The Guru NCAAW Report: Drexel Handles LaSalle in Dragons’ Big 5 Debut; Penn Routs Siena; Princeton Subdues Villanova; Ranked Teams go 6-0

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PHILADELPHIA – Back in the glory era of Big 5 men’s basketball in The Palestra when streamers flying out of the stands would occur after the first basket, most of the crowd to watch the Drexel women make their official debut at home against La Salle Wednesday night as part of the local brand were not even born yet.

But they executed the tradition perfectly a few blocks up the street from Penn’s historic home just under two minutes minutes into the action as a flow of blue and yellow was launched from the student section at the Daskalakis Athletic Center just after junior Grace O’Neill grabbed an offensive rebound and fed UAlbany transfer Deja Evans for a floating jumper inside the paint to tie the score 2-2.

“We talked about the tradition and being able to do streamers tonight after our first basket, just a moment for us to celebrate something that we’ve been waiting for,” Drexel coach Amy Mallon said.

O’Neill than gave the Dragons a 5-2 lead from deep and Saint Louis transfer Ashleigh Connor from Pittsburgh gave the Explorers a tie with a matching 3-pointer suggesting a typical City Series struggle was in the offing the rest of the way.

Not so much.

Amaris Baker, who was to finish with 22 points, put Drexel back in front and by the time La Salle scored again inside the final minute of the first quarter the Dragons had breathed a fiery 15-0 run and would go on to win the remaining three periods, building the lead to its largest in the final score of 73-40.

 If La Salle (1-2) with13 new players, composed of five freshmen and eight transfers from Division I, JUCO, and Community Colleges, had taken a step forward in Saturday’s win over Delaware in their new John E. Glaser Arena home debut, a redo on the drawing board is quickly needed before Sunday’s visit to Virginia of the Atlantic Coast Conference in Charlottesville.

“I’ve been here 20 seasons now and have played teams that are in the Big 5, so just to have that opportunity as a coach now, to coach Drexel to their first Big 5 win, it means the world to me,” said Mallon, who played in the local round-robin at Saint Joseph’s. “My team was really happy, too, to get my first win as a head coach in the Big 5. For us to have this moment, have it here, and have it at home, it’s really special.”

Drexel (2-0) was welcomed last season to dispense of the City Six identity of the past when playing Big 5 opponents as the Dragons men joined a revised complete round-robin format to a tournament structure consisting of two three-team pods – Drexel, Temple, and La Salle in one group, Penn, Villanova and Saint Joseph’s in the other.

The women went to it this season, the alignments will rotate in the future, and once the standings are complete on Dec. 1, their first Big Five Classic, a triple-header for first, third, and fifth place, will be at Villanova, Friday, Dec. 6, a day before the men play their second Classic, won by Saint Joseph’s last year, the next day at the Wells Fargo Center.

Tipoff times for the women at Finneran Pavilion will be 3:30 p.m. for the 5th place game; 5:45 p.m. for the 3rd place game; and 8 p.m. for the championship. All three will air live on NBC Sports Philadelphia Plus.

The women’s site was said to be going to a rotation when the women’s press conference was held last June, though that could change.

“Congrats to Amy and Drexel on her first official Big 5 win,” said La Salle’s Mountain MacGillivray in a short concession speech not needing to say more off a boxscore in which no Explorer scored in double digits. “It was an historic night, and Drexel was up for the moment, and we were not.”

Aryss Macktoon, one of the few Explorers not partaking of the portal-caused carnage after last season, and Ivy Fox, one of the incoming transfers, each scored six points.

Drexel’s Evans contributed 14 points, Australian grad Chloe Hodges had 10, while O’Neill had seven assists and 10 boards.

Mallon has been at Drexel 21 seasons and five as a head coach after Denise Dillon returned to the suburbs at her alma mater Villanova, filling the vacancy in the wake of the retirement of the legendary Harry Perretta.

His son, Stephen, is on Mallon’s staff this season and recently became engaged to former Wildcats sensation Maddy Siegriest, now with Dallas in the WNBA.

Last season in a stunning four-day run from the seventh seed, Mallon guided Drexel to its second CAA title and NCAA berth under her and third overall.

