The Guru NCAAW Report: No. 1 UCLA Handles Rutgers; No. 7 Texas Hands No. 17 Tennessee Another Close Setback; Texas A&M Upsets No. 11 Kentucky; Hidalgo Powers No. 3 Notre Dame

By Mel Greenberg womhoopsguru

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — With all the attention this that’s been on Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo, Southern Cal’s JuJu Watkins, and UConn’s Paige Bueckers, deservedly so, perhaps there’s been an inadvertent omission of not actually bringing that number of equality to four.

UCLA center Lauren Betts produced personal evidence to the table here Thursday night with the No. 1 Bruins (19-0, 7-0) scoring 25 points, 13 rebounds, and five blocks in an 84-66 victory over Rutgers (8-12, 0-9) in a Big Ten game at Jersey Mike’s Arena.

The 6-foot-7 Betts, whose collegiate career began at Stanford until transferring last year between the two former PAC-12 programs ahead of the realignment that brought about the demise of the former powerful conference when it comes to women’s basketball, has delivered 21 blocks in the last three games, two of them on a current Eastern swing that began Monday beating No. 25 Baylor in the inaugural Coretta Scott King Classic up the road at the Prudential Center in Newark out of the league and continues back inside on Sunday at No. 8 Maryland.

That’s the same day Rutgers will be up at Penn State in the first of a home-and-home at the Bryce Jordan Center playing the long-time rival Lady Lions that could be ascribed as the Basement Bowl, even if the weekend hosts produced a brief throwback to an earlier time with the upset of then-No.  9 Ohio State for their only Big Ten victory this season.

Life in an earlier time here was trotted out with the appearance of retired Hall of Fame coach C. Vivian Stringer, who attended the game in which Rutgers put up a stand at the outset led by Destiny Adams with 15 points and 13 rebounds until the Bruins showed the same stuff they used to produce the only dent to date in the last two seasons of No. 2 South Carolina, the defending NCAA champions that vaunted UCLA to its first appearance being No. 1 in The Associated Press women’s poll.

The once-beaten Gamecocks get to face the only other remaining team with a perfect record Friday night at 5 p.m. on ESPN at home at Colonial Life Arena in Colombia on a one-day delay caused by a rare snowstorm in the South when they host No. 5 LSU in a Southeastern Conference thriller.

That will be the second one in two days for one of the other of the Power Four leagues after No. 17 Tennessee suffered its fourth loss at the finish, this one 80-76 at the hands of new member No. 7 Texas, though those two programs met regularly before the Longhorns with Oklahoma jumped from the Big 12 this season as part of the giant shakeup driven by football.

And that one also came on a day in which first-year Lady Vols coach Kim Caldwell stayed back in Knoxville delivering her first baby, a son Connor to her and her husband leaving assistant Jenna Burdette in charge as acting head coach until Caldwell returns.

Previously, Tennessee has lost in the final seconds to Oklahoma, LSU, and unranked Vanderbilt, and Monday hosts South Carolina.

Back here UCLA coach noted that the current period for her team is more than the nine-day road trip with schools closed a week in person and held remotely because of the wildfires striking parts of Los Angeles.

Rutgers has hosted several mega attractions the last two seasons with sellouts last year when Iowa with Caitlin Clark came through and several weeks ago when Southern Cal, now also in the Big Ten with the Bruins, Oregon and Washington, visited with Watkins.

All this has recently hit Rutgers with a heavy dose of ranked teams, the Big Ten has seven currently but earlier consisted of nine, whose string ends for a bit with the trip to Happy Valley.

“In the Big Ten, that may look like it gets easier but it’s still the Big Ten,” said Rutgers coach Coquese Washington. “The one thing, there are so many different styles we are facing as we try to build this program back up.”

That construction, though, is nearing urgency, since conference expansion in the Big Ten and Atlantic Coast Conference has brought a need to drop the bottom three teams of those leagues from playing in their tournaments.

The SEC and Big 12 however, only grew to 16, the Big 12 adding Arizona, Arizona State, Utah and Colorado, and will still retain all members in their postseason competitions.

Asked to compare Betts to the old-style bigs of the past, Washington said, “She’s really, really good. And she’s definitely a main reason why they’re No. 1 in the country. She’s got a great touch around the basket.

“I thought we fought as well as we can. Obviously, we had a height disadvantage, I was proud of the way our kids fought with that height disadvantage, but she was really, really good and can control the game.

“You think about some of the players in the WNBA, Lisa Leslie (who Washington played against in the pros after graduating from Notre Dame). She has that presence and she’s only a junior, so we’ll be going out there to deal with her next year.”

Rutgers’ last hosting a No. 1 came when the Scarlet Knights played Connecticut in 2014, both as members of the American Athletic Conference.

