The Guru NCAAW Thanksgiving Eve Report: It’s a Romp for Saint Joseph’s as Laura Ziegler Gets Rare Triple-Double; Penn State Ruins Rally by Drexel; UConn Shines in the Tropics

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PHILADELPHIA — Late in Wednesday’s afternoon game hosted by Saint Joseph’s, whose outcome was long decided here at Hagan Arena ahead of the 88-35 final score with Saint Francis, Pa., junior 6-2 forward Laura Ziegler was just one assist away from joining a small group of special game-day achievers by her Hawk Hill ancestors in the program.

A group rare enough that the native of Denmark was not even close to being born yet the last time anyone produced a triple-double, the last being the legendary Debbie Black, just short of 36 years ago, who was the third Hawk at the time to pull the feat.

Now there are four.

Word got to the Saint Joseph’s staff during a media timeout of the impending moment, veteran coach Cindy Griffin at her Alma mater drew up play, and soon after the action resumed, Ziegler found Talya Brugler inside to complete her day with 16 points, 13 rebounds, and the 10 assists.

“I think of any stat line, that’s the one I’m proud of because it shows a little bit of everything,” she said. “I love to pass the ball. I love to set my teammates up and watch them doing their thing. I think it shows as much as I want to put points on the board, I want to rebound too and set my teammates up.

“My coach told me last year I was going to have a triple double when I leave this program,” Ziegler continued. “It’s my teammates making shots. They’ve been shooting at a high frequency all season. I hope we carry that on to the ‘Nova game.

“I didn’t know when I came out (where she stood) on the timeout and everyone told me I need one more and Talya really wanted it bad for me to have it. At one point, she felt bad, and she had to kick it out.

“We do a play we have a high success rate with, so that was definitely ‘coach setting me up there,” smiled Zigler, who is the reigning Big 5 and Atlantic 10 player of the week with an honorable mention from the choice of the weekly Associated Press player of the week.

Black’s triple-double consisted of 12 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 steals from the fabled point guard against Duquesne on February 13, 1988.

Brugler had a game-high 18 points off 8-10 from the field and six assists for Saint Joseph’s (5-1) while Mackenzie Smith scored 17 with 3-6 from deep, Gabby Casey scored nine points with seven boards, five on the offensive glass to help achieve Griffin’s goal of 12 that matched the game plan target, and she also grabbed four steals.

Freshman Rhian Stokes from Ewing, N.J., just outside of Trenton, had 12 points of 4-6 from the field while off the bench Aleah Snead had seven points and Paula Marina scored five.

The Hawks’ defense was as good as ever on the Red Flashes (1-7) not allowing anyone to reach double digits, the best being Natalie Johnson with nine points.

Despite the opposition’s record, this matchup had the potential to being a classic trap game, Saint Joseph’s having just missed a major victory Friday at Utah in overtime when the Hawks battled back and Brugler missed a wide-open layup as time expired.

And looking forward, comes Sunday’s annual Holy War with Villanova visiting at 2 p.m. (ESPN+), the winner going into the championship game from a three-some that includes Penn in the new Big 5 Classic triple-header format, Dec. 6 at Villanova that begins 3:30 p.m. with the fifth-place game.

“One thing about our team, we always focus on the next one, and prepare the same way, no matter who we’re playing,” Ziegler said. “It doesn’t matter what team it is. We showed that today, we always come to play. We had a job to get done today.”

At the same time as the ‘Nova game here Sunday, Temple is at La Salle (ESPN+) at the Explorers’ John Glaser Arena in a game from the other pod that includes Drexel and one which the Owls clinch the title round with a win otherwise a tie-breaker will be used to snap a 1-1 tie from all three teams.

“Obviously they have a new team, different than last year,” Griffin said of the Wildcats, whom the Hawks beat here at Hagan to snap a long-running losing streak in the series and go on to a 4-0 sweep in the earlier traditional City Series round-robin format.

“We’re excited about it,” Griffin said. “We know it’s going to be a battle. We’re excited that it’s going to be home.

