The Guru Report: Oh What a Night It Was for Penn, Princeton and Drexel; But None Bigger Than No. 15 USC Winning at No. 4 Stanford As Freshman Watkins Scores 51

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

 

PHILADELPHIA — Friday was a joyous night in the neighborhood here at The Palestra for host Penn and three blocks up 33^rd Street at Drexel, and a little further north an hour away at Princeton.

 

But the thunder heard coast to coast for those of you in the East who place beauty rest ahead of watching the wild race in the Pac-12 out west on the conference network came from northern California in the form of a human earthquake.

 

Two weekends removed from history at Stanford’s Maples Pavilion where Cardinal coach Tara VanDerveer became the all-time combined NCAA men’s and women’s career wins leader, history was made again all the way down at the opposite end of the Hall of Famer at the player level as freshman JuJu Watkins poured 51 points to lead No. 15 Southern Cal to a 67-58 upset of the fourth-ranked opponents.

 

It’s the most game points in history of a program that has such famed names attached as Cheryl Miller, Tina Thompson, and Lisa Leslie, to name a few. And it’s the second most in a game in history of a fabled conference from the women’s hoops side headed for extinction after this season, a victim of realignment driven by football.

 

USC had not won at Maples since 2001.

 

The Trojans (15-4, 5-4), who jumped from preseason 21 to 10 after an opening day upset of then-No. 7 Ohio State, and rose as high as sixth fueled in the mix of a then-No. 2 UCLA victim in a revenge win at home, arrived in the Bay Area for a two-game trip on a recent 3-of-4 setback streak that caused them to plunge nine spots the last two weeks.

 

Watkins, considered the nation’s top recruit, has been second in the nation (25.8) in scoring behind No. 3 Iowa’s Caitlin Clark (32.1) but her shooting percentage has slumped in the recent slide.

 

The Associated Press reported Watkins was so distraught after the Washington loss last weekend she spent countless hours in the gym into late night getting shots up.  

 

From the side of Stanford (19-3, 8-2), the weekend provided a golden opportunity hosting the Los Angeles schools – No. 7 UCLA visits Sunday – considering on the unbalanced schedule the Cardinal won’t be returning visits thus strengthening chances to land the No.1 tourney seed and also an NCAA No. 1 seed.

 

But Watkins disrupted all that after already having broken and rebroken every USC scoring record for freshmen.

 

In this one, she shot 14-26 from the field, including 6-11 on 3-point attempts and grabbed 11 rebounds to breath life back into bigger USC goals this season. She also single-handedly outscored Stanford in the third quarter. 

 

Foul shots – she was 17-19 overall — in the final period put Watkins over the top to also have the best single scoring performance, nationally, this season.

 

“I have a long way to go until I will consider myself in that category with Cheryl and Lisa and the greats,” Watkins said. “I'm just honored, honestly, blessed to be in this environment, space and time in women’s basketball. I'm just soaking it all in.”

 

Harvard transfer McKenzie Forbes scored 12 points for USC.

 

Columbia transfer Kaitlyn Davis and Rayah Marshall fouled out but did enough defensive damage that Cameron Brink (19 points, 15 rebounds, 8 blocks) and Kiki Iriafen (16 points, nine rebounds) didn’t get near their final numbers until late in the game.

 

The most points ever by a player against Stanford had the home arena crowd started cheering her performance the way Iowa enemy gyms have appreciated Clark this season.

 

“Every time I scored all I heard was ‘ooh,’” Watkins said. “It wasn't even like a boo. I was like, ‘all right.’ “It was crazy.”

 

In the third period she reached 37 and Stanford trailed 47-35.

 

Watkins and Notre Dame freshman Hannah Hidalgo of Haddonfield have been a 1-2 national rookie combo perhaps over an even more talented newcomer class than the one dominated by UConn’s Paige Bueckers and Iowa’s Clark in 2021.

 

VanDerveer told USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb during the post game handshakes, “She was really good.”

 

“I said, ‘She sure was,’” Gottlieb said.

 

“I’ll never forget this,” Gottlieb said. “And again, it’s meaningful because it’s our last time playing Stanford in the Pac-12.”

 

The Cardinal will be going to the ACC while USC is headed to the Big 10.

 

On Sunday Gottlieb and her team will be across the bay playing Cal, which she previously built to lead the Golden Bears to a Final Four before several years later accepting an NBA coaching assistant job in Cleveland.

 

‘She's an incredibly talented player,” VanDerveer said. “If she's not shooting well then it might be a different story. But she got going.

 

 “We tried a lot of different people guarding her, we tried some different things against her. We fouled her too much, too, she had 19 free throws. We didn't do the job we needed to do.”

