The Guru NCCAW Report: Local Sweep From Drexel, Penn State and Rutgers; Auriemma One Step Closer; Harvard Pulls a Stunner

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PHILADELPHIA – The locals Thursday night consisting of Drexel and the two Big Ten entries of Penn State and Rutgers went 3-0, UConn carried Hall of Famer Geno Auriemma a giant step closer to coaching immortality, and the Ivies delivered a stunner.

Less than a month from the near miss in overtime of a record fifth WNBA title, Minnesota Lynx coach and La Salle grad Cheryl Reeve came home to claim induction in the Class of ’24 Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame, the 21st edition, joined from the women’s hoops side by longtime University City High coach Lurline Jones.

We’ll chronicle that one separately later Friday.

Let’s dive into the action cause there’s much more.

Down at the Daskalakis Athletic Center in West Philadelphia, Drexel of the Coastal Athletic Association handled Marist, 64-53, the visiting Red Foxes from upstate New York holding a long history of success in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC).

 Prior to the opening tip, the Dragons held a ring ceremony for the dramatic four-day run from a seventh seed last March to the CAA title and third trip to the NCAA title.

They then jumped to a 7-0 start and never trailed as coach Amy Mallon’s squad joined their men from a year ago in officially claiming their triumph as a member of the Big 5 with preseason CAA honoree Amaris Baker collecting 17 of her 21 points in the first half.

Mallon was once part of the Big 5 claiming player honors at Saint Joseph’s.

The first Dragons’ first City Series action comes next Wednesday when La Salle visits, continuing an ongoing rivalry formerly known as Philly 6 before Drexel was embraced last year as part of a new structure for local supremacy.

Temple is the other team in Drexel’s City Series pool while Saint Joseph’s, Villanova and Penn on the other side compete to set up the first triple-header women’s classic at Villanova, Friday, Dec. 6, a day before the men play their second one at the Wells Fargo Center.

Laine McGurk got the lion’s share of her 10 points against Marist in the second half with seven tallies.

Drexel’s long-range shooting was superior at 53 percent, going 8-15 from beyond the arc.

The three transfer entries also delivered with Molly Lavin, Deja Evans and Cara McCormack combining for 21 points for the Dragons, picked second by the CAA coaches for the conference crown.

“To have post players that can defend post players and Deja’s ability to block shots and take up space, that’s definitely going to be something I’m excited about,” Mallon said.

Meanwhile, across in the center of the state up at University Park, Penn State made it 2-0, winning easily 89-57 over Canisius (0-2), another member of the MAAC.

A 31-6 first quarter was plenty to get the job done in which redshirt sophomore Gracie Merkle scored 20 points her second straight night, while Jayla Oden went 4-6 for 12 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, and freshman Cam Rust double doubled with 10 points and 10 boards.

It was the first meeting between the two schools, also marking a homecoming of sorts with new Canisius coach Tiffany Swoffard having been an assistant to Carolyn Kieger last season as was Swoffard aide Courtney Roman.

Next up is a visit Sunday at 2 p.m. (B1G+) from Duquesne down in Pittsburgh where the Dukes upset Ivy champion Princeton opening night.

It took Rutgers most of the night to catch Cornell, but the Scarlet Knights turned the tide in the fourth period at home in Jersey Mike’s Arena outscoring the Big Red 25-9 to take a 72-61win over the Ivy entry, which fell to 1-1.

Destiny Adams had a monster 30-point, 15-rebound double double for the Scarlet Knights (2-0), while JoJo Lacey scored 11.

Chyna Cornwell had a near double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds in the game in Piscataway, N.J., and Kiyomi McMiller had eight points, eight assists, and six boards.

Cornell’s Emily Pape had 27 points, while Clarke Jackson scored 10.

Next up nearby NJIT visits Sunday at 2 p.m. (B1G+).

The National Scene: Harvard Rallies to Upset No. 25 Indiana in Overtime

The Ivies may have missed bagging a Big Ten member at Rutgers but Harvard from the elite sector of the Ancient Eight made sure it wasn’t going to be a disappointing trip home.

