The Guru NCAW Turkey Day Report: No. 4 South Carolina Feasts on No. 15 Iowa State; No. 22 Iowa Wins as Hawkeyes’ Olsen Sidelined With Injury

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

Locals got a break from playing on Thanksgiving Day though several were on the road for weekend participation.

But for the ones that did, Dawn Staley’s South Carolina squad acted like it still was No. 1, though that’s no longer the case for now, as the No. 4 Gamecocks gobbled up No. 15 Iowa State 76-36 in the Fort Myers Tip-Off Thursday using a 32-0 run on the Cyclones (5-2), holding them scoreless for nearly 15 consecutive minutes.

For the winners (6-1) it was a feast before the traditional holiday feast with Joyce Edwards gaining a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Sania Feagin scored 13.

After Sunday’s handling at UCLA that allowed the Bruins to replace South Carolina rising from fifth to No. 1 for the first time in the AP Poll’s 49-year-history, Staley said, “we’re usually the one doing it.”

It was back to usual business returning to “the other side,” while Iowa State got 13 points and nine boards from Audi Crooks and Mackenzie Hare scored 12.

Following the run, in which S.C. had been on the court cyclones, the Gamecocks hit a scoring drought with 13 missed shots though still comfortably ahead 37-20 before blazing away on a 7-of-8 shooting spree to grab the victory.

It was Iowa State’s lowest total since a 59-33 plunder by Texas A&M on Jan. 14, 2012, and worst performance by an AP top 15 team since Jan. 24, 2016, when UCLA toppled No. 12 Stanford in a PAC-12 contest.

“This is a sample of what we can be,” Staley told the FOX broadcast crew afterwards.

The Multi Team Event, as many this weekend, is not in a tournament win-and-advance, lose-and-go-to the consolation format.

After a day’s rest, the Gamecocks on Saturday play Purdue, while Iowa meets Middle Tennessee.

In the other game at Fort Myers, in the Island group, Middle Tennessee beat Purdue 66-62.

On Friday in the Shell Division, Belmont meets Michigan at 2 p.m., while at 4:30 p.m., Virginia Tech meets Davidson on the Women’s Sports Network, a free streaming entity run by former ESPN executive Carol Stiff accessible over such outlets as Tubi and DirecTV.

No. 22 Iowa Wins Over Rhode Island in Mexico Despite Olsen Injury

Despite leading scorer and Villanova transfer Lucy Olsen, the roster succession to Caitlin Clark, being sidelined with a deep cut on her knee suffered from tripping in practice, No. 22 Iowa in its first poll appearance this season won 69-62 over Rhode Island (4-3) in an opener in the Cancun Challenge Riviera Division in Mexico as  Addison O’Grady shot 8-9 from the field for 18 points and Hannah Stuelke had 13 for the Hawkeyes (7-0).

Olsen’s return is unknown for the monent. 

Kylie Fuerbach added 12 points to Iowa’s attack.

Coach Jan Jan Jensen, promoted after Lisa Bluder retired last spring, joined her former boss’s 7-0 start last achieved in 2017-18.

Harsimran Kaur scored 21 for the Rams and Ines Debroise had 12.

Not in pure tournament format Iowa plays BYU at noon Friday on FloSports, while Rhode Island plays Idaho State at 4 p.m.

BYU beat Rice 63-51, while Idaho State lost to Vermont 64-44, which will meet Rice at 6:30 p.m.

In the Mayan Division, VCU beat Providence 57-51 and will meet at 1 p.m., San Diego State, while Providence will meet Wisconsin at 11 a.m. The Badgers lost to San Diego State 73-67.

No. 11 Ohio State Bests Old Dominion in the Dayota Beach Classic

The Buckeyes (5-0) were the only other ranked team Thursday and handled the Lady Monarchs 70-47 in an MTE opener in Florida as Ajah Petty had 24 points on 11-13 from the field with 11-13 rebounds.

Jaloni Cambridge had 15 points and six assists, while Taylor Thierry with seven points reached 1,000 for her career.

ODU (4-2), which plays Oakland Saturday, got 11 points each from Simaru Fields and Brenda Fontana.

OSU on Friday meets Utah State, which has yet to play, while Oakland did not play either.

Elsewhere, the DBC on Friday has Oakland and Richmond at 11 a.m., Bowling Green and Stetson at 1:15 p.m., the Ohio State game at 3:30 p.m., and Oklahoma State meeting Arkansas at 5:45 p.m. everything from Daytona is on BallerTV.

