The Guru Report: Temple Tops Tulane and Moves Into First Place Tie With North Texas in the AAC; No. 14 Indiana Stunned at Illinois; No. 15 UConn Beats No. 21 Creighton As Geno Auriemma Picks Up Victory 1203.

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

 

PHILADELPHIA — To hear Temple second-year coach Diane Richardson tell it, if hosting Tulane Monday night at the Liacouras Center involving playing for a share of first place in The American Athletic Conference had become budding news around here, it was news to her squad.

 

With preseason favorite South Florida underachieving plus a bunch of newcomers into the mix when the Big 12 took a helping of several prior members, in recent weeks, eight teams were within two games of the top spot.

 

Meanwhile, the Owls (15-10, 9-4) had begun a win streak that reached three Monday night with the 69-52 triumph over the Green Wave (10-15, 3-11) and when first-place North Texas was upset Sunday, the Owls with the only AAC game of the night were looking at a chance to take a step for a share of the lead, which they now possess.

 

“I told (her players) this morning that if we win, we would be in first place, and they were surprised,” Richardson said.

 

By the game’s end the squad went over to the band to sing the fight song and all five starters joined the postgame presser.

 

Considering that the Owls were ninth in the preseason poll of AAC coaches, Temple’s situation would be certainly news to a bunch of people seeing the struggles on the front part of the season.

 

“This league is crazy,” said Tulane veteran coach Lisa Stockton in a pre-game chitchat, “Everybody’s beating everybody, but they’ve become very consistent recently.”

 

It’s the first time Temple has shared or been alone in first this late in the season since playing. In the Atlantic Ten back in 2012.

 

With five games left in the regular season and then next month’s AAC tourney in Fort Worth, Texas, the odds have improved but are not overwhelming that Temple could return from the South holding the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

 

But there are achievable items that would be progress, especially off a year ago when injuries and departures forced Richardson to cope with a short-handed roster in the back half of the season.

 

In football parlance, Temple is one game away from being bowl eligible by clinching a season record of .500 or better allowing at-large selection to the new 32-team WBIT managed by a separate women’s committee inside the NCAA, or the 48-team WNIT.

 

The Owls, to help their cause, are close to clinching a double bye going to the top four seeds in the AAC field.

 

The next game is on the road Thursday at UT San Antonio (7:30 p.m., ESPN+), which Temple beat here to open the conference schedule at the end of December. The Owls will stay on the road to go to Rice, a new member they have yet to meet Sunday.

 

Monday night, the game was also the only local one on a lite national card, the Owls trailed 16-12 after the first quarter but then surged at the outset of the second with four shots from deep to take a lead they would never relinquish, though a large differential shrank in the second half before Temple reasserted itself.

 

“We worked hard all summer, all preseason to get where we are now,” said Demi Washington. “We all believed it; our whole team believed it from the jump.

 

“Now, we are just putting everything together and proving to people that we are one of the best. And we are going to prove that for the rest of the season.”

 

Richardson, who has initials and phrases over her team’s game plans, said of the current 5-1 stretch that communication on defense has been a key.

 

“We’re better when we are communicating, knowing where the screens are coming from, things like that, and they’ve done that consistently. We have a term that we use, it’s called ELO; early, loud, and often. And they’ve. Been ELOing for the past few games.”

 

Aleah Nelson, who followed Richardson from Towson to Temple, and Washington each scored 16 points, while Tiarra East and Tarryiona Gary each scored 12 with East on the defensive end tying her personal best with 11 boards.

 

The pressure came through forcing 16 turnovers for a 20-8 advantage in transition. Ines Piper had four of the Owls’ seven steals.

 

Tulane’s Amira Mabry had a double double for Tulane with 18 points and 13 boards.

 

As for UTSA ahead, Richardson said, “They’re playing very good basketball right now. It’ll be. A tough game. But I trust my players. And I trust that they’re going to go down there and fight so we can continue to be in this position.”

 

The National Scene: On the way to hosting a major Big Ten showdown with No. 4 Iowa on Thursday night, No. 14 Indiana got tripped up 86-66 by Illinois in Champaign knocking the Hoosiers out of a second-place tie with the Hawkeyes.

