The Guru NCAAW Report: Freshman Stars as Penn Rallies on Merrimack for Season/Home Opening Win in The Palestra; Columbia Edges Host Providence in Overtime

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PHILADELPHIA — Penn freshman Katie Collins’ basketball career back in Manasquan High along the North Coast of New Jersey near New York in some ways can be akin to the Quakers’ season opener at home here Friday afternoon in The Palestra against Merrimack in just the second meeting between the two programs.

It took a while to get going but once both got traction the results were positive.

Collins’ reference is that she never became a starter until her junior season, while Penn didn’t really get in gear until the second half on the way to a 64-52 victory that at various points was closer than outsiders would have anticipated.

Penn hasn’t totally fallen off its upper tier in the Ivy League when the long haul of a season is reviewed, but the there’s been a combination of factors in opposite directions affecting what Mike McLaughlin, now the dean of the Ancient Eight, built here.

The total roster numbers that were used to spend several seasons in eye-to-eye battles against what Courtney Banghart created at Princeton ahead of McLaughlin’s arrival in the post with the likes of Sydney Stipanovich, Michelle Nwokedi, and Eleah Parker, had some depletion, while at the same time, Harvard’s regeneration and Meghan Griffith at her Alma mater performing what he did here added more to deal with in the league wars.

However, Collins, a 6-foot-1 forward checked the must-have box, and Friday was as good as perceived here playing all but two minutes and change with nine points, 10 boards, and six blocks.

“It was a need for us,” McLaughlin said. “She’s got a high basketball IQ, she’s been well-coached at Manasquan, she’s played good competition, she can fit into whatever we were going to run.”

He noted that he inserted Collins into the starting lineup in the first of three games when the team made its offseason trip to Europe and there was no need to make a replacement.

The Penn coach also expects as she grows, she will be able to handle the physicality in games with a higher level of opposition.

Still, first starts as a freshman can cause misreads when nerves from the assignment take hold, though Collins, who also showed capable of shooting from beyond the arc, quickly dispelled of them.

“I was definitely really excited,” she said. “I had some nerves before the game, but I feel like my teammates really helped calm me down and everyone just came together and we’re just ready to go from the start.”

Her one three-ball in her only attempt — she was 4-5 overall — added to the confidence as the game progressed.

“It felt good, I felt like it was a big point in the game, because we were going back and forth, and that gave us a little bit more of a lead, so I felt good shooting it, I’m glad it went in.”

McLaughlin sees some of what he saw in Stipanovich, who became one of the all-time stars in program history.

“I think there’s similarities in terms of maturity,” he said. “They’re both very mature kids, they’re both very selfless kids. They both have a work ethic. Sydney, being one of the better kids ever to play here, was the first kid on the floor every day, there’s a lot of that similarity.”

Mataya Gayle, the Ivy and Big Five freshman of the year running the offense last season, had 17 points, and defensively grabbed four boards with four steals.

Senior Stina Almqvist had 15 points and eight rebounds, while Saniah Caldwell had nine points, going 3-4 from the field, including her connection on both attempted threes.

Merrimack (0-2) got 19 points from Thalia Sheppard with 10 rebounds, and Mia Fiore scored 10.

On the criticism end for Penn were the 18 turnovers, though the team only committed five in the second half.

McLaughlin’s other objection, “We played two scrimmages, and I thought we had better ball flow in both of them. I just think we’v e got to learn to make another pass; the ball got stuck, we did a lot off the dribble from so far away, we had a couple of good shots that we could have made great shots if we made one more pass.”

Penn now has a long journey into New England to play at Maine, 11:30 a.m., Sunday in Orono, looking to complete a two-season sweep of the Black Bears, following a win here in December.

La Salle opened with a loss to the America East favorites and defending conference champs at the same site last Monday.

The only other local in action Friday saw Lehigh at Michigan give an impressive showing in Ann Arbor in the first half, down 38-31 to the Big Ten squad that chased top-ranked South Carolina, the defending nationally champions, all the way to the finish in Las Vegas last Monday on opening day.

However, two more quarters were left to play, and the Wolverines quickly dispelled any notion of an upset with an overwhelming 25-9 third quarter in the way to an 86-55 rout at Crisler Arena.

“I thought we battled really hard in the first half,” Lehigh coach Addie Micir said. “When we came out in the first half, I honestly didn't think we looked like us, right, so we really challenged them to share it and shoot it and get up shots, and I thought we really did for the rest of the half.

“In the second half, we didn't make those shots, and we had some live ball turnovers, and that allowed (Michigan) to get confidence.”