Harvard Clips St. John’s

The Ivy power to the north made it a sweep of Long Island on a two-day trip by following up the win over Stony Brook with a narrow 54-52 win over the Red Storm (6-1), handing the Big East reps their first loss.

Harmoni Turner delivered the win for the Crimson (9-1) with a layup at the buzzer to finish with 27 points, while Elena Rodriguez scored 12.

The home team got 18 points from Lashae Dwyer and Ber’nyah Mayo scored 11.

St. John’s is at Penn State Monday while Harvard next hosts Rhode Island at 2 p.m. next Saturday (ESPN+).

 Auburn, Northern Arizona and Tulane Get Clock-Ending Wins in St. Thomas & St. Pete

Auburn edged Northern Iowa 65-64 in the Parsdise Jam Island Division event in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, as DeYona Gaston hit a 3-pointer for the Tigers (4-2) just before time expired and finished with 18 points.

Maya McDermott had 29 for the Panthers (3-2), who previously knocked Iowa State out of the top 10, their first win over that high a program.

Tulane edged Florida 83-81 in the St. Pete Showcase opener in Florida which also saw Big Sky favorite Northern Arizona edge Sun Belt favorite James Madison 85-83 in overtime.

Looking Ahead

Three locals will be involved in non-tournament formats the next two days while a fourth goes the traditional way hosting one Saturday and Sunday.

At home, Rutgers kicks off its Battle on the Banks at Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, N.J., playing Marquette at 2 p.m. on the Big Ten Network followed by Md. Eastern Shore meeting Georgia Southern at 4:30 p.m. on B1G+.

On Saturday, the Scarlet Knights host Georgia Southern at 2 p.m. on B1G+ and then Marquette meets Md. Eastern Shore on the Big Ten Network.

Penn is at the FGCU Homewood Suites Classic meeting Chattanooga at 1 p.m. before FGCU plays Cal Baptist at 4 p.m. in Florida.

On Saturday at 1 p.m., the Quakers meet Cal Baptist at 1 p.m., followed by FGCU hosting Chattanooga at 4p.m. The Penn games are not being streamed.

Delaware is at the Big Easy La Fleur de Lis – there are two divisions – playing Tarleton State at 6:45 p.m. before Nicholls State meets Evansville at 9 p.m. on Friday (no streaming) while on Saturday the Blue Hens meet Evansville at 6:45 p.m. before Nicholls State and Tarleton State meet.

On Saturday Lehigh in its annual Christmas City Classic at Stabler Arena in Easton, Pa., hosts Marist at noon before North Dakota meets Valparaiso at 2:30 p.m.

On Sunday the losers meet at noon, the winners at 2:30 p.m., the Lehigh games are on ESPN+.

On Sunday, additionally, locally, both at 2 p.m., Saint Joseph’s host Villanova at Hagan Arena (FloSports) while La Salle hosts Temple at John Glaser Arena, the results complete the two Big 5 pod plays and set up the triple-header inaugural (on the women’s side) Big 5 Classic at Villanova on Friday, Dec. 6, beginning 3:30 p.m., all airing on NBC Philadelphia Sports Plus.

The other local Sunday games not mentioned have Rider at 1 p.m. on ESPN+ traveling to Boston U., while Lafayette travels to Monmouth, a former MAAC member now in the CAA hosting at West Long Branch, N.J.

Nationally, as noted earlier in the week on prior posts, it gets really busy the next two days.

Ranked teams on Friday’s card not already mentioned have No. 12 West Virginia meeting High Point at 1:30 p.m. (FloSports) in the Gulf Coast Tourney in Estero, Fla.

In the same event, No. 5 Texas meets New Mexico State at 7:30 p.m.

The rest of the field has Butler meeting Santa Clara at 5 p.m., while Boise State meets Illinois State at 11 a.m. This is a true three-day tournament event.

No.16 North Carolina in a stand-alone game home in Chapel Hill hosts N.C, Central at 2 p.m. on ACCNX.

Out in the Pacific at 5 p.m. wearing its No. 1 ranking for the first time UCLA begins play in the Rainbow Wahine Showdown in Honolulu, a three-day round-robin, the games with host Hawaii are on ESPN+.

In the Cayman Islands Classic division tourney at 2 p.m. on FloSports No. 3 Notre Dame meets No. 17 TCU.

Having stayed around from early in the week in Palm Springs, Calif., No. 6 Southern Cal meets Saint Louis in the Acrisure Holiday Invitational at 7 p.m. on TruTV.

And that’s your report.