“We’ll be ready,” Griffin added. “We’ll enjoy this one tonight and then we’ll be prepare. Also, they ended our season last year.

“We got a chance to beat them, and we got a chance to not beat them. That sits with a lot of these guys. We know it’s going to be a battle, but we’ll be ready.”

Her reference was to the Elite Eight round of the new NCAA-sponsored WBIT tournament in which Villanova got its revenge by beating the Hawks at Fineran Pavilion and moving on eventually to the title round, where the Wildcats fell to Illinois at Butler’s Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

In Wednesday’s game, the Hawks were missing two players off injuries at Utah, Emma Boslet, a starting point guard who went down early against the Utes and whose return is not determined, and Kayleigh Griffin, the Hawks’ coach’s daughter, who is in a concussion protocol but could be back by Sunday.

Casey has been coming into her own her second season.

“She set the tone today,” Griffin said. “She’s got quick hands, she’s so disruptive and her anticipation skills are fabulous.

 “She played a little point; she was ready to do whatever we needed her to do. She just keeps getting better and better. That’s a sign as a sophomore she had some experience as a freshman, but now she is really coming into her own.”

Stokes in two games stepping in for Boslet has enabled Saint Joseph’s to stay on track.

“Rhian has a lot of confidence,” Griffin said. “She’s a natural point guard. Sometimes we have kids playing out of position and not that they’re not point guards, but they haven’t been point guards, but Rhian has been a point guard her whole life.

“So, it just comes natural for her. She knows when to push, when to pull back, just to have the supporting cast she has out there, you have Laura, you have Talya, you have ‘Mac, and now you have Gabby coming into her own, she’s going to succeed because the people around her are very, very helpful, talented, skilled, and gifted, and she just feeds off that energy, and she brings it every day,” Griffin said.

“We’re not surprised. She comes in with a lot of confidence. She knows the game; she understands what we’re trying to do. And her instincts are really fabulous, not only physically, but also mentally. She’s a natural. We just got to keep her out of foul trouble a little bit.”

Drexel Road Rally Forces Overtime but Penn State Prevails Setting A Program Record

On the local front in the other game, one involving two against each other, Penn State fought off Drexel, winning 86-78 in overtime in a matinee game at the Bryce Jordan Arena in State College.

It’s the 17th straight non-conference home win for the Nittany Lions (8-0), who had not had an 8-0 season start since 1993-94. The consecutive wins against foes outside the Big Ten is a program record.

Drexel had its only taken shot in the last minute of regulation blocked in a game with five ties and two lead changes.

Once overtime began, the momentum swung back to PSU, who outscored the visitors 12-4.

The Dragons’ vulnerability showed in the paint where they were outscored 56-34.

Gracie Merkle, a 6-6 redshirt sophomore center, continued her tear in the early season for PSU with 31 points and 11 rebounds, her fifth double double, which is third in the nation.

Grad student Gabby Elliott had 16 points, shooting 8-10 from the field, and grabbing 10 boards for the home team, which also got 11 points and seven rebounds from Alli Campbell.

Moriah Murray dished a personal best eight assists.

In the loss, Drexel (2-3), which has now endured three straight setbacks, squandered a rally in which the Dragons extended PSU by rallying from a 14-point deficit.

Chloe Hodges had 20 points and seven boards, with five assists and five steals. She also set a personal best with four makes from deep.

Amaris Baker also scored 20 points, while Grace O’Neill had 17 points off shooting 7-11 from the field and matching her best with three connectors made beyond the arc.

The Dragons, relying on defense for the comeback, forced 22 turnovers.

They went ahead with 5:13 left in regulation on Baker’s make from deep but PSU responded with a 6-0 run to regain the lead 74-71 with 1:20 left before O’Neill tied it with the last points in regulation.

Penn State is off until Monday when St. John’s visits at 7 p.m. on the Big Ten Network, while Drexel returns next Wednesday hosting Lehigh at 6 p.m. in the Daskalakis Athletic Center on FloSports.

