The Guru NCAAW Report: Baylor’s Fourth-Quarter Run Downs Villanova in the Bahamas Tourney Won by UNC; UConn Routs Oregon State; UCLA Claims First AP No. 1

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

Just one local team played on Monday with Villanova meeting no-longer-ranked Baylor in the third-place game of the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas.

The good news for the Wildcats was an overnight improvement from Sunday’s blowout loss to No. 16 North Carolina extending Baylor through three quarters. The bad news was not finishing the job, outscored 20-9 over the last 10 minutes and losing 73-62 to fall to 4-3.

Baylor’s upset loss to Indiana on the weekend in the semifinals of the tourney ended a 24-week run from the preseason AP women’s poll a streak much lower than the Britney Greiner era when the Bears (5-2) were one of the dominant teams in the nation.

Villanova’s traditional three-ball attack was sharper with a season-high 11 made from beyond the arc.

Denae Carter scored 13 for the ‘Cats, helped by 6-8 from the line with six rebounds and a pair of steals.

Jasmine Bascoe had 12 points with a team season-best seven assists and a pair of steals while Maddie Burke collected 11 points shooting 4-8 off the bench with three makes from deep.

Aaronette led Baylor with 19 points.

Next up is the Holy War at Saint Joseph’s Sunday at 2 p.m. at Hagan Arena, the winner heading for the new Big 5 Classic title game at Villanova at 8 p.m. on December 6, the last of a triple-header with Sunday’s loser playing for 3rd at 5:45 p.m.

Penn will be in the fifth-place game starting the day’s action at 3:30 p.m. and all three will air on NBC Philadelphia Sports Plus.

The complete alignment will be known Sunday with Temple at La Salle at 2 p.m. completing pod play in the two rounds.

North Carolina won the Battle for Atlantis, defeating Indiana 69-39 with Indya Niyar and reserve Trayanna Crisp each scoring 15 points for the Tar Heels (6-1).

Indiana (4-3) got 10 points from Yarden Garzon while Julianna Lamendola grabbed 11 boards.

The National Scene

The end of the Battle of Atlantis was a fade-out, fade-in day launching a whole week of Thanksgiving tourneys, the largest number to occur later in the week.

No. 2 UConn (5-0) playing in the tropics in the Baha Mar Women’s Championship in one of the two divisions (Continental Tire), helped get things under way with a 71-52 victory over Oregon State (1-5), which advanced to the Elite Eight a year ago but was decimated by outgoing transfers in the wake of the collapse of the PAC-12 and the Beavers move to the Mid-Major West Coast Conference the next two seasons.

As will be the case with every triumph as of last Wednesday until his unknown retirement, Huskies Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma, who grew up in Norristown, extended his record total as the all-time winningest men’s or women’s collegiate coach to 1,218 victories.

Graduate senior Paige Bueckers, projected as the top pick in the next WNBA Draft on April 14, had 23 points with six assists, while freshman Sarah Strong collected 13 points with eight boards, six steals and pairs of assists and blocks. Redshirt freshman Jana El Alfy scored 12 points.

Azzi Fudd, who returned to action last week after being sidelined for a year with a leg injury, dealt a personal best five assists and grabbed four rebounds.

The game was over quickly with the Huskies bolting to a 22-7 lead in the first quarter.

UConn will face No. 18 Ole Miss (4-1) on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. (FloHoops) for the championship.

The Rebels of the SEC advanced beating Boston College of the ACC, 92-55, the first win scoring 90 or more points on a Power Four opponent in regulation since March 2007 beating Oklahoma during the NCAA tourney.

Five players scored in double figures on the Eagles (6-2) led by Kennedy Todd-Williams with 17 points and Starr Jacobs with 12 points and 11 boards, eight on the offensive glass.

This is one of a few Multiple Team Events this week in pure tournament format, the others are set with predetermined opponents each day of the competitions.

In other noteworthy results on Monday, No. 13 Duke (6-1) won 73-62 over No. 9 Kansas State (5-1) to advance to Wednesday’s title game in the Ball Dawgs Classic in Henderson, Nevada, against No. 8 Oklahoma at Lee’s Family Forum.

Ashlon Jackson had 30 points for the Blue Devils, the most since Haley Gorecki’s matching total on Idaho State in 2019.

The Wildcats, who will meet DePaul in the third-place game, had 16 points from Ayoka Lee and 15 from Serena Sundell.

The winning Sooners (6-0) in the other game took an 85-62 win over the Blue Demons (2-4) as as Payton Verhulst had 18 points, nine assists and seven boards.

Out in the middle of the Pacific, Georgia Tech (6-0) upset No. 21 Oregon 74-58 to win the North Shore Classic in Laie, Hawai’i, as four Yellowjackets scored in double figures led by tourney MVP Tonie Morgan, who averaged 15.5 points and 9.0 rebounds in the two games.

Deja Kelly had 10 points, the sole player in double figures for the Ducks (6-1), who have one more game Tuesday meeting South Dakota State, which also fell to Georgia Tech.

UCLA Gets First No. 1 After Downing South Carolina

The aftershocks from two major upsets last weekend in Los Angeles struck the AP Poll causing a reshuffle of the top six in the latest weekly rankings released Monday.

UCLA routed defending champion South Carolina, which had won a program record 43 straight and held first in all but the preseason vote of last season, and was rewarded shooting up from fifth to first, claiming No. 1 for the first time in Bruins history.

The win over Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks was the first over a No. 1 ranked opponent in 21 meetings.

They are the 26th team to take first in the 49-year poll history dominated by Tennessee and Connecticut. This is week number 868 since the initial women’s poll begun in The Philadelphia Inquirer in November 1976.

The other shocker was then-No. 6 Notre Dame crushing No. 3 Southern Cal resulting in the two changing places while Connecticut held second, South Carolina fell to fourth bumping Texas down a spot to fifth.

Iowa entered for the first time this season at No. 22 and Maryland moved into 10th behind LSU, Oklahoma and Kansas State.

Looking Ahead

Locally, four games are on Tuesday’s card, all airing on ESPN+, beginning with La Salle at 4:30 p.m. hosting Lehigh at John Glaser Arena.

Temple at 5 p.m. in the Liacouras Center, hosts Ivy tourney champion Princeton, while at 6 p.m., Penn hosts area Division III Immaculata in The Palestra, and at 7 p.m., Lafayette is at NJIT in Newark.

On Wednesday, Drexel is at Penn State at 1 p.m. (B1G+) in the Bryce Jordan Center at State College while at 3 p.m. (ESPN+) Saint Joseph’s hosts Saint Francis, Pa.