The Guru NCAAW Report: Fourth Quarter Collapse Dooms Drexel at Norfolk State While Lafayette Falls at Home to Dartmouth; Georgia Tech and Tennessee Still Unbeaten

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

Both locals who played Wednesday night suffered defeats with Drexel losing on the road 68-56 in Virginia while Lafayette fell 60-47 to Dartmouth at home in the Kirby Sports Center in Easton, Pa.

In the Drexel game, the Dragons (3-6) took a 50-41 lead into the fourth quarter that grew to 12 suffering a collapse as the Spartans (11-3) of the MEAC rallied 27-6 over the final 10 minutes.

Amaris Baker shot 7-16 from the field, including 4-7 from deep and scored 19 points for Drexel besides dealing four assists, while Chloe Hodges scored 13 points with six boards and six assists.

Wasted in the loss were season bests 24 attempts from beyond the arc making 11.

The Dragons were still in contention even though reduced to a 53-53 tie with 6:31 left in regulation.

Norfolk State then went in front with 4:25 left and went on to outscore the Dragons 11-3 the rest of the way.

Drexel now goes on its holiday break and finishes non-conference play hosting D-3 Lebanon Valley on Dec. 29 at 2 p.m. (FloSports) in the Daskalakis Atheletic Center before beginning Coastal Athletic Association competition the rest of the way.

In the Lafayette game the Leopards (3-7) were unable to shake the rust off from the long layoff after finals in playing the Big Green (5-6) of the Ivy League, who dominated the boards 41-29.

Tasha Chudy had 14 points and seven rebounds shooting 7-9 from the field while Abby Antognoli scored 11 points.

Dartmouth’s Victoria Page scored 15 points with five rebounds, Clare Meyer had a double-double 11 points and 14 boards, and Alex Eldredge scored 10.

Lafayette goes to Rutgers Saturday at noon (B1G+) in Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, N.J. in the final non-conference match for both ahead of the Leopards’ slate in the Patriot League and the Scarlet Knights off to the rest of its Big Ten action.

The National Scene

Ranked teams all dominated at the finish in their five contests paced by two of the nine unbeaten teams that remain with No. 17 Georgia Tech (12-0) extending its best start in program history winning 88-57 at home in Atlanta over Rice (7-5) while No. 18 Tennessee (9-0) extending its best start under a new coach (Kim Caldwell) won 90-75 at Memphis (2-8).

In the victory by Georgia Tech, Rusne Augustinaite scored 23 points fueled by a career-high seven from deep, one off the Yellow Jackets’ record, while Kara Dunn scored 17 points.

Next up is a visit Saturday from No. 21 Nebraska.

Over in the Volunteer State, Jewel Spear and Zee Spearman each scored 18 points for the Lady Vols, two of six visitors scoring in double figures. Talaysi Cooper scored 12 with six assists and four steals while joining Spearman with 11 rebounds apiece.

Samara Spencer and Tess Darby also scored 12 while Ruby Whitehorn collected 10 points.

Tilly Boler scored 23 for the host Tigers (2-8), a rival of Temple in the American Athletic Conference, while Deede Hagemann scored 19 in her debut following a transfer from Michigan State.

Memphis threatened an upset being within single digits until midway in the fourth quarter.

Tennessee stays on the road heading to the West Palm Beach Classic in Florida for a pair of games playing Atlantic 10 champion Richmond on Friday and Tulsa, another AAC team, Saturday.

No. 19 North Carolina (11-2) completed the second and final night of the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte, N.C., beating Florida 77-57 as the Tar Heels used a balanced attack with Maria Gakdeng scoring 14 points while Lanie Grant scored 13 against the Gators (7-5).

The two teams had their first meeting since 1997 as UNC improved to 4-1 in the series, all played at neutral venues.

The Tar Heels will host Norfolk State on Saturday.

No. 9 Duke (10-2) handled Wofford 93-58 at home at Cameron Indoor Arena in Durham, N.C., as freshman Toby Fournier scored 23, of which 16 came in the first half, and Oluchi Okananwa scored 20 against the visitors (6-3), the preseason favorites in the Southern Conference.

Wofford will be at Lehigh Saturday while Duke the same day visits AAC-favorite South Florida.

 No. 13 Kansas State (12-1) easily topped New Mexico State 83-39 as Aoki Lee scored 34 points with 11 rebounds, three double-doubles short of second among members of the Big 12 conference.

The Jayhawks host D-II Eastern New Mexico Friday and start conference play Sunday by hosting Cincinnati.

Northwestern (6-4) in a single game hosted UNLV (7-4) in Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Ill., and beat the Rebels 79-76 in overtime.

Melanie Daley made a jumper with four seconds left in the extra period to take the lead and then the Wildcats got UNLV to commit a turnover and added two free throws from Casey Harter to complete the scoring on the day.

Daley, off the bench, scored a game-high 21 points and grabbed seven boards, leadung four other teammates scoring in double figures.

Amarachi Kimpson scored 28 for UNLV.

Northwestern heads to Philadelphia to play in Saint Joseph’s true tournament format Hawk Classic Friday and Saturday.

In the one true tournament format among MTE events Wednesday in the Cherokee Invitational in Asheville, N.C., Toledo beat Troy 70-62 to move into Thursday’s championship playing Liberty, which beat Arkansas 75-61.

Looking Ahead

Locally, on Thursday, Rider begins MAAC play visiting Quinnipiac at 11 a.m. (ESPN+) in Hamden, Conn., while Delaware visits Navy at 6 p.m. (ESPN+) in Annapolis, Md.

No. Michigan State opens play in the West Palm Beach Classic playing Montana at noon (BallerTV) in the only Thursday game at the Florida event.

Elsewhere among ranked teams, No. 8 Maryland hosts William & Mary at 11 a.m. (B1G+) at the XFINITY Center in College Park; No. 2 South Carolina hosts Charleston Southern at noon (SECN+) at the Colonial Life Arena in Columbia; No. 21 NC State hosts James Madison at 7 p.m. (ACCNX) in Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh; and No. 5 LSU visits UIC at 8 p.m. (ESPN+) giving Aneesah Morrow a homecoming visit to Chicago.

And that’s your report.