The National Mix: No. 2 UConn Tops No. 18 Ole Miss Taking a Tourney in the Bahamas  

Holiday Multiple Team Events began heating up Wednesday through the rest of the week with noteworthy results in many places, especially in the tropics.

What a week for Connecticut, which is finally seeing its team makeup the staff envisioned before injuries struck the last two seasons.

Following Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma setting the all-time win record last Wednesday  in college all divisions for men’s or women’s mentors, his total now extends to 1,219 after a two-game sweep in Nassau to take the Baha Mar Continental Tire Division competition, one of two Baha Mar events,winning 73-60 over the Rebels (4-2), whose two losses are to then-No. 3 USC opening day in Paris and to the Huskies (6-0).

Earlier in the day, Auriemma’s group took a step up from second and by one point moved into first in the weekly Coaches’ Poll over No. 2 UCLA, which upset then-No. 1 South Carolina home in Los Angeles on Sunday.

The coaches’ vote has led to a rare time that the polls have had two different teams ranked No. 1 between the Associated Press media vote and the coaches poll.

In UConn’s win over Ole Miss, Paige Bueckers, the prohibitive favorite to be the WNBA No. 1 draft pick, owned by Dallas, scored 29 points, shooting 11-17 from the field with four rebounds and four assists, and was named the tourney’s MVP.

Azzi Fudd, in her third game back in the last week since missing most of last season with an ACL injury, exploded off the bench with 18 points, shooting 8-11 from the field, while freshman Sarah Strong, the No. 1 recruit in the country, scored 10 with six boards.

KK Deans had 17 for Ole Miss, Kennedy Todd-Williams shot a perfect 4-4 from deep and collected 13 points, Starr Jacobs had 11 points and six boards, and Madison Scott had 10 points and seven rebounds.

Bueckers and Fudd combined for 27 points in the second half when the Huskies nearly melted away a 21-point lead in the third quarter.

The Blue and White opened the game with a 15-1 run taking advantage of Ole Miss’ shooting woes with a 1-13 start from the field and UConn hit the half ahead 37-18.

The Rebels cut it to 41-38 in the third, but Fudd hit a jumper and 3-ball while Paige nailed one at the buzzer ending the period to go up 52-46 heading into the final period.

The Huskies were forced into eight turnovers in the third but once back on track they hit eight straight shots.

Ole Miss is home Saturday in Oxford hosting Alabama State while the Huskies are off until Tuesday hosting Patriot League champion Holy Cross at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs.

In the third-place game, Oregon State (2-5) bounced off the tournament’s opening loss to UConn on Monday and beat Boston College 54-49 as AJ Marotte scored 21 for the Beavers and Kelsey Rees had 13 off the bench.

The Eagles (6-3) got 13 points from T’Yana Todd, the only BC player in double figures.

No. 13 Duke Wins Ball Dawgs Classic Over No. 8 Oklahoma in Overtime

In the Ball Dawgs Classic championship in Henderson, Nevada, outside Las Vegas, No. 13 Duke made its case to move into the Top 10 edging No. 8 Oklahoma 109-99 in overtime as Reigan Richardson had a career-high 18 points for the Blue Devils (7-1) and was named the MVP.

The Sooners (6-1), who trailed by 15 in the first half, tied it with 4:45 left in regulation, and then Payton Verhulst’s shot from deep at the buzzer forced the extra period where Duke regained control with a 15-5 production.

Ashlon Jackson scored 18 for Duke, Jordan Wood scored 13, Jadyn Donovan scored 12, and Taina Mair collected 10.

Verhulst totalled 29 with 10 boards and 10 assists for Oklahoma, completing a triple-double, while Oregon State transfer Raegan Beers scored 26, Skylar Vann had 13, and Sarah Williams scored 12.

The Blue Devils under former Tennessee and WNBA star Kara Williams, an assistant on the gold medal winning Olympic squad, are dominating on second-chance points 128-56 on opponents and bench points 178-146.

Duke hosts Columbia on Sunday, completing the home-and-home series with the Ivy League regular-season co-champions, while Oklahoma will visit Louisville on Wednesday.

