the adjustments we had to make, to go out there and execute.”

 

Molly Masciantonio, whose career began at Division II Holy Family in Northeast Philly, had a La Salle career-high 19 points, two more than in her previous game against Davidson, and dealt six assists, while Nicole Melious had 16 points, including four makes from deep, and Makayla Miller scored 11 for the Explorers (4-10, 1-2).

 

Tiara Bolden had eight points and eight rebounds while Emilee Tahata grabbed seven rebounds.

 

Fordham’s Emy Hayford scored 12, New Mexico State transfer Taylor Donaldson had 11, well below her 18.7 average, while Maranda Nyborg had 10, and Rose Nelson grabbed 10 rebounds for the Rams (6-9, 1-3).

 

La Salle on Wednesday travels to St. Bonaventure tipping off 7 p.m. (ESPN+) in Olean, N.Y. 

 

Preseason favorite Rhode Island (11-5, 3-0) cruised over the Bonnies 65-41 at home in Kingston led by Sophie Phillips with 16 points.

 

IVY OPENS PLAY – Reigning champion and preseason favorite Princeton had an easy time winning 79-38 at Cornell, while Penn fell at league-contending Columbia 79-66.

 

In Princeton’s win, the Tigers (11-3) got 20 points from Madison St. Rose, while reigning Ivy player of the year Kaitlyn Chen scored 15, dealt seven assists and grabbed a personal best five steals against the Big Red (6-7).

 

Next up is an early showdown visiting Harvard Saturday (2 p.m., ESPN+), and then moving on next Monday to Dartmouth (6 p.m., ESPN+).

 

Penn (8-6) competed early before the Lions (10-4) took over, though the Quakers did forge a rally in the final period in the game off Broadway in New York City’s Upper West Side.

 

Jordan Obi was held to seven points but grabbed nine rebounds, though Stina Almqvist scored 17 with seven rebounds and freshman Mataya Gayle scored 16. Ese Ogbevire off the bench scored 12.

 

Columbia’s Cecelia Collins had 19 points, while dealing seven assists, Abby Hsu scored 14, and Kitty Henderson scored 13 points.

 

Penn will be at Dartmouth Saturday at 1 p.m. (ESPN+) while Columbia host Cornell.

 

Harvard (8-6) cruised over visiting Yale 73-54 as Harmoni Turner scored 28 points against the Bulldogs (3-11), and Brown (10-4) got 16 points from Isabella Mauricio in a 65-39 win at Dartmouth (5-7).

 

Temple Rallies Over Tulsa — Trailing by 13 in the third quarter to the American Athletic Conference leaders the Owls erupted on a 13-0 run into the fourth quarter and ultimately prevailed 58-48.

 

Aleah Nelson scored 17 for Temple (8-7, 2-1 AAC) while freshman Tristen Taylor had 15 points and matched her career best with seven rebounds.

 

The win over the hosts (12-4, 2-1) is the largest comeback in Diane Richardson’s two seasons guiding the Owls, who continue to Wchita State Tuesday at 7 p.m.

 

Lehigh and Lafayette Swept in Patriot League - The host Moutain Hawks fell to Loyola, Md., 73-65, in Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa., while in nearby Easton, Lafayette lost to Boston U. 62-55.

 

Lehigh (8-5, 0-2 Patriot) in its loss to the Greyhounds (6-7, 1-1) got 25 points from Lily Fandre while Meghan O’Brien scored 10 but Ella Stemmer was held to just two points in 21 minutes, shooting 0-5.

 

Laura Salmeron and Lex Therien each scored 20 for Loyola, and Therien grabbed 11 rebounds.

 

Lafayette (6-7, 1-1) got 17 from Makayla Andrews and Abby Antognoli and reserve Sauda Ntaconayigize esch scored 11 against the Terriers (10-3, 2-0), whose Caitlin Weimar scored 19 and grabbed 17 rebounds.

 

On Wednesday Lehigh goes to Bucknell (6 p.m.) while Lafayette hosts Colgate (11 a.m.), both games on ESPN+.

 

The National Scene — The list of teams with perfect records is down to four after No. 10 Texas (15-1, 2-1) routed host No. 24 West Virginia 70-49 in a Big 12 game in Morgantown.

 

No. 3 NC State and No. 6 Baylor are 14-0 while No. 1 South Carolina and No. 2 UCLA are 13-0. 

 

The winning Longhorns got 15 points each from Shaylee Gonzales and freshman Madison Booker who also grabbed 12 rebounds in her new role after point guard Rori Harmon, the preseason Big 12 player of the year, suffered a season-ending injury.

 

The Mountaineers fell to 13-1 overall and 2-1 in the conference.

 

Elsewhere in the Big 12, No. 23 TCU (14-2, 1-2) suffered its second straight loss after its best ever start, dropping visiting Oklahoma State 67-59.

 

Earlier Saturday, it was announced that Oregon transfer Sedona Prince will be sidelined with a hand injury until later in the season for TCU.

 

Looking Ahead: Just two games locally Sunday, both in the Coastal (formerly Colonial) Association, as Drexel hosts Northeastern at 2 p.m. in the Daskalakis Athletic Center while Delaware hosts Hampton the same time in the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark (both games on Flohoops) as both teams seek extend perfect CAA starts on the weekend.

 

Nationally, in the PAC-12 No. 8 Stanford hosts Washington at 4 p.m. as Hall of Fame coach Tara VanDerveer seeks her 1,200 win, which would be two short of the combined mens and womens mark held by retired Duke mens coach Mike Krzyzewski.

 

No. 12 UConn is at Georgetown 1:30 p.m. in the Big East, while in the ACC, No. 13 Virginia Tech hosts No. 3 NC State at noon; and No. 16 Notre Dame hosts North Carolina at 5 p.m. on ESPN2.

 

In the SEC, No. 1 South Carolina hosts Mississippi State 1 p.m. on ESPN, followed on the network at 3 p.m., No. 7 LSU visiting Ole Miss.

 

Temple and Saint Joseph’s, both previously mentioned, are the only local teams in action on Tuesday, while on Wednesday, in the area, Villanova hosts Georgetown at 11:30 a.m. in Finneran Pavilion, the annual Education Day event, drawing local schools.

 

And that’s the report.