The Guru Report: Southern Cal and Tennessee Gain Wins; ‘Nova at Georgetown Tuesday AM; Saint Joseph’s Seeks Historical Win on Hawk Hill Wednesday

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

 

There were just two games on the Guru radar sheets for Monday, none local, as Tennessee at home in the Southeastern Conference routed Arkansas 81-55 in Knoxville and out West No. 10 Southern Cal in the Pac-12 at home in the Galen Center in Los Angeles handled Arizona 81-64.

 

In the win by the Lady Vols (15-8, 8-3), Rickea Jackson had 21 points and nine rebounds, while Wake Forest transfer Jewel Spear had 13 points and 8 rebounds with 7 assists.

 

Reserve Jillian Hollingshead had 14 points and 10 rebounds.

 

Arkansas (17-9, 5-6) had 23 points from Taliah Scott and Maryam Dauda scored 10

 

Tennessee is tied for second with No. 13 LSU, the reigning NCAA champions, three games behind No. 1 South Carolina, the last unbeaten team among the Division I women.

 

“I'm really proud of our performance tonight,” said Tennessee coach Kellie Harper. “I thought our team was really locked in and focused on the game plan the last couple of days in practice, and it carried over.

 

“Obviously, Arkansas is a really good basketball team, and they pose a lot of challenges and are difficult to guard, but that was one of our best defensive efforts this season, and i'm really proud of our team.”

 

As for the coming visit from South Carolina, Thursday, “We did what we needed to do on the boards. South Carolina poses a very different look on the boards, and Arkansas’ game plan is a little different.

 

“They're going to get their defense set rather than crush the boards as hard. South Carolina, not so much; they're going to bring the house on the boards.

 

“We understand what we're up against, but each and every game is different, so we did what we needed to do on the boards in this game, and I'm proud of our team for that.”

 

In the game out West, freshman JuJu Watkins had 32 points, one of the top scorers in the country at Southern Cal who set a program record with her ninth 30+ effort, passing Cherie Nelson (1988-89).

 

“JuJu is so spectacular, people are going to come with all different game plans,” USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. “We showed she's hard to stop from scoring, but we also have other players. We had contributions from everywhere.”

 

Penn transfer Kayla Padilla had 15 points from five makes from deep. Rayah Marshall had all 12 of her points in the second half and also had 10 rebounds.

 

The win put Southern Cal (18-4, 8-4) Back into a fourth place tie with 9th ranked use CLA.

 

Arizona (12-12, 4- 8) had 13 points from Esmery Martinez.

 

Monday's game allowed Watkins, who was 12-12 from the line, to be viewed by a national TV audience on an ESPN channel.

 

She is currently second in the country in scoring (27.5) behind Iowa senior Caitlin Clarkk.

 

“To be able to play on this platform gave us a lot of added energy,” Watkins said. “My teammates have trust in me which gives me a lot of confidence. I keep reminding myself to just play my game and it will take me very far.”

 

Looking Ahead: Rutgers will host Minnesota Tuesday night at 7 p.m. on the Big Ten Network at 7 p.m. at Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, N.J.

 

Villanova visits Georgetown in the nation’s capital at 11 a.m. looking for a sweep in the Big East series after pulling out a win in overtime on the Main Line last month.

 

The Wildcats are in third a half-game ahead of St. John’s, which hosts Seton Hall Tuesday night and own the tie-break with ‘Nova.

 

On Wednesday Saint Joseph’s host Dayton at 7 p.m. at Hagan Arena on ESPN+ in the Atlantic 10 where a win would give the Hawks the best overall start in the program history at 23-2.

 

And that’s the report.