In the third-place game, No. 9 Kansas State took an easy 92-66 win over DePaul as Ayoka Lee scored 23 points and grabbed 10 boards, while Serena Sundell had 15 points and 11 assists for the Wildcats (6-1). Zyanna Walker scored 13, and Taryn Sides and Temira Poindexter each scored 11.

The Blue Demons (2-5) were dominated by the Wildcats in the paint 56-26.

 DePaul’s Taylor Johnson-Matthews and Jorie Allen each with 17 points.

Lee, who missed most of last season with an injury, needs 25 points to eclipse Kendra Wecker (2,333) and become the program’s all-time scorer.

Both teams return to action Sunday, DePaul, which has played three-straight Top 10 opponents, hosting SIU Edwardsville at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, and K-State hosting Central Arkansas in Manhattan in the Midwest.

Baha Mar Pink Flamingo Goes to No. 7 LSU over No. 20 N.C. State

In the Baha Mar Pink Flamingo Championship in Paradise Island, Bahamas, No. 7 LSU (8-0) led most of the way after going ahead late in the opening period to an 82-65 win over No. 20 N.C. State (4-3), which is in danger of dropping out of next week’s poll after starting the season in the Top 10.

Mikay Williams had 24 points for the winning Tigers, while Aneesah Morrow had 20 points and 15 boards. Flau’Jae Johnson added 16 points, and Kailyn Gilbert, who rescued LSU to avoid an upset with a one-point win over Washington in the opener, added 12 points.

The Wolfpack were led by Saniya Rivers with 21 points, while Zain James scored 13, Zoe Brooks scored 12, and Madison Hayes scored 11.

LSU will host North Carolina Central on Sunday in Baton Rouge while N.C. State is off until Dec. 5 hosting Ole Miss in Raleigh in the SEC/ACC Challenge set of games.

Washington (7-2) took third in the tourney with a 61-43 win over Southern University (0-8) as Hannah Stines had 18 points for the Huskies.

Acrisure Holiday Invitational Features Return to Winning Ways by No. 6 Southern Cal; Michigan State Tops Vanderbilt in Tournament Portion

In the event in Palm Desert, Calif., which is part tourney format, part predetermined games, in the latter No. 6 Southern Cal bounced back from its upset loss to then-No. 6 Notre Dame by beating Seton Hall 84-51 as the Trojans (5-1) got 20 points and seven rebounds but eight turnovers from sophomore sensation JuJu Watkins, while Stanford transfer Kiki Iriafen had 15 points and nine boards, freshman Avery Howell had a personal best 14 points and Rayah Marshall had14 points and 11 boards.

Faith Masonious, a transfer from Maryland, whose mom was Ellen Clark before her marriage and is one of the now four Saint Joseph’s players with triple-doubles, had a personal best 25 points for the Pirates (4-2), who were outscored 22-9 in the final period.

Seton Hall heads back home to South Orange, N.J., to host San Francisco on Monday, while the Trojans have another predetermined game in the Palm Desert event on Friday, meeting St. Louis.

In the tournament part of the multi team event, Michigan State beat Vanderbilt 78-70 as Grace VanSlooten scored 25 for the Spartans (8-0) to win the championship, and Khamil Pierre scored 19 for the Commodores (7-1).

In the third-place game between two of the former PAC-12 rivals now realigned elsewhere, California of the ACC, won 74-62 over Arizona, a new member of the Big 12.

The winning Golden Bears (7-1) got 25 points from Ugonne Oniyah, while Jada Williams scored 18 for the Wildcats (6-3).

Music City Tourney Results Highlighted By No. 14 Kentucky Over No. 19 Illinois

In the Music City Tournament in Nashville, in which daily competition, as well as many other events this week, is set up with predetermined pairings, No. 14 Kentucky (7-0) cruised 76-53 over No. 19 Illinois (6-1).

Clara Strack (25 points, 15 rebounds) and Teonni Key (12 points,10 rebounds) each had double-doubles for the winning Wildcats while Dazia Lawrence scored 15, and Amelia Hassett scored 10.