 

Makira Cook scored 22 for the Illini (13-12, 7-8), who put Indiana (21-4, 12-3) away with a 15-3 run in the fourth quarter. Adalia McKenzie had 14 points, Genesis Bryant had 15, Camille Hobby scored 12, and Gretchen Dolan scored 11 points.

 

Indiana’s Mackenzie Holmes scored 24 points off 10-for-14 from the field, while Yarden Garzen had 17 points and eight rebounds, and Sarah Scalia scored 10.

 

Illinois will play at Iowa Sunday taking on Caitlin Clark after Indiana deals Thursday night.

 

Meanwhile the list of women’s coaches, who have surpassed retired Duke men’s coach Mike Krzyzewski for the overall NCAA Division I win total grew by one to two after Hall of Famer Geno Auriemma picked up his 1,203rd, jus six behind Stanford record holder Tara VanDerveer, guiding No. 15 UConn to a 73-53 win over No. 21. Creighton in Hartford.

Paige Bueckers scored 24 points and Aaliyah Edwards scored 20 points as UConn (23-5, 15-0) clinched a tie for first in the Big East along with the top seed on next month’s tournament at the Mohegan Sun.

 

Creighton (21-4, 12-3), which hosts Villanova Saturday, got 18 points from Lauren Jensen and 16 from. Morgan Maly as the Bluejays’ 11-game win streak that began after the earlier loss to the Huskies ended.

 

Freshman Ashlynn Shade had 15 points and nine rebounds for the home team.

 

In the Southeastern Conference, No. 13 LSU, the reigning NCAA champions, won 81-58 against Texas A&M on the road in College Station, Texas. 

 

Aneesah Morrow had 25 points and 15 rebounds for the winning Tigers (22-4, 9-3), while Angel Reese had 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Hailey Van Lith scored 10 points.

 

Janiah Barker scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Texas A&M (17-8, 5-7).

 

LSU had been off for eight days serving the bye week but now hosts Auburn and plays at Tennessee, Sunday.

 

In the Atlantic Coast Conference, No. 19 Notre Dame rallied for a 70-62 win over Duke (16-8, 8-6) on the road at Cameron Indoor Arena as South Jersey’s freshman sensation Hannah Hidalgo scored 23 points, Maddy Westbeld had 14 points and nine rebounds for the visiting Irish (19-6, 9-5).

 

Notre Dame hosts Clemson Thursday and Duke visits No. 17 Syracuse, the third of four straight games meeting AP ranked teams in the ACC.

 

Looking Ahead: There’s no local games Tuesday but on Wednesday Saint Joseph’s has a key game in the Atlantic Ten visiting VCU, one of the top teams in the conference standings, in Richmond while La Salle plays at Richmond, which is tied for first with the Hawks.

 

Villanova will be looking for revenge in the Big East hosting Providence at 7 p.m., while Rutgers at 7 p.m. will be at Maryland in the Big Ten.

 

In the Patriot League, Lafayette travels to Colgate at 7 p.m., and Lehigh hosts Army at 6 p.m. at Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa.

 

Nationally, at 7:30 p.m., in the Big 12 No. 22 West Virginia is at No. 10 Kansas State, and No. 5 Texas hosts Texas. Tech at 8 p.m.

 

On Thursday, Rider hosts St. Peter’s in a MAAC game at Alumni Gym in Lawrenceville, N.J., at 7 p.m. on ESPN+ while No. 2 Ohio State visits Penn State, which on campus at State College, is moving the event as a throw-back game to Rec Hall on the Big Ten Network.

 

Thursday’s Iowa at Indiana Big Ten game is at 8 p.m. streamed on Peacock.

 

In the Pac-12, No. 18 Utah is at No. 12 UCLA at 9:30 p.m.

 

In the MAAC also on Thursday, Niagara, the preseason favorite, is at Quinnipiac at 7:30 p.m. while Fairfield will be after its 21^st straight win playing at 7 p.m. at Siena in suburban Albany.

 

And that’s the report.