After losing a lead near the end of regulation to the No. 25 Hoosiers in Bloomington, Alayna Rocco tied it with a three-pointer to force overtime and the Crimson then shot ahead to win 72-68.

It’s the first top-25 win for Carrie Moore at Harvard (2-0), her first as a head coach, having seen plenty serving as an assistant at Princeton, North Carolina and Michigan.

The last Harvard ranked win was 25 years ago, it’s the first win over Indiana, and just the third on the Big Ten.

Moore was hired in 2022 following the retirement of longtime Ivy legend Kathy Delaney-Smith.

Nothing for now is going to replace the 16-1 seed victory the Crimson pulled at Stanford in an NCAA opener back in 1998; ending a long Princeton home streak in an Ivy opener was big, but ending an 18-game home win streak by the Hoosiers (1-1) is going to have Harvard on the list of comparisons Sunday night when Associated Press media members cast votes for the first poll of regular  season.

Look for Harmoni Taylor, scoring 24 points on 10-17 from the field and 3-6 on the line, to be among the first set of player-of-the-week honorees of the season next week from the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA).

The Crimson got the job done forcing 27 turnovers in front of a jammed crowd of Indiana partisans in Assembly Hall.

Elena Rodriguez added 15 points while off the bench Rocco scored nine with her game-saver and Mona Zaria contributed scored eight.

Indiana’s Yarden Garzon scored 20, as did Lilly Meiester, while Chloe Moore-McNeill scored 10.

Harvard got an early lift-off with a 12-2 lead and by virtue of forcing 12 turnovers was up 21-7 at the end of the period.

Indiana righted its ship in the next stanza though Harvard still was ahead 32-30 at the break.

After the Hoosiers struck for a 34-32 lead with the first four points of the third quarter, a trio of Crimson players each nailed one from deep to mount an 11-0 run.

Indiana got close again and took several leads, but Harvard would not go away.

In the overtime Turner gave the visitors a four-point lead with two scored around her sixth steal, putting Harvard ahead to stay.

Zaria sealed it with two from the line and two seconds left in the overtime.

“This is not the team it was a year ago,” said Indiana coach Terri Moren in her post game press conference.” We have a lot of room to grow and improve, and we will. This is a team full of competitors and it may take us a minute. I hope it's just a couple of games to figure things out.

Harvard Sunday goes to Quinnipiac of the MAAC in Hamden, Conn., tipping at 2 p.m. on ESPN+.

UConn Crushes Boston U.

This one was over quickly 86-32 in the game played at the XL Center in Hartford as Jana El  Alfy, who sat out her freshman season with an injury, scored 17 points and had 11 rebounds in the Huskies’ season and home opener, while newcomer Ann Strong, the nation’s top recruit, scored 17 points with six steals.

Paige Bueckers, a leading candidate for No. 1 in the next WNBA draft, began her injury-delayed final season with 13 points, seven assists, and five steals, while Ashlynn Shade had 10 points.

The 40th season opener, all at UConn, for Hall of Famers Geno Auriemma and associate head coach Chris Dailey (WBHOF) made it 1,214 victories, just two behind the combined men’s and women’s NCAA record total Hall of Famer Tara VanDerveer signed off with last spring when she retired at Stanford.

The next two games will be taller, but not insurmountable, hurdles to navigate.

 American Athletic Conference favorite South Florida, which the Huskies saw regularly for seven seasons before returning to the Big East ahead of 2020-21, visits Sunday at 4:30 p.m. (SNY) at home on campus in Storrs, and following, potentially to tie VanDerveer, a trip to No. 15 North Carolina on a neutral court in Greensboro (ESPN2) at 6 p.m., next Friday, Nov. 15.

On Thursday night USF (2-0) prepared for its reunion trip up north beating Mount St. Mary’s 68-51 at home in the Yuengling Center in Tampa as graduate guard Sammie Puisis scored 25 points, matching her personal best with seven three-balls.

