The Guru NCAAW Report: Temple Beats East Carolina in Last Minute But Villanova Falls in Last Second to Seton Hall; SEC Begins Thursday Night

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PHILADELPHIA/VILLANOVA — Three locals were in action throughout Wednesday after the arrival of 2025 and two in the area here ended up with results in opposite outcomes determined at the finish while the third in the Big Ten went the way it could be expected with No. 23 Iowa winning at Penn State 80-68, rallying from an early 10-point deficit in the Bryce Jordan Center in State College.

Not only did the Hawkeyes (12-2, 2-1 Big Ten) capture the outing, they also went back in front 30-29 in the long-running series and kept a winning streak alive that began after the last Lady Lions triumph on January 3, 2017, eight seasons ago.

It wasn’t totally terrible for PSU (9-5, 0-3), whose graduate guard Gabby Elliot had a career-high seven makes from deep which led to another personal best with 32 points.

She previously scored 25 points as her peak performance in March 2021, when she was at Clemson.

Redshirt sophomore Gracie Merkle had 13 points and 12 boards, while Jayla Oden scored 10.

Furthermore, hopes of an upset were very much alive with a 52-52 deadlock going into the final quarter, but Iowa moved ahead with a 9-0 scoring run to gain a 72-61 lead which was enough to stay ahead the rest of the way.

A balanced Iowa attack saw Taylor McCabe go 5-8 overall with the attempts all from deep for 17 points, Addison O’Grady scored 16 points off 5-7 from the field, Villanova transfer Lucy Olsen scored 11, while Hannah Stuelke grabbed 10 boards.

Penn State chasing its first conference win of the season on Sunday will be at Nebraska at 3 p.m.  (B1G+) at the Cornhuskers’ Pinnacle Bank Arena.

Iowa has one of the league’s early marquee events, Sunday, hosting No. 8 Maryland, one of seven national remaining unbeaten teams, at 6 p.m.

The Hawkeyes prior to the game will celebrate the career of Lisa Bluder, who retired after last season.

Meanwhile, back here in late afternoon in Temple’s Liacouras Center, the Owls (8-5) playing East Carolina in a gritty American Athletic Conference game after being tied in the final minute had Kaylah Turner’s 3-pointer bust the deadlock for a 61-58 lead. Temple then made a smothering defensive play, and the Owls got to the line with Tiarra East making both shots to take a 63-58 win and get off to a 2-0 start in league play.

“It was a hard-fought game, and it was up and down, but we were resilient,” said Temple head coach Diane Richardson. “We knew that our defense was going to have to pull us through this game and that’s one thing we can depend on, when our shots aren’t falling, and we’ve got to step up.”

Tarriyonna Gary had a career-high 26 points for Temple.

“We just knew we had to be resilient and fight and play aggressive defense,” she said. “Even if you weren’t scoring on offense, it was really important that we just stayed aggressive.”

Tiarra East scored 11, and Jaleesa Molina scored 10 with 10 rebounds for a double-double.

The Owls produced 27 points off turnovers, and 18 of the Pirates’ 22 miscues came by way steals, a statistic to Richardson’s liking.

Jayla Hearp shot 7-14 from the field for ECU (8-6, 0-2) for 19 points, while Anzhane’ Hutton had 11 points and 10 boards, and Tatyana Wyche scored 11 points.

Temple on Saturday night at 7 p.m. (ESPN+) in Tampa heads to league-favorite South Florida that barely eluded an upset, beating Charlotte 69-68 in overtime Wednesday night in the Yuengling Center as L’or Mputu matched a career-high with 17 points for the Bulls (9-6, 2-0). The 49ers (5-8, 0-2) got a combined 27 points from Keanna Rembert (15 points) and Alexis Andrews (12 points).

If there was joy over Temple here in North Philadelphia, there was agony here on the Main Line involving Villanova, which fell to Seton Hall 56-55 in the final second when Maryland transfer Faith Masonius threw up a shot in a crowd under the basket as time expired.

“It’s my signature shot,” she said afterwards.

She finished with 17 points for the Pirates (11-3, 3-0), while Jada Eads scored 11.

It was a tough loss in many ways for Villanova (7-7, 1-1), which managed to wipe out an early 12-point deficit that grew in the second period.

The visitors dominated the boards 40-27.

Bronagh Power-Cassidy scored 17 for the Wildcats, Jasmine Bascoe scored 16, and Denae Carter scored scored 11.

Graduate forward Lara Edmanson, a transfer who hails from Melbourne, Australia, remains sideline, day-to-day after getting hurt last month in the loss at Fairfield.

The tale of woe began in the final 59 seconds after Bascoe, from Toronto, Canada, sank two foul shots for a 55-51 lead.

Seton Hall responded with a three to move within a point.

With 16 seconds left, Villanova turned it over on a five-second call on the inbounds play.

The Pirates then committed a turnover but with six seconds left, Carter went to the line and missed both shots.

Villanova appeared to cover the ensuing play, but the ball got in the paint to Masonius, who threw it up facing the other way as the final tick of the clock went off.

“An experienced player, she got the shot off,” said Villanova veteran coach Denise Dillon. “I was a little more disappointed that she was able to get the ball that close to the basket. We weren’t back in the right position in order to get the stop.

“That’s the kind of battle you’re going to have in the Big East. You didn’t get an opportunity to separate because of the defensive stops that were made. Our focus and attention was to get a shot at the rim on each position and execute on offense,” Dillon continued.