How Sweep It Is

That would be No. 22 California, which after beating Bay Area rival Stanford in their new ACC relationship (SMU from Texas is the other addition) earlier back in Berkeley, made it a sweep of the Cardinal across the water at Maples Pavilion as Kayla Williams scored 18, San Francisco transfer Ioanna Krimili scored 18, and the Golden Bears (18-3, 6-2) held off a late rally for a 75-72 victory.

It’s Cal’s first sweep of Stanford (10-9, 2-6) in 39 years, the losing Cardinal has struggled since the surprise retirement of Hall of Fame coach Tara VanDerveer after last season and loss of several key players through graduation and the portal.

Charmin Smith’s program Thursday night won at Stanford for the first time in 10 seasons, which is a decade. Marta Suarez added 13 points.

Krimili’s shot at the outset of the final period gave Cal a 15-point lead before Stanford closed the gap, but Krimili’s layup with 18.7 left made it 75-71.

Nunu Agara was fouled with 13.8 seconds left but missed the second from the line, though she grabbed the loose rebound, missed one from deep, Chloe Clardy got the board with 4.8 left but following a timeout, the visitors were unable to attempt a score.

Clardy had a career-high 22 points while Agara scored 19 for Stanford, which had won 12 straight series and lead 81-23 in overall games. The earlier win featured 18 threes by the Golden Bears.

The Cardinal, now coached by longtime associate head coach and former player Kate Paye, hosts Pitt next Thursday while Cal welcomes No. 13 North Carolina.

Joy and Pain

In recent weeks with Caldwell’s impending pregnancy approaching, she said her staff had a plan in place when the joyous moment would occur.

Prior to the loss on a putback at Vanderbilt, she had noted off the two earlier buzzer-beater how the Lady Vols were “five points from being as Top 5 team.”

 In this one, Madison Booker scored 26 points for Texas (19-2, 5-1), whose two losses have been to Notre Dame and South Carolina. As the previous games for Tennessee (15-4, 3-4), which was preseason picked for seventh, it came to a hectic back-and-forth final minutes.

Booker had scored off a steal, Taylor Jones added 21 points and 14 rebounds.

Following Booker’s basket, Tennessee’s Zee Spearman failed with an attempted 3-pointer with seven seconds left and then Rori Harmon got the insurance with a pair of foul shots.

Ruby Whitehorn scored 21 for the visitors, and and Spearman collected 14 points.

Texas, which is at Ole Miss Sunday, won the rebounding battle 39-24, an area Caldwell continued to cite in the narrow losses. The Longhorns dominated 25-5 on second-chance points.

“First half, we played fast, kind of played into their hands,” said Booker on the ESPN postgame interview, who last year as a freshman took over early in the spotlight after Harmon suffered a season-ending knee injury.

“Second half, we slowed it down a bit, played our brand of basketball, the ups and downs in that game, man, we were going fast, we were going slow, the changing pace of the game. It’s wearing on me, now.

“Last two minutes, we said, `We got this.’ It’s all about possessions. Each possession manages.”

“I think our team played tough, they played hard, but at the end it wasn’t good enough,” Burdette said. “I think we got decent shots, they didn’t go in. At the end, we got a little tired. We didn’t crash the glass well like we usually do, so that was our problem other than the missed shots.

“Consistency was our word of the week. We talked about it in the lockerroom and it’s just something we can’t over at the moment. But we keep getting better week by week. This was our most complete game. Our second chance points, 25-5, you can’t win games like this.”

Upset City

Elsewhere in the SEC, Aichy Coulibaly scored 21, while Sole Williams and Erica Moon scored their sole baskets in a closing 11-1 run as Texas A&M (10-8, 3-3) upended No. 11 Kentucky 61-55 at home in College Station.

The visiting Wildcats’ last basket came midway through the fourth period.

Teonni Key scored 20 with nine boards for Kentucky (16-2, 5-1), which had its nine-game win streak stopped.

The Wildcats were 1-18 from beyond the arc.

The SEC, also loaded with ranked teams, sends the Aggies to their sixth opponent of the last seven ranked in the poll, visiting LSU on Sunday, while Kentucky hosts Arkansas.

To The Favorites Go the Victories

After a slow start in New England, No. 3 Notre Dame rolled to an 89-63 win at Boston College (12-9, 3-5) as Merchantville sensation Hannah Hidalgo scored 23 and Olivia Miles had 16 points, while Olivia Miles had nine points, nne boards and six assists for the Irish (17-2, 8-0), in the ACC, their last and only consecutive losses coming at Thanksgiving to TCU and Utah in the Cayman Islands Classic.

The Eagles are at Wake Forest Sunday, while Notre Dame is off until next Thursday visiting Virgina Tech.

Elsewhere in the ACC, No. 20 N.C. State (15-4, 7-1) had a finishing 11-0 run to down Syracuse 74-66 on the road as Zoe Brooks scored 19, with eight boards and six assists against the Orange (7-12, 1-7), while Madison Hayes scored 18 points with nine boards.

