The Guru NCAAW Report: Penn State Swamps Niagara While No. 1 South Carolina Wins Its 41st Straight and UConn Coach Geno Auriemma in Line For More History

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

In the only local action Thursday concerning the 13 Guru teams, Penn State made quick work of Niagara in a late morning Field Trip promotion game for schoool children, routing the Purple Eagles of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) 101-45 at home in the Bryce Jordan Center in State College.

The starting five combined for a shooting high 64 percent (27-42) from the field paced by Gracie Merkle’s 10-12 for a game-high 27 points with seven boards, while Moriah Murray scored 17 points, all but 2-2 from the line in shooting 5-10 from deep.

Gabby Elliott completed scoring in double figures from the Nittany Lions (4-0) first five with 11 points, while freshman Taliyah Walker was a perfect 4-4 off the bench and matched that shooting from the line for 12 points. Jayla Oden had nine assists.

Overall, the Nits, which had the entire 13-member roster contribute, shot 62 percent.

 Niagara (0-3), still seeking its first win off a tough non-conference schedule to date, got 18 points from Talia Dial, the lone player in double figures for the visitors.

PSU is a perfect 3-0 in the series though their last meeting was during the ’93 season.

The Blue and White finish their five-game, season-opening home stand Sunday hosting Monmouth at 1 p.m. (B1G+).

The National Scene

Thanks to Harmoni Turner, Harvard has bagged another Power Four program one week after knocking Indiana of the Big Ten out of the Associated Press rankings.

This time the victim came off a short cross-town visit from Boston College of the ACC at Lavietes Pavilion in Cambridge, Mass., where Turner exploded for a career-high 41 points and 10 rebounds leading the Crimson to a 78-70 win handing the Eagles (3-1) their first setback.

Between the two games for Harvard (3-1), though, was last weekend’s 76-53 blowout loss at Quinnipiac of the MAAC.

Turner, whose previous personal best was 28 several times, was 14-23 from the field, including 7-11 from deep, with three assists.

Alayna Rocco added 12 points off the bench, all coming by way of 4-6 on 3-point attempts.

Four BC starters scored in double figures led by T’Yana Todd and Dontavia Waggoner with 16 points, each, while Andrea Daley scored 13 and Kaylah Ivey scored 10.

The score was knotted 56-56 at the outset of the fourth quarter and stayed close with Harvard inching ahead to stay 68-67 on Turner’s assist to Katie Krupa with 2:35 left in regulation.

Rocco’s three off another Turner assist produced the winning points with 1:42 left at 71-67 though Ivey’s three-ball kept BC alive 71-70 at the 1:18 mark.

But that was to be the Eagles’ end of scoring, Harvard finishing on a 7-0 on run off five free throws and Turner’s layup as time expired.

The Crimson go to America East favorite and defending champion Maine (2-10 in Orono Sunday at noon (ESPN+) while Boston College hosts Providence (2-1) of the Big East at Conti Forum in Chestnut Hill, Mass., also Sunday at noon (ACCNX).

Another Night of Ranking Sweeps

It was 9-0, none against each other, from the current week’s teams in the AP Poll who played. Eight of the victories came at home while No. 19 Ole Miss. won 80-42 at Delaware State down in Dover.

Of the notable ones in the radar section of the Guru’s season schedule placed before this year’s weekly voting began, No. 10 Kansas State at home in Manhattan beat Creighton 86-68 as Ayoka Lee had 28 points on 13-18 from the field against the Bluejays (1-2), picked second in the Big East.

The fifth-year senior is 13 points from second on the program scoring list.

The Wildcats are 3-0, each win with 80 or more points, the first time for those calculations since the 2004-05 season.

Temira Poindexter and Serena Sundell each scored 12 points and reserve Kennedy Taylor had 10 points and six boards.

Creighton’s Lauren Jensen came in leading the nation in scoring, averaging 27.5 ppg., but the Wildcats held her to nine points, shooting 4-11 from the field.

Sundell was in triple double territory with eight assists and seven boards.

Kansas State remains home Monday night hosting Little Rock of the Ohio Valley Conference.

The other ranked game, radar wise, saw No. 13 NC State at home in Raleigh top Kent State of the Mid-American Conference 79-51 as the Wolfpack (2-1) locked the wire-to-wire win with a 23-7 fourth quarter.

Bouncing back from the previous game losing to top-ranked South Carolina, Aziaha James  joined the 1,000-point club with a game-high 20 and freshman  Zamareya Jones scored 16 on the opposition (1-2).