The Illini got 18 points from Adalia McKenzie, while Kendall Bostic scored 10 with 12 boards, and Makira Cook had 11 points.

Kentucky next travels to No. 16 North Carolina in Chapel Hill next Thursday at 5 p.m. on ESPN2, part of the SEC/ACC Challenge, while Illinois is at Canisius on Monday.

In another Music City result, Arizona State topped South Dakota 95-88 as the Sun Devils (4-3) got 26 points off the bench from Nevaeh Parkinson, Tyi Skinner scored 20, Jalyn Brown had 19, and Jyah Lovett scored 14 with five assists.

The Coyotes (3-5) got 30 points from Grace Larkins and 11 assists in the high-scoring affair, while Alexi Hempe scored 21.

Other Notables - Fairfield Claims Another Power Four While Harvard Keeps Rolling

In single games, Fairfield, which has ramped up its non-conference schedule to get Power 4 opponents into its NCAA resume, the Stags (4-2), who went unbeaten in the MAAC last season and won every non-conference contest expect a narrow season-opening loss at Vanderbilt, rallied to win at Wake Forest of the ACC, 72-65, as Kaety L’Amoreaux scored 19 points.

Additionally, Emina Selimovic, Janelle Brown, and Isabela Nicolettileite each scored 13 for the visitors in the game in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Fairfield trailed by narrow deficits most of the way, finally tying the Deacons (4-3) on a three from L’Amoreaux with 3:30 left in the third period.

The Stags went up by a point on a foul shot and except for a brief exchange late in the quarter stayed that way heading into the final period.

Fairfield then stayed tied or a point ahead before the lead swung back-and-forth.

 Megan Anderson’s shot from deep with 1:41 left in regulation followed by Selimovic with an ensuing three-pointer with 46 seconds left gave the Stags a six-point lead to provide a cushion the rest of the way for the win.

Harvard in the first of two in back-to-back visits on Long Island won at Stony Brook 60-51 as Elena Rodriguez scored 15 points for the winning Crimson (8-1) and Zaida Gonzalez had 13 for the Seawolves (3-3).

The Ivy power will be visiting St. John’s at noon on Thursday.

UNLV got under way hosting its Thanksgiving tournament, both days with predetermined pairings, and beat the Big 12’s UCF 71-52 while the other game saw Montana State beat East Carolina 62-56.

On Friday, UNLV (5-2) will host East Carolina (3-3), while UCF (6-1) will meet Montana State (5-1).

In Georgia State’s tourney, the hosts fell to Furman 85-74 in the opener, while Campbell beat Purdue Fort Wayne 71-67 in overtime.

A single game in Puerto Rico ahead of a bunch in different events the next few days in the U.S. territory saw Milwaukee win 74-60 over American University in the Classico – Ponce Division.

Looking Ahead

No locals play on Thanksgiving Day Thursday but there are games of interest, beginning with the Fort Myers Tip-Off Island Division in Florida in which No. 4 South Carolina, in its first game after the upset loss at UCLA and fall from No. 1, will play No. 15 Iowa State at 1:30 p.m. on FOX.

Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley in a press gathering upon the team’s return from the West responding to social media comments reflected after the rare loss the last two years told the fanbase to calm down as the staff goes about fixing some rare flaws.

Purdue meets Middle Tennessee at 4:30 p.m. on the Women’s Sports Network in the other game.

In the Daytona Beach Classic at 11 a.m. in Florida on the BallerTV streamer, No. 11 Ohio State (5-0) meets Old Dominion (5-1).

James Madison, the Sun Belt preseason favorite that will be at Villanova next month, meets Big Sky favorite Northern Arizona in the St. Pete Showcase in Florida at 3:30 p.m. on BallerTV.

Rhode Island in the Cancun Challenge Riviera Division in Mexico meets No. 22 Iowa at 6:30 p.m. on FloSports.

And that is it for Wednesday, but the tourney list besides the helpings Thursday will be larger on Friday and Saturday.

Happy Thanksgiving.