Wednesday’s Big 5 win puts Drexel in position to play for first in the Dragons’ pod when they visit Temple Saturday, Nov. 22, at 2 p.m. (ESPN+) at the Liacouras Center. In between, they host Big West tournament champion UC Irvine from the West Coast next Wednesday at 6 p.m.

“I think the best thing about the Big 5, you can contend for another title in your season, and any player that has an opportunity to contend for any title is something they’re going to be excited about, and what we strive to do,” Mallon said.

Wednesday was the first overall Big 5 pod game on the women’s side. The other pod series gets under way late Friday afternoon when 2023-24 champion Saint Joseph’s visits Penn 4:30 p.m. (ESPN+) before the Quakers men complete the doubleheader.

Drexel has long been shown to be Big 5-ready, with past wins in regular series with La Salle and Saint Joseph’s, and a neighborhood rivalry with Penn.

 Talked ramped up on the Dragons’ worthiness one memorable season that began 4-0, a sweep executed in less than the first two weeks, playing everyone but Temple.

In political speak, the series with La Salle here has ceased to be a battleground, the Explorers’ last win was now 15 years ago in December, 2009, and last season Drexel pulled a similar rout 71-46.

Part of the package in Drexel’s entry is joining the mix for postseason honors and Maris is well on her way to be minimally a first-team contender.

After scoring 21 points in the opening win here last week over Marist, her 22 on La Salle occurred off 7-16 from the field and 7-8 from the line.

The Dragons had 22 assists on 25 makes.

“That was the first thing I said to the team when we walked in the locker room,” Mallon said. “That stat, the 22 assists on 25 shots, we play team basketball, so we want to trust everybody we give the ball to has the ability to make the pass or make the shot I think that shows that.”

Baker, a Cardinal O’Hara grad, came to Drexel last year by way of Harcum College, filling a need after the graduation of Keishana Washington, one of the all-time program scorers.

Mallon had recruited Maris, who accelerated her scoring last season in the CAA tourney, in high school before she chose Kennesaw State in Atlanta prior to a transfer to Harcum.

“I think you’re going to see more consistent scoring (this year) and at a different level,” Mallon said. “She’s playing with teammates that understand what she’s capable of doing, so I think you’re going to see her getting those passes from her teammates.”

Penn Rolls Over Siena

Maybe there was something in the neighborhood water Wednesday in University City.

While Drexel was cruising here, Penn nearby handled Siena of the MAAC 78-47 at The Palestra that featured a breakout game from sophomore Abby Sharpe, a Plymouth Whitemarsh graduate, who scored a career-high 16 points as the Quakers (3-0) made it 5-1 and four straight wins in the series with the Saints.

Coach Mike McLaughlin noted Sharpe’s growth in her game after Penn’s season-opening intrasquad scrimmage last month.

She led an attack from the bench that outscored Siena reserves 28-10.

Coming off a quality win Sunday at Maine, Stina Almqvist led the home folks with 27 points, while reigning Ivy rookie of the week Katie Collins had 13 points and 11 rebounds. Mataya Gaye, last season’s Ivy rookie of the year, had eight points and eight assists.

Siena’s Anajah Brown was the sole Saint in double figures with 17 points.

The Quakers forced 24 turnovers to mine 27 points topping the 17 Siena (0-3) got out of Penn’s 10 miscues. Furthermore, the winners were sharp from the field, shooting 32-65 for 49.2 percent.

As already noted, next comes a double test from each side Friday in the Big 5 pod game at The Palestra with Saint Joseph’s, the Hawks coming from Sunday’s dominating win at Syracuse.

Villanova Fades at Princeton

Two year ago, the Wildcats took the trip up to Jadwin Gym in Central New Jersey and knocked the defending Ivy champs out of the AP Poll on Maddy Siegrist’s game-winner, moving on to a landmark season and advancement to the NCAA Sweet 16.

The Tigers came down to Finneran last November and delivered a payback in a narrow finish on the way to a regular season Ivy co-championship with Columbia and another Ivy tourney title.

That brought the Wildcats back to Jadwin Wednesday night, the first of three straight non-conference games with Ivy squads including a Columbia visit Saturday at 2 p.m. and then Penn.

Coming out of the season-opening win Sunday at home against Wake Forest, a win over the Tigers could be a nice piece in the resume file for ‘Nova when NCAA at-large bids are being deliberated.

