The Guru Report: MAAC-leading Fairfield Wins 16th Straight by Beating Rider While in the Big 12 No. 12 Texas Tops No. 13 Baylor

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

 

LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. – There was just one game, locally, right here Thursday night where Fairfield opened up a three-game lead in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) at the expense of host Rider 67-44 in the Broncs’ Alumni Gymnasium.

 

“We didn’t really shoot the ball well, but I thought we played pretty good defense,” said Fairfield coach Carly Thibault-DuDonis. It shows we can win a lot of different ways.

 

“We Can score in transition; we can score in the half court, and we can obviously score off our defense as well. There's a lot of different ways we can get it done.”

 

The Stags (18-1, 10-0), extended their win streak to 16-games, tying a nearly 50-year-old program record and marks a first in conference play at this point in the season.

 

“I think with us, Saint Joseph’s (A-10), and Stony Brook (CAA) you got some pretty good mid-major teams in the region,” Thibault-Didonis said.

 

In the Fairfield coach, whose dad Mike Thibault is general manager and retired coach of the WNBA Washington Mystics, succeeded by her brother Eric, she is one of the dynamic young mentors in the women’s game.

 

She previously was an assistant at Minnesota and with a pair of Final Four squads at Mississippi State.

 

Janelle Brown scored 17 points and Emina Selimenovic scored 15. Meghan Andersen, a past national freshman of the week this season from the USBWA, scored 11 and is the runaway leader right now for MAAC post season honors.

 

The 1974-75 team was 16-0.

 

Fairfield next is at Iona Saturday at 3 p.m. (ESPN+).

 

Rider (5-14, 2-8) was led by Taylor Langan with 15 points and nine rebounds while Mikayla Firebaugh scored 10.

 

The Broncs trailed by just a point 15-14 before the Stags erupted 20-9 in the second quarter and added to the lead in both quarters in the second half.

 

‘There was a lot of good that came out of that game based on the work we've been doing,” said Rider coach Lynn Milligan. “The reasons why we lost tonight we're pretty obvious.

 

“We turned the ball over too much and didn't get enough shots at the basket. We just got a little sloppy with some things, but I know those are things we can correct.”

 

Rider is at Quinnipiac Saturday at 1 p.m. (ESPN+.)

 

The National Scene: In the Big 12, No. 12 Texas (20-3, 7-3) got revenge, winning in Waco, Texas, at No. 13 Baylor, 67-55, as freshman Madison Booker scored 22 points and Aaliyah Moore scored 19 for the Longhorns, who surged at the finish.

 

Baylor (16-4, 5-4) had won at Texas earlier this season in the first game after the Longhorns lost Big 12 preseason player of the year Rory Harmon to injury.

 

Booker was moved to the point guard slot and has kept the Longhorns in the conference race.

 

The Bears have lost three of their last four games.

 

Taylor Jones was also in double figures for Texas with 14 points and nine rebounds, while Sarah Andrews was the lone player scoring in double figures for Baylor with 11 points. Aijha Blackwell grabbed 11 rebounds.

 

On Sunday, Texas hosts No. 2 Kansas State, who just had a long win streak snapped by Oklahoma. Baylor visits new member Houston the same day.

 

In the Atlantic Coast Conference, No. 5 NC State at home in Raleigh outlasted nearby No. 24 North Carolina 63-59.

 

“I’ll have to say, it's an ugly baby, but it's our baby,” Wolf Pack coach Wes Moore said of the struggles by both teams down the stretch. “At least we found a way to win.”

 

Saniya Rivers had 14 points for the winners, as did Mimi Collins, while Aziaha James had eight of her 10 points in the fourth quarter, when the Wolf Pack (19-2, 7-2) used a 9-0 run to take control.

 

Deja Kelly had 21 points for the Tar Heels (15-7, 7-3).

 

UNC Sunday hosts No. 17 Virginia Tech, while NC State Monday hosts No. 16 Louisville.

 

In the West Coast Conference, No. 19 Gonzaga continued to dominate, winning 80-52 at San Diego as the Zags (21-2, 8-0) shot a perfect 8-8 on 3-point attempts in the third quarter.

 

In the Southeastern Conference No. 1 South Carolina (20-0, 8-0) easily stayed unbeaten winning at Auburn 76-54 as Ashlyn Watkins had 14 points and 15 rebounds, freshman reserve MiLaysia Fulwiley scored 15, and Kamilla Cardoso scored 13 with six rebounds.

 

 Tennessee’s roller coaster season landed on the high side at Georgia 95-73 as Jewel Spear scored 25 for the Lady Vols (13-7, 6-2) and Rickea Jackson had 21 points.

 

Georgia (10-11, 1-7) at the bottom of the SEC had four players in double figures led by De’Mauri Flournoy with 18 points.

 

In the Big Ten, No. 8 Ohio State erupted in the third quarter 39-11 to go on to an 87-49 win at home in Columbus as Jacy Sheldon scored 17, Cotie McMahon had 15, and Eboni Walker 11 for the Buckeyes (18-3, 9-1) who host No. 10 Indiana Sunday at noon on FS1.

 

The two teams and No. 3 Iowa are in a three-way tie for first place.

 

Looking Ahead: Drexel Friday night hosts the first of two games with longtime rival Delaware in the Colonial Athletic Association at 6 p.m. (FloHoops) in the Daskalakis Athletic Center.’

 

At the same time, three blocks down the street at The Palestra, Penn in a must-win game to start building an Ivy tournament drive hosts Brown (ESPN+).

 

The Quakers were given a killer early schedule from the league and sit two games off the pace for the four-team field which will compete this year at Columbia in New York City.

 

No. 25 Princeton, which hosts Yale at 7 p.m. at Jadwin Gym, leads with the only clean Ivy record to date.

 

Locked in a three-way tie one game back are Brown, Harvard and Columbia, the latter two play each other at 6 p.m. at Columbia (ESPN+).

 

But if Penn beats Brown and sweeps the weekend beating Yale (5 p.m.) Saturday while Brown also loses to the Tigers then the Quakers and Bears will be tied.

 

Penn has the two Princeton games and Harvard (Palestra) left but for now the Quakers must be perfect against Brown, Yale, Cornell and Dartmouth since unknown is whether Brown might steal a win against Columbia or Harvard or both.

 

Meanwhile out west No. 4 Stanford leading the Pac-12 has a big show down weekend host No. Southern Cal Friday night and No. 7 UCLA Sunday.

 

The Cardinal only play the two once, so a sweep puts them in great shape.

 

Elsewhere in the league Friday, No. 20 Utah is at Washington while No. 6 Colorado is at Washington State, with opponents switching off later on the weekend locally.

 

On Saturday, locally, in games not already mentioned, Saint Joseph’s looks to stay on top of the A-10 hosting Massachusetts at 2 p.m. at Hagan Arena on Hawk Hill (ESPN+), Villanova hosts Seton Hall at 2 p.m. on FloHoops.

 

In the Big Ten, Penn State looks to extend its six-game win streak hosting Michigan at 6 p.m. on the Big Ten Network while Rutgers, still seeking its first conference win, is at Nebraska.

 

In the Patriot League, both at home at 2 p.m. ( ESPN+), Lehigh hosts Boston U. in Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa., while Lafayette hosts Army at the Kirby Sports Arena in Easton, Pa.

 

On Sunday, in the A-10, La Salle hosts Dayton at 2 p.m. in the Tom Gola Arena  (ESPN+), at the same time on the same network Temple is at Charlotte in the American Athletic Conference, while in the CAA Drexel is at William & Mary, and Delaware is at Hofstra, both on FloHoops.

 

And that’s the report.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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