 

According to the Associated Press report, since 1999-2000, the most points scored by an opponent player previously was on Jan. 29, 2017, by Washington’s Kelsey Plum, whose NCAA scoring record is likely to soon be overtaken by Iowa’s Clark, who moved to second this week.

 

But Stanford won that game, rallying from an 18-point deficit in Seattle.

 

Friday was the third time Stanford played a ranked USC team since 1995-96, and first with the Trojans in the Top 15 since the Cardinal’s 80-50 home win over No. 6 USC on Feb. 24, 1994.

 

The Rest of the Pac-12: Elsewhere in the conference Friday night, the only place involving ranked teams besides Ivy leader Princeton, No. 6 Colorado won at Washington State 63-57 in a tightly contested game in Pullman; No. 7 UCLA still without injured Stanford transfer Lauren Betts won easily 78-58 at Cal; and No. 20 Utah won 83-65 over Washington in Seattle. 

 

Colorado (18-3, 8-2), which moves to Washington Sunday, got 27 points from Frida Formann, equaling her career best in the opening day upset of preseason No. 1 LSU, the reigning NCAA champions. 

 

Aaronette Vonleh added 20 points while Quay Miller grabbed 15 boards, part of a 50-38 advantage.

 

The Cougars (15-7, 4-5), ranked earlier in the season, got 19 points from Tara Wallack, while Eleonora Villa and Astera Tuhina each scored 15.

 

Tuhina returned from a seven-game layoff caused by injury, replacing all-America candidate Charlisse Leger-Walker, who suffered a simultaneous season and collegiate career-ending knee injury in the upset win over then-No.2 UCLA.

 

The Bruins (17-3, 6-3), in their win at Cal (13-9, 3-7) got 32 points from Charisma Osborne, while Londynn Jones scored 18, and Angela Dugalic scored 12.

 

Utah (16-6, 6-4) rode Alissa Pili’s 31 points and seven made deep shots in the second half to its win over the Huskies (13-7, 3-6) and now heads to Sunday’s game at Washington State.

 

The Local Scene: No matter how you looked at it here in The Palestra for Penn it was grand all around.

 

Grand in giving a throwback performance when the Quakers (11-8, 3-3) battled Princeton at the top of league in thumping Brown 77-56 in a game that gone the other way would have left them on life support for what is considered the fourth and final spot in this season’s edition of Ivy Madness to be played at Columbia in New York City.

 

Individually in an achievement that was apparently news to both coach Mike McLaughlin and player, so invested in the game, a grand went to senior Jordan Obi in the fourth quarter as the slang word used, she collected her 1,000^thcareer point.

 

Though listed as a senior, this is just her third season because of the Ivy cancellation during the height of the pandemic.

 

Put it together, she’s No. 25 in program history but sixth fastest in game No. 74.

 

On the night Obi had 20 points, off a perfect 4-4 from the field, including a shot from deep, 11-12 from the line, with 13 rebounds and three blocked shots.

 

McLaughlin, at this point possibly assistant dean of the Big 5 women’s coaches to Saint Joseph’s Cindy Griffin on continuity, called Obi’s night one of the most efficient 20-point games he’s seen.

 

If Obi was non-plussed about the number, she conceded her heart strings got tugged when she and the band exchanged affection afterwards and the team and cheerleaders all posed for a photo with her in front of a big rollout with the number 1,000.

 

“These things, it’s not a big deal to me,” she explained. “But to see the band and the banner and my teammates was really meaningful.

 

“The coaches, teammates, none of this would be possible without them, so just attribute it to them.’

 

No question Brown (13-6, 4-2) is improved but the Ivy schedule to date has placed Penn on 50 percent in the six-game gauntlet run having been swept by Columbia and losing at Harvard and still to go home-and-home against No. 25 Princeton and host Harvard here.

 

Brown meanwhile has been dining in reverse first consuming the cupcake division.

 

So, when the sun set Friday as one of the reduced back-to-back weekends got under way, Princeton, which returned to the AP Poll this week at No. 25 after knocked out earlier off a one-point non-conference loss at Rhode Island, was at the top unbeaten with two below them already victimized by the Tigers.

 

Three teams each with a league loss were tied for second place and the Quakers were two games down in fifth.

 

So do the math.

 

Penn is talented enough to be favored against the four not in the high rent district though Brown still represented an unknown.

 

And if the Bears pull an upset or two and then are holding wins on Penn it’s a killer.

 

That’s the scenario but maybe it was having already undergoing battle testing, but the Quakers tossed pressure aside and came out smoking with 6-9 on three-pointers to lead 31-12 after one period.

 

Simone Sawyer had all nine of her points off threes coming in the opening period, including a nifty buzzer-beater at its end.

 

“It is really important in conference games and playing on your home floor,” Sawyer said of the first period. “You want to get out to a quick start especially in this conference, with back-to-back games.