Auriemma’s record breaker, if those two games are wins, would occur on Nov. 20 in Storrs when Northeast Conference favorite Fairleigh Dickinson, coached by former Villanova star Stephanie Vanderlice, visits.

The school has been inviting a cast of things back that night for an evening of celebration, the record being the proverbial icing on the cake.

The Huskies roster is not entirely intact, yet, AP reporting that Caroline Ducharme, Azzi Fudd, Aubrey Griffin, and Ayanna Patterson, still not in uniform to play, though Fudd warmed up in the pre-game drills and is considered close.

Illinois Upsets No. 19 Florida State

The Big Ten did grab one noteworthy win on the night in upset mode as the Illini jumped at home in Champaign on No. 19 Florida State with a 20-10 lead after one quarter in State Farm Center and went on to an 83-74 victory in its season and home opener.

Adalia McKenzie and Makira Cook each scored 20 points while Kendall Bostic got 14 of her 18 points in the first half.

The Seminoles struggled early, making 3-16 from the field with six turnovers, though the visitors rallied to within five points with just under six minutes in regulation to play before Illinois cut the the rally to go on to victory.

Ta’Niya Latson had 27 points for FSU (1-1) while Makayla Timpson had 22 points and 14 rebounds.

Stanford’s Bombs Still Bursting in Air

 The second night of the new Kate Paye coaching era at Stanford was still filled with rockets – the Cardinal following up with its school-record 18 3-pointers earlier this week in the opener on Le Moyne, connecting on 14-20 launches with 14 more in a 94-65 win on Washington State as Elena Bosgana scored 19 points.

In the old world as recent as last year this game would have been later in the PAC-12 but after the demolition, Stanford is in the ACC while Washington State (1-1) for the next two years is in the WCC until heading back to a new-look PAC-12.

On Sunday, WCC favorite Gonzaga, also part of the future PAC-12, visits at 3 p.m. on ESPN2, a day the school will unofficially unveil Tara VanDerveer Court in Maples Pavilion.

The Rest of the Story

A conference challenge match showed New Mexico State of C-USA beat the Western Athletic Conference’s Utah Tech at home 85-63.

On Friday night in the series, C-USA favorite Middle Tennessee hosts WAC choice Grand Canyon while C-USA’s Florida International hosts Abilene Christian.

On the Thursday radar list, all the other ranked teams won, No. 13 Kansas State at home 82-56 over Belmont, a power in the Missouri Valley; No. 11 Duke at Liberty, runnerup pick of C-USA, cruised 83-67; and No. 24 Alabama in-state an 84-59 win at SWAC contender Alabama A&M.

Elsewhere, MEAC contender Norfolk State at home gained a 74-62 win over Longwood of the Big South; The Big 12’s Oklahoma State at home 89-68 over Oral Roberts of the Summit; The WCC high contender at home over Big West contender Hawaii.

Other ranked games, the poll teams all won at home: No. 18 Maryland 70-47 over Coppin State; No. 22 Kentucky 70-41 over Northern Kentucky; No. 15 North Carolina 77-50 over UNCW; and the Big-12 pair winning – No. 8 Iowa State 64-42 over Indiana State while it was No. 12 Baylor 85-33 over Incarnate Word.

Looking Ahead

Locally, Penn on Friday at home in The Palestra hosts Merrimack at 2 p.m. on ESPN+ while Lehigh visits Michigan in Ann Arbor at 7 p.m. on B1G+.

On Saturday, Delaware comes up to help La Salle launch its home slate at noon on ESPN+ in the new John Glaser Arena, while Princeton will try to bounce off its opening loss at Duquesne visiting the Big East’s DePaul in Chicago at 2 p.m. (FloHoops), the same time Lafayette in the Kirby Sports Center hosts Saint Francis (Pa.) on ESPN+.

National radar games of note Friday have Virginia at Oklahoma at 9 p.m.; (SECN); Creighton at South Dakota State at 8 p.m.;(Summit); Oregon State at Colorado State at 7:30 p.m. (Mtn. Wst.); Columbia at Providence at 7 p.m. (FloHoops).

More to Come!