“I thought we did a good job on the defensive end. Came up with key stops and possessions but never separated.”

Dillon took self-blame for botching the in-bounds play that turned the game in Seton Hall’s direction.

A year ago, the Wildcats got tripped up early in the conference race, getting upset by St. John’s in what was the only meeting. Now, a similar fate has occurred with Seton Hall.

“We talked about that,” Dillon said. “One chance at these guys. Knowing what the Big East looks like early, the importance of seeding, definitely missed an opportunity. And one you can’t get back.”

To some Saint Joseph’s fans hearing how this went down is karma payback for the lone beating the Hawks took from the Wildcats during the pod play that determined who got to play for the championship and who got to play for third in the Big Five Classic last month at Villanova.

Masonius’ mom played for Saint Joseph’s in the Debbie Black era in the 1980s as Ellen Clark.

On Sunday, the heavy hitter comes to town in Big Eastfavorite and No. 7 ranked Connecticut (12-2, 3-0), which won 77-45 Wednesday at Marquette (9-4, 1-1) as freshman Sarah Strong scored 15 and reserve KK Arnold scored 13, with Paige Bueckers adding 12 points and Jana El Alfay scoring 10.

Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma’s NCAA collegiate record win total moved up to 1225.

Marquette is 1-21 lifetime against UConn.

Elsewhere in the conference of note, Providence at home beat St. John’s 59-52 in overtime in Rhode Island, while Creighton at home in Omaha, Neb., beat Butler, 68-64.

The National Scene

Besides Iowa’s win at Penn State, the other three ranked Big Ten squads who played also won.

No. 1 UCLA (14-3, 3-0) at home in Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles beat No. 24 Michigan 86-70 as Kiki Rice had 16 points and 10 assists, Stanford transfer Lauren Betts had 13 points, 10 boards, and five assists.

Syla Swords, who missed her last game in the loss to USC her rookie season with the Wolverines (10-4, 1-2) had a personal best 30 points. She got hurt with a lower left leg injury she suffered in a Dec. 20 game against Akron.

Michigan next hosts No. 10 Ohio State next Wednesday while the Bruins are at Indiana on Saturday to start a two-game Midwest swing.

No. 4 Southern Cal at home in the Galen Center beat Nebraska 75-55 as JuJu Watkins scored 26 points for the Trojans (13-1, 3-0), who have won nine straight since their only loss, which was at home to Notre Dame.

The last 3-0 conference start for Lindsay Gottlieb’s team came in the Pac-12 during the 2013-14 season.

Logan Nissley had 14 for Nebraska (10-4, 4-2).

Stanford transfer Kiki Iriafen scored 14 points.

Nebraska is hosting Penn State Sunday night while USC visits Rutgers the same time.

No. 21 Michigan State beat Purdue 77-59 at home in East Lansing as Jocelyn Tate scored 19 points and grabbed 11 boards, while Julia Ayrault had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

The Spartans (12-2, 2-1) had 18 steals and 23 points off 25 turnovers.

Destini Lombard and Lana McCarthy each scored 10 points for the Boilermakers (7-7, 0-3).

Purdue hosts UCLA on Wednesday in West Lafayette, Ind.

In the Big 12, No. 18 West Virginia (11-2, 1-1) got 31 points from JJ Quinerly in an 80-58 win over UCF at home in Morgantown.

BYU, which got upset at Cincinnati, visits West Virginia on Saturday.

No. 11 TCU beat Colorado 63-50 at home in Fort Worth, Texas, as Hailey Van Lith and Sedona Prince each scored 14 for the Horned Frogs (14-1, 2-0), who limited the Buffaloes (10-3, 1-1) to 35% shooting and forced 17 turnovers.

Cincinnati is at TCU Saturday at 8 p.m.

No. 12 Kansas State won on the road 74-55 at Houston as the Wildcats (14-1, 2-0) went on a 21-0 run to take control. Ayoka Lee and Jaelyn Glenn each scored 15 for the winners.

Oklahoma State romped at Baylor 84-61 in Waco, Texas, as Tenin Magassa scored 16 for the Cowgirls (12-1, 2-0), who previously beat Iowa State and next host Kansas on Saturday.

Baylor (11-3, 1-1), which hosts Colorado Saturday, got 16 off the bench from Yaya Felder.

Looking Ahead

Locally, Rider hosts defending Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) champion Fairfield at 6 p.m. in Alumni Gym in Lawrenceville, N.J.

Saint Joseph’s has a noon date in the Atlantic 10 at George Mason in Fairfax, Va., while La Salle is at Davidson in North Carolina.

Lafayette and Lehigh get started in the Patriot League the Leopards visit Boston U. at 2 p.m. while the Mountain Hawks visit Bucknell.

Rutgers is at No. 8 Maryland in the Big Ten at 7 p.m. in College Park.

The Southeastern Conference finally begins with the highlight game has the two new members from the Big 12 who were longtime rivals. No. 5 Texas visits No. 9 Oklahoma in Norman on ESPN2.

No. 2 South Carolina, the defending NCAA champion, opens at Missouri at 7 pm. on the SECN.

Gonzaga, the league favorite, is at Portland in the West Coast Conference.

On Friday, Drexel is scheduled to open Costal Athletic Conference play at 6 p.m. on FloSports hosting Delaware, which has already postponed a non-conference game at Old Dominion and canceled a visit to Harvard due to an injury-caused short roster.

And That’s the Report