The Wolfpack hosts Virginia Tech Sunday at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh while Syracuse is at Clemson.

No. 13 North Carolina (18-3, 6-2) got 17 points, fueled by five from deep, from Lexi Donarski in a 76-51 win at Wake Forest (7-12, 0-8), still looking for its first win in the ACC this season.

The Tar Heels are off to their best start since Courtney Banghart arrived from Princeton and best overall start since 23-3 in 2012-23.

UNC on Sunday hosts Florida State, while Wake Forest hosts Boston College.

No. 18 Georgia Tech (17-3, 5-3) got a personal best 29 points while Kayla Blackshear and Tonie Morgan each had double-doubles in a 76-62 road win at Virginia (11-9, 3-5) at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville.

On Sunday, No. 14 Duke visits the Yellow Jackets, while Louisville is at Virginia.

The win was the first for Georgia Tech in four visits to the Cavaliers dating to 2015.

Duke won at SMU 81-46 in Dallas as as freshman Toby Fournier scored 24 for the Blue Devils (16-4, 7-1) over the host Mustangs (10-10, 2-7).

Elsewhere in the Big Ten No. 12 Ohio State (18-1, 7-1), rallied from a 15-point deficit at home in Columbus to the beat the visiting No. 8 Maryland 74-66.

Freshman Jaloni Cambridge scored 20 points with eight boards while Cotie McMahon had 14 points and five rebounds, Taylor Thierry had 13 points and five boards, and Kennedy Cambridge had 12 points and four steals.

Rutgers transfer Kaylene Smikle had 17 points and five rebounds for the visiting Terrapins (16-3, 6-2), who also got 10 points and 18 rebounds from Villanova transfer Christina Dalce.

Besides losing Bri McDaniel for the season with a torn ACL, Shyanne Sellers is sidelined with a knee sprain for Maryland suffered in Monday’s loss to Texas.

While UCLA is at Maryland Sunday, Ohio State visits Nebraska.

The Local Scene

This scene is small in terms of Thursday, besides the local/national game here, the only other on the slate was Rider, which lost a Kids Day morning road game at Iona 84-53 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in New Rochelle, N.Y.

“Tough road loss,” said Veteran Rider coach Lynn Milligan. “The defense was a step slow today, and credit to Iona, they stepped up and made shots. Offensively, we shot the ball ok, but our free throws held us back.”

La Salle transfer Gabby Turco had 13 for the visiting Broncs (3-14, 1-7) against the host Gaels (7-11, 5-3).

Rider next hosts Quinnipiac at 2 p.m. Saturday (ESPN+) in Alumni Gym in Lawrenceville, N.J.

Noteworthy

Vanderbilt, after upsetting Tennessee on Sunday, picked up a 101-60 victory on Arkansas in an SEC home game at Memorial Gym in Nashville, as freshman Mikayla Blakes scored 24 for the Commodores (16-4, 3-3), looking to make a bid for a ranking Sunday when they visit No. 19 Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

Fairfield romped over Manhattan 69-44 at home in the MAAC as Kaety L’Amoreaux scored 23 for the league-leading Stags (14-3, 8-0), who went unbeaten to win the league last seasons and are perfect in MAAC games this time around.

Looking Ahead

Besides the national and one-day delay South Carolina/LSU top-5 on ESPN showdown Friday, two local games in the Colonial Athletic Association have Drexel hosting Charleston at 5 p.m. in the Daskalakis Athletic Center, while Delaware at 6:30 p.m. hosts Elon in the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark, both games streamed on FloSport.

Locally, on Saturday, its head-to-head in the A-10 as Saint Joseph’s goes for a sweep hosting La Salle at Hagan Arena at 2 p.m. on ESPN+.

Villanova celebrates annual alumni day and girl/daddy day hosting Xavier in a Big East game at Finneran Pavilion at 2 p.m. on FloSports.

Temple looks to keep its AAC streak going when its hosts Tulane at 2 p.m. in the Liacouras Center on ESPN+.

The two local Ivies are on the road looking to bounce back, Penn visits Columbia at 2 p.m. in Levien Gym on Broadway on New York City’s Upper West Side, while Princeton visits Cornell in Newman Arena at 1 p.m. in Ithaca, N.Y., both on ESPN+.

Another local head-to-head, this one in the Patriot League as Lafayette visits Lehigh at 4:30 p.m. at Stabler Arena in Bethlehem on ESPN+.

Locally, Sunday, besides the Eagles hosting The Washington Generals for a trip to the Super Bowl, and the games listed earlier above, the second part of CAA weekend has Drexel hosting Elon while Delaware hosts Charleston, both at 2 p.m. and both on FloSports.

And that’s your report.