Maddie Albrecht had 14 points for the Mountain Hawks while Ella Stemmer making a homecoming appearance scored 11, and Whitney Lind scored 10.

Michigan’s Syla Swords, who impressed in the game against South Carolina, had a game-high 20 points.

Lehigh will stay in the Midwest through the weekend to play another Big Ten group in Northwestern, Sunday, at 3 p.m. (B1G+) in Evanston, Ill., in suburban Chicago.

The National Scene: Columbia Takes a Thriller in Overtime

Apparently, the Big East coaches know their stuff when they chose Providence third in the conference poll, a height not seen by the Friars in decades.

The squad proved themselves worthy at home in Alumni Hall in Providence, R.I., but Ivy defending regular season co-champion Columbia earned the better grade, winning the thrilling game 77-69 in overtime after Perri Page rescued the Lions (2-0) from an upset by scoring a layup with 1.4 seconds remaining in regulation to force the extra period.

Sophomore Riley Weiss had a career-high 25 points for the visitors, Kitty Henderson scored 18 supplemented by six assists and three steals, while Page double doubled with 11 points and a matching career-best 12 rebounds.

“Tonight's game was a necessary wake up call, but we gritted out a road win against a very experienced team,” said Columbia coach Megan Griffith, who is a remarkable 9-1 against Big East opponents.

“I was proud that we executed down the stretch and played Columbia basketball to close out the game. Providence took us out of our rhythm early and made us work deep into the clock defensively. This was a great learning lesson for our squad.”

The host Friars (1-1) were led by Grace Efosa, scoring 18 points. They won the points off turnover battle 21-11 but the Lions owned the paint 42-26.

Columbia has another key game Monday, hosting Atlantic Sun favorite and defending champion Florida Gulf Coast (0-1) at 7 p.m. (ESPN+) in New York City.

Providence visits Vermont in Burlington Tuesday at 6 p.m. (ESPN+) in Burlington.

The triumph made it two straight days of successes in overtime for Ivy schools following Harvard’s upset at No. 25 Indiana on Thursday.

“I said on Ivy Media Day this was the deepest team I’ve had,” Crimson coach Carrie Moore said to the Guru in a catch-up call Friday. “And it was a team win, everyone had a part.

“When we got in a little foul trouble the subs who came did their part. I was really proud of the poise we showed.”

Harvard goes to Quinnipiac Sunday where Trish Fabbri noted, “I said this was going to be the toughest game on our schedule.”

Penn’s McLaughlin said of the Quakers’ rival, “l know what they have and that didn’t surprise me one bit.”

Cross-Conference Showdowns

One of the two games Friday in the ongoing WAC/C-USA series had both conference top picks meet each other with C-USA’s Middle Tennessee at home in Murfreesboro best the Western Athletic’s Grand Canyon 57-47 as the Blue Raiders (2-0) avenged a loss to the Lopes (1-1) last season.

“We knew sort of what to expect based on what we saw when we played them last year,” said MTSU coach Rick Insell, lwhose team visits Tennessee this upcoming week.  “We didn't play well, but they can cause you not to play well based on how they play defense. They are aggressive and have great speed.”

Ta’Mia Scott had 17 points for the winners, one more than Anastasia Boldyreva, who was a perfect 7-7 from the field. Courtney Blakely added 11.

GCU’s Laura Erikstrup was the lone team player in double figures with 20 points.

In a strong mid-major hookup that will say upset due to the ranking number of one but was more of a tossup, the Summit’s favorite South Dakota State at home in Brookings grabbed a 76-71 narrow win over No. 21 Creighton, the season opener for the visiting Bluejays, picked second in the Big East.

Brooklyn Meyer had 17 points for SDSU (2-0) while Creighton’s Lauren Jensen scored 23 points.

The other three ranked teams in action easily won, No. 10 Oklahoma at home romped over Virginia, while No. 7 LSU did likewise over Northwestern State 95-36 in Baton Rouge as did No. 17 Louisville 75-61 over Ohio Valley favorite Southern Indiana 75-51.

Looking Ahead

A relative light Saturday has two locals hooking up after season-opening road losses as La Salle makes its home opener debut in its new John Glaser Arena hosting Delaware at noon (ESPN+) ahead of the Explorers men in the second game.

Princeton is Chicago trying to get back on the winning track by visiting DePaul at 2 p.m. (FloHoops) and Lafayette, which also lost on the road, plays St. Francis (Pa.) as the Leopards open at 2 p.m. (ESPN+) at home in the Kirby Sports Center.