 

 “You want to get up quick and have them call a time out, which we did. To get those quick points help is really important.”

 

On the night, Stina Almqvist after Obi had 17 points, and freshman Mataya Gayle had 11 continuing her fine rookie season.

 

Kyla Jones had 18 points for Brown and Isabella Mauricio scored 11.

 

“I thought we played really good basketball,” McLaughlin said. “I thought we came out and defended really hard. They executed on offense, and we made shots in that first quarter. It was a great team win.” 

 

He was still quick to note that the game at Brown in the second half of the schedule at Providrnce could be totally different.

 

And we may point all the implications to you consumers of this post, he said everyone understands the standings but don’t hone on wins and losses. “They play well they’re going to have a better chance to win.

 

The next part of the weekend must still be completed with Yale here at 5 p.m. Saturday and Brown a heavy underdog at Princeton at 5 p.m. also, both airing on ESPN+ but the Penn game will also be on NBCSP+.

 

Meanwhile Princeton this time did not squander its ranking – the Tigers under former coach Courtney Banghart now at North Carolina and current coach Carla Berube are the only Ivy school ever ranked both in the preseason vote and regular season.

 

Holding a slim 35-30 at the half, the first-place Tigers (16-3, 6-0) and reigning Ivy champs powered their way at home in Jadwin Gym to a 79-59 win over Yale (4-15, 1-5), which heads to Penn Saturday.

 

Reigning Ivy player of the year Kaitlyn Chen scored 27 for Princeton, while Chet Nweke scored 10, and Ellie Mitchell grabbed 11 rebounds.

 

The Bulldogs had a balanced attack of four players in double figures led by Kiley Capstraw with 16 points, while Nyla McGill scored 13, and Jenna Clark and Brenna McDonald each scored 11.

 

Up in New York City there’s only one Ivy team in second place after Columbia (14-5, 5-1) downed visiting Harvard 70-62 in Levien Gym to take sole possession while the Crimson (11-8, 4-2) fell to third with Brown one game ahead of Penn.

 

Cecilia Collins scored 20 with six assists for the Lions, while Abbey Hsu scored 19, Kitty Henderson scored 18, and Fliss Henderson had 13 eight rebounds.

 

The Crimson got 23 points from Katie Krupa, while Harmoni Turner had 15 and dealt 5 assists, and Lola Mullaney had 14 points.

 

So, to put it all in one place your league for Saturday night looks like this:

 

 

Princeton 6-0 vs. Brown 5 p.m.

Columbia 5-1 vs. Dartmouth 5 p.m.

Harvard 4-2 at Cornell 5 p.m.

Brown 4-2 at Princeton 5 p.m.

Penn 3-3 vs. Yale 5 p.m.

Cornell 1-5

Yale 1-5

Dartmouth 0-6.

 

Drexel Down Delaware: The Dragons pulled away from the Blue Hens in the final minutes to win the first of two in the long running rival series in the Coastal Athletic Association 53-49 at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.

 

The win puts Drexel (10-9, 5-3) in a 5^th-place tie with William & Mary whom they’ll face Sunday afternoon at 1p.m.

 

Delaware (7-13, 3-5) drops to a four-way tie to eighth heading to play at Hofstra at Hempstead on Long Island at 2 p.m., both games on FloHoops.

 

Amaris Baker had 13 points for the winners while Chloe Hodges scored 10 points and Grace O’Neill grabbed 13 rebounds, a career-high.

 

The key was on the defensive side stopping the Blue Hens from connecting on any shot the final 6:30.

 

Chloe Wilson was the only Delaware player in double figures, scoring 17 points with 10 rebounds.

 

The Dragons are a game behind Charleston and Monmouth tied for third and two behind co-leaders Stony Brook and North Carolina A&T.

 

Stony Brook on Sunday is at Monmouth while Charleston is at Towson, the preseason choice of the conference coaches.

 

North Carolina A&T hosts Northeastern.

 

Looking Ahead: On Saturday, locally, besides the Ivy games, 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.

 

And in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Rider is at Quinnipiac in Hamden, Conn., at 1 p.m. on ESPN+.

 

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.

 

Nationally, on Saturday, No. 3 Iowa is at Maryland at 8 p.m. in the Big Ten on Peacock.

 

Fordham and Richmond meet in the A-10 as does Rhode Island and Duquesne.

 

On Sunday in the Big Ten No. 10 Indiana is at No. 8 Ohio State at noon on FS1, the Pac-12 games were mentioned above, in the ACC No. 17 Virginia Tech is at No. 24 North Carolina at noon on ESPN2 while in the Big 12 No. 2 Kansas State is at No. 12 Texas at 2 p.m., also on ESPN2. 

 

And that’s the report.