South Carolina, which won its third NCAA title last season, going unbeaten, continued being perfect (3-0) with a 92-60 victory at home in Columbia over Coppin State (2-2) as MiLaysia Fulwiley scored 23 points and Chloe Kitts had 19 with 10 boards.

Laila Lawrence scored 20 for the Eagles (2-2).

The Gamecocks in taking their home opener have won 41 straight, nearing a program record, while it’s now 60 in a row in Columbia and 75 in the regular season.

California (4-0) dominated WCC-favorite Gonzaga (1-2) on the road in Spokane, Wash., winning 86-65 as Kayla Williams had 25 points, including 4-6 from deep and the Golden Bears forced 24 turnovers worth 29 points. It was the Zags’ first loss in the McCarthy Athletics Center since Feb. 5, 2022.

Vanderbilt (3-0) pulled off a similar impressive road win, claiming a 62-49 triumph at American Athletic-favorite South Florida in Tampa, the Bulls (2-2) losing to the Commodores coached by former UConn star Shes Ralph after losing to the Huskies themselves Sunday in Storrs.  

Khamil Pierre had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the winners.

WAC-favorite Grand Canyon took an area 70-59 win over Arizona State in Phoenix in another of the Naismith Hall of Fame series being held.

Northwestern at home edged Utah 71-69.

Back in the ranking category, No. 16 Duke (3-1) bounced back from Sunday’s loss at Maryland, beating Dayton 84-49 at home in Cameron Indoor Arena in Durham as Jordan Wood’s career-high 17 points led six Blue Devils in double figures.

Elsewhere, it was No. 22 Alabama 88-59 over Alcorn State in Tuscaloosa, No. 23 Illinois 84-37 over Eastern Illinois in Champagne, No. 8 Iowa State 80-47 over St. Thomas (Minn.) in Ames as Audi Crooks scored 26 and Emily Ryan dealt a nation’s best 13 assists this season, and No. 17 Baylor in Waco, Texas, beat East Texas A&M 104-55.

Looking Ahead - Auriemma’s Date With History; Penn Hosts Saint Joseph’s

It could be a night of history, part one, for UConn Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma, whose No. 2 Huskies play No. 14 North Carolina down in Greensboro at 6 p.m. (ESPN2) where a win over the Tar Heels would tie him with retired Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer  for all-time Division I victories by either men’s or women’s mentors at 1,216.

At halftime the 2025 Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame Class, to be inducted in Knoxville, Tenn., next year, will be announced.

If Auriemma, who grew up in Norristown and is in his 40th season solely with the Huskies, wins, the first shot at being the all-time leader alone comes next Wednesday night at the home campus Gampel Pavilion in Storrs when his group hosts Fairleigh Dickinson, coached by former Villanova star Stephanie Gaitley.

Locally, Friday, the second Big 5 clash in the series and first in the other pod leading to the first women’s Classic, the triple-header to be played Dec. 6 at Villanova, occurs at The Palestra when Saint Joseph’s at 4:30 p.m. (ESPN+) visits Penn on the front end of a doubleheader with the Quakers men hosting the nightcap.

The Hawks swept the former round-robin format 4-0 last season.

This is the 44th season for the Big 5 women, though the complete City Series was not played in 2020-21 due to games cancelled during the CoVid pandemic.

Temple stays on the road visiting VCU in Richmond at 7 p.m., (ESPN+), Rider hosts Bryant at 5 p.m. (ESPN+) at home at Alumni Gym in Lawrenceville, N.J., and Rutgers hosts Iona in a Field Trip game 11 a.m. (B1G+) at Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, central New Jersey.

On Saturday, Villanova, having lost at Princeton, plays its second of three straight Ivy opponents, at 2 p.m. (FloHoops) hosting regular season co-champion Columbia, while Princeton, the Ivy tourney winner, visits MAAC-contender Quinnipiac at 2 p.m. (ESPN+) in Hamden, Conn.

On Sunday, Lafayette at the Kirby Sports Arena in Easton, Pa., at 2 p.m. (ESPN+) hosts No. 6 Notre Dame, the game serving as an area homecoming for Irish stars sophomore Hannah Hidalgo, the ACC preseason player of the year from Haddonfield, Olivia Miles from Phillipsburg, N.J., and Kylee Watson from Linwood, N.J., near Atlantic City.

The game was heading for a rare sellout at Lafayette so check with the school if you have a desire to attend. We’ll tweet updated information @womhoopsguru as it becomes known.

That’s the roundup.