But it was not to be.

Despite a career-high 23 points from Maddie Webber, Villanova faded down the stretch and fell 70-61.

Whether Princeton (2-1) gets the same value out of the Wildcats remains to be seen, should the Tigers not extend their favored run of Ivy crowns, given the state of Denise Dillon’s roster rebuild.

Webber was 9-15 from the field, including 5-8 from deep, while newcomer Jasmine Bascoe, a freshman from Canada, had another strong game with 19 points, and Lara Edmanson scored nine.

The Tigers were paced by Ashley Chea with a career-high 17 points, while Madison St. Rose scored 13 and Princeton owned the boards 36-26.

Princeton Saturday goes to Quinnipiac of the MAAC at 2 p.m. (ESPN+), the host Bobcats routed the Tigers’ Ivy rivals Harvard last weekend at home in Hamden, Conn.

Earlier in the day, ‘Nova announced three signed recruits, including sisters: Kennedy Henry, 6-0 guard, Hockessin, Del., ESPN 78th Top 100; Elise Bender, 6-1 guard-forward, Whitehouse, Ohio, Toledo Blade POY; Brooke Bender 6-1 gard-forward, Whitehouse, Ohio, Toledo Blade Top 25 school record 123 three-pointers.

In the only other local in action, Lafayette fell 73-41 at Marist (2-1), Tasha Chudy was the only player in double figures for the Leopards (1-2), scoring ten points.

Lexie Tarul scored 13 for the Red Foxes in the game at McCann Arena in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., while Ciara Croker scored 12, and Lee Morgan had a double double of 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Sunday, No. 6 Notre Dame visits Lafayette 2 p.m. at the Kirby Sports Center in Easton, Pa. (ESPN+), making it the closest it will come this season for a homecoming for sophomore Hannah Hidalgo, the ACC preseason player of the year from Haddonfield, N.J.

The National Scene

The Irish (3-0), among a 6-0 sweep by ranked teams, beat visiting Sun Belt favorite James Madison, 92-46, Hidalgo had 24 points and Kate Koval scored 14 points with 16 rebounds and six blocks against the Dukes (3-1) in the game in Purcell Pavilion in South Bend, Ind., Kenia Kozlova scored 14 with 10 rebounds for JMU.

No. 11 Maryland (4-0) won at Syracuse 84-73, the Orange (1-2) having also lost previously to Saint Joseph’s at JMW Wireless Arena, as Rutgers transfer Kaylene Smikle had 22 points, Allie Kubek scored 16, and Villanova transfer Christina Dalce had 10 points and seven rebounds.

Speaking of ‘Nova, transfer Lucie Olsen had 14 points and 4 assists in Iowa’s 94-57 win over Toledo at home in Carver-Hawkeye Arena In Iowa City. Hannah Stuelke led the winners (3-0) with 17 points over the Rockets.

Indiana (1-2), which fell out of the poll after its upset home loss to Harvard, suffered a road 56-46 upset loss at Butler (3-0) of the Big East, the Bulldogs at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis getting 14 points from Caroline Strande, and 11 from reserve Sydney Jaynee.

Nunu Agara had career-high double doubles of 25 points and 10 rebounds leading No. 24 Stanford 69-56 over visiting UC Davis to move to 4-0. Oregon State transfer Raegan Beers, holding SEC and one of five USBWA player of the week honors scored 27 for host No. 9 Oklahoma (3-0) for a pulverizing 122-56 win at home in Norman over Western Carolina, setting a school scoring record.

BYU of the Big 12 won 69-55 over visiting Colorado State of the Mountain West in Provo, Utah.

Looking Ahead

Just one game on the local slate Thursday as Penn State hosts Niagara of the MAAC at 11:30 a.m. in the Bryce Jordan Center in State College.

The new Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame Class of ’25 will be announced Friday out of Knoxville, Tenn. The WNBA draft lottery order will be announced Sunday at 5 p.m. on ESPN.

Games of note nationally Thursday night have Arizona State hosting Grand Canyon in another Naismith Hall of Fame series game in Phoenix, Creighton at No. 10 Kansas State, Boston College at Harvard, California at Gonzaga, Utah at Northwestern, and Vanderbilt at South Florida.

And that’s the roundup.