The Guru NCAAW Report: La Salle Crushed at No. 6 Texas; No. 4 Connecticut and No. 5 LSU Win Easily in MTE Event at Mohegan

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

In the only game Tuesday night involving a local, La Salle went the way expected, plundered by No. 6 Texas 111-49 in the Longhorns’ Moody Center in Austin.

None of the starters on the home front played more than 17 minutes but even with that attempt to be kind considering the talent differential, none of the Explorers (6-6) were able to reach double figures.

Aryss Macktoon scored seven points as did reserve Ivy Fox, while Mackenzie Daleba collected six points.

La Salle was able to fight to a 19-12 deficit through the first quarter before Vic Schaefer’s defensive pressure crushed the visitors going 38-9 the rest of the half.

As for Texas (11-1), whose only loss has been at now-No. 3 Notre Dame, reserve center Kyla Oldacre had 18 points and nine rebounds, the best of five other teammates who were also scoring in double figures. Starting center Taylor Jones had 13 points and 11 boards, seven on the offensive glass, with three blocks in only 14 minutes. Justice Carlton, a freshman, scored 17.

La Salle was the second straight non-conference foe from the Atlantic 10 for the Longhorns, who beat defending champion Richmond 65-54 Sunday at the Spiders’ Robins Center in Virginia.

The Explorers were limited to 26 percent from the field, 4-of-22 on attempts beyond the arc and hounded into 26 turnovers, 19 by steals, resulting in a 24-0 differential in transition.

The height differential was more brutal, enabling Texas to own the paint 70-14, of which 28 points were obtained in the second quarter.

Despite the landslide against them, it’s possible La Salle might yield happier outcomes the rest of the road trip in La Jolla, Calif., where the Explorers in a two-day tourney of predetermined opponents will play Northern Kentucky Friday and the hosts UC San Diego on Saturday to complete non-conference play.

Texas on Sunday will host Summit League favorite South Dakota State.

The National Scene

In the Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase at the Mohegan Sun Arena, home of the WNBA Connecticut franchise in Uncasville, No. 5 LSU beat Seton Hall 91-64 in the front end of a twin bill in which No. 4 UConn also won big in the nightcap 101-68 over Iowa State, which was in the Top 10 last month, but fell out of the rankings on Monday.

In the first game, Aneesah Morrow, who earlier in her career played at the arena with DePaul in the Big East tournament, scored 24 points with 18 rebounds for the nationally ranked Tigers (13-0), one of nine remaining unbeaten teams.

Mikaylah Williams added 22 points against the Pirates (8-3), who are missing six players, two being starters, due to injuries.

Faith Masonius, a former Maryland player whose mother Ellen (nee) Clark played for Saint Joseph’s, scored a career-high 29 points for Seton Hall, and Jada Eads scored 20.

The Pirates, who play Villanova here New Year’s Night, open Big East play Saturday hosting Providence, while LSU will play at Illinois Chicago Thursday making it a homecoming trip for Morrow, who was national freshman of the year at DePaul.

In the second game, freshman Sarah Strong had a personal best 29 points, sophomore Ashlynn Shade had a career-high 27, and in between Paige Bueckers scored 28 for the hot-shooting Huskies (10-1) in their win over the Cyclones (9-4).

Shade made all seven shots and scored 20 in the first quarter and UConn went on to set a school record with 20 makes from deep, making the first nine before missing one.

Audi Crooks had 22 points for Iowa State, which opens Big 12 play Saturday at Oklahoma State, while UConn has another huge one Saturday night hosting No. 7 Southern Cal and JuJu Watkins in Hartford in a rematch of last season’s Elite Eight game won by the Huskies.

Earlier in the day, No. 11 Ohio State (11-0) at home in Columbus beat Grand Valley State 82-57 as Chance Gray scored 23 points and Cotie McMahon scored 21 for the Buckeyes who Friday will play Stanford in the Bay Area Women’s Classic in San Francisco.

In the first of the two-night Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte, N.C., No. 10 Oklahoma beat No. 20 Michigan 72-62 after the teams were tied at the half.

Payton Verhulst and Skylar Vann each scored 12 points for the Sooners (10-1), while Lexy Keys scored 11, Sahara Williams scored 10, and Oregon State transfer Raegan Beers grabbed 10 rebounds.

Oklahoma mined 20 points off 20 turnovers by Michigan (9-2), which got 20 points from Mila Holloway.

The Wolverines host Akron Friday while the Sooners host Omaha on Sunday.

No. 12 TCU (11-1) at home in Fort Worth, Texas, routed Samford 103-64 as Madison Conner scored 33 fueled by eight 3-pointers.

The Horned Frogs start Big 12 play Saturday visiting UCF in Orlando.

In another of the ongoing C-USA/WAC Challenge series, Middle Tennessee won 74-54 at Cal Baptist as Jalynn Gregory scored 20 for the Blue Raiders (8-4) in the game played in Riverside, Calif.

Grace Schmidt had 21 with seven boards for the host Lancers (2-11).

Catching up from Monday night since we didn’t post with one game on the books, top-ranked UCLA (11-0) easily won 69-37 over Cal Poly (4-6) at home in Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles as Janiah Barker had 12 points and 13 rebounds while Londynn Jones and Angela Dugalic also scored 12 points.

It was the Bruins’ first home appearance since rising to No. 1 on Nov. 25 after upsetting defending NCAA champion South Carolina.

On Friday, UCLA will play Creighton in the other game of the Bay Area Women’s Basketball Classic that includes the previously mentioned Ohio State-Stanford matchup in the Chase Center home of the NBA Warriors.

Looking Ahead

Locally, on Wednesday, Lafayette is hosting Dartmouth at 6 p.m. (ESPN+) at the Kirby Sports Center in Easton, Pa., while Drexel is at Norfolk State in Virginia at 7 p.m.

National games of note, first among the Top 25, the second night of the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte has No. 19 North Carolina playing Florida at 6:30 p.m. (ESPNU).

No. 17 Georgia Tech hosts Rice at 2 p.m. (ACCNX); No. 9 Duke hosts Wofford at 7 p.m. (ACCN); No. 13 Kansas State hosts New Mexico State at 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+); and No. 18 Tennessee is at Memphis at 8:30 p.m. (ESPNEWS).

Elsewhere, Northwestern at noon (B1G+) hosts UNLV before heading to Philadelphia to play in Saint Joseph’s Hawk Classic, Friday and Saturday. The trip becomes a homecoming for Wildcats coach Joe McKeown, who grew up in the Northeast attending Father Judge.

On Thursday, locally, Rider opens MAAC play at Quinnipiac in Hamden, Conn., at 11 a.m. (ESPN+), while Delaware is at Navy at 6 p.m. (ESPN+) in Annapolis, Md.

No. 15 Michigan State meets Montana at the start of the West Palm Beach Classic at noon (Baller TV); Buffalo (9-0), one of nine remaining unbeaten teams, hosts Vermont at 1 p.m. (ESPN+); and James Madison is at No. 21 NC State at 7 p.m. (ESPN+).

That’s it for the moment.