The Guru Report: Columbia Tops Penn in Ivy Openers While Princeton and Harvard Win Easily; Sunday Thrillers - No. 7 UConn at Villanova, No. 4 Southern Cal at Rutgers

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PHILADELPHIA — The good news Saturday for Penn off the recent way the Ivy League now schedules its gauntlet, the Quakers didn’t have to face nearby rival and perennial favorite Princeton in their opener at The Palestra.

The sad news is the first of the seven guests from the Ancient Eight was Columbia, which has risen to be one of the near equivalents to the Tigers and who in the last two seasons tied for the finish at the top and became the second in Ivy history to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

To Penn’s credit, coach Mike McLaughlin’s group was able to shake off an 0-9 start and early double-digit to rally and go in front 29-28 at the half.

But ultimately the Lions (10-4) went across the last two quarters with a 19-5 run and on to a 74-59 victory.

“We have a lot of young players and our team’s been working on the importance of protecting The Palestra,” said Penn guard Simone Saywer. “Obviously, it didn’t go our way. The good thing about the Ivy League is you play everybody twice so you can go back and beat them on their home court.”

That will come sooner rather than later, the two scheduled to met Jan. 25 at Levien Gym off Broadway on New York City’s Upper West Side.

“Our first quarter was a really nice start,” said Columbia coach Megan Griffin, who is from King of Prussia and who is guiding the Lions at her alma mater. She also had a long stint as an assistant when Courtney Banghart, now at North Carolina was building Princeton into the powerhouse the Tigers have become.

“It’s no secret that, in the second quarter, we got a little casual and relaxed,” she continued. “Penn is a very capable scoring offensive team — they have a lot of different threats, and they can play inside-out and space you out.

“When teams go on 10 plus-point runs, you have to make sure you can steal momentum back somehow. Overall, I’m happy how we responded in the second half. In conference play, everybody knows you really well. That was a great first game for us to learn a lot.”

Columbia was able to make good use of its inside-out attack and had a flurry of timely threes, even though Penn came up with just one short of the Lions’ nine from deep.

Saywer had four of those on six attempts to score a team-high 14 points, with six boards;  Mataya Gayle scored 11, freshman Katie Collins had had 10 points and nine boards, and Stina Almqvist scored nine with seven rebounds.

Columbia’s Perri Page had 17 points and nine boards, Riley Weiss scored 16, Kitty Henderson and Marija Avlijas each scored 11, with Henderson also grabbing eight boards.

“It’s great when we have distributed scoring, not just outside looks,” Weiss said. “It was our game plan heading into it. I think we did a pretty good job of that.”

Columbia won the offensive boards battle 17-6, resulting in a 13-6 advantage on second chance points, and in the paint, the Lions dominated 38-26.

“Offensive rebounds hurt, especially a team that is willing to kick it back out there,” Penn’s McLaughlin said. “You got people going to the glass and now they’re getting open, spot up threes. Riley got open a few times on kick outs in live play. I thought we did a good job on her, but once transition happened, and rebounding happened, it was just too much for us.”

Both teams are off until Saturday when Penn hosts Dartmouth at 2 p.m. and Columbia goes to Cornell for a 1 p.m. tip in Newman Arena in Ithaca, N.Y., both games airing on ESPN+.

Meanwhile, up the road, Princeton (10-4) at home dominated Cornell 72-39 in Jadwin Gym, dropping the Big Red to 4-10 overall.

Parker Hill had a career-high 18 points for the Tigers with nine boards and two steals. Ashley Chea scored 14, with seven helpers and five boards, while Fadima Tall had 12 points, five rebounds and a pair of steals.

Princeton in its first showdown among the top teams hosts Harvard Saturday at 2 p.m. on ESPN+.

The Crimson (12-1) have dominated non-conference play among the Ivies and continued their league opener, winning their 10th straight overall in a 61-43 rout of host Yale (1-13) in the John J. Lee Amphitheater in New Haven, Conn.

Katie Krupa scored 16 points for Harvard and Harmoni Turner scored 14 with eight boards, one les Temple s than the nine pulled down by teammate Karlee White.

Temple Stopped at South Florida

The Owls’ early 2-0 start in league play came to a dead stop at American Athletic Conference favorite South Florida, which prevailed 65-56, expanding on a three-point lead the Bulls (10-6, 3-0 AAC) held at the half at their Yuengling Center in Tampa.

Temple (8-6, 2-1) went nine minutes without a field goal into the third period and Tiarra East, one of the main scoring threat, had her own personal drought held to six points on a 2-10 night from the field.

Anissa Rivera, however, was 7-12 and a perfect 5-5 from the line for 19 points, while Tarryiona Gary scored 12.

On the Bulls’ side, however, Sammie Puisus was as hot as ever, shooting 10-19 from the field, including 6-11 from deep, and finished with 26 points, while Carla Brito scored 14 paced by 6-10 from the field. Romi Levi scored 10 off the bench.

Temple stays on the road, visiting Florida Atlantic Wednesday night at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.

Manhattan Takes Rider

The Broncs’ scoring woes in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) continued, losing to the Jaspers 81-40 on the road at Draddy Gym in Riverdale, N.Y.

No one was able to reach double figures for Rider (2-10, 0-3), Winner Bartholomew scored nine, shooting 4-7 from the field. La Salle transfer Gabby Turco was held to five points.

It was the first league win of the season for Manhattan (7-6, 1-3) as Tegan Young scored 19, Nitzan Amar and Ines Gimenez Monserrat each scored 16, the latter gaining a double-double with 10 boards, Brianna Davis scored 15 off the bench.

“I did not have my team ready to play,” said veteran Rider coach Lynn Milligan afterwards.

The Broncs next host Canisius Thursday at 6 p.m. (ESPN+) at Alumni Gym in Lawrenceville, N.J.

Elsewhere in the MAAC, defending champion Fairfield and Quinnipiac continued their fast start in conference play.

Fairfield (9-3, 3-0) routed Merrimack 72-48 at home in the Leo D. Mahoney Arena as Meghan Anderson scored 27 points, Kaety L’Amoreaux scored 11, and Emina Selimovic scored 11 against the opposition (6-6, 2-1).

Cyanne Coe pulled down eight boards, while Raiana Brown grabbed six.

“I loved seeing our defense keep going in the right direction,” said Stags coach Carly Thibault-DuDonis. “We’re putting an emphasis on pressuring the basketball and being disruptive and you can see that in the 23 forced turnovers.

“I love that regardless of lineups, I loved that we showed continuity on the defensive end.”

Looking to begin separation from most of the conference, Fairfield on Thursday visits Iona at 6 p.m. (ESPN+) in New Rochelle, N.Y. The Gaels are also still unbeaten.

Quinnipiac, meanwhile, was contested by visiting Marist throughout the afternoon until the Bobcats prevailed 64-52 at home at M&T Bank Arena in Hamden, Conn.

Karson Martin scored 19 for Quinnipiac (12-1, 4-0) with seven boards and four steals, while Gal Raviv scored 16 and also grabbed seven boards.

Marist (7-7, 2-2) got 10 points and six boards from Ciara Croker.

On Thursday, Quinnipiac is at Siena in suburban Albany in Loudon, N.Y. For an 11 a.m. game.

Drexel Tops Delaware

In a game we were at Friday night but didn’t write a roundup, it being the only one on the schedule that’s on the tracker, Drexel got off to a winning start in the Coastal Athletic Association at home in the Daskalakis Athletic Center beating longtime rival Delaware 65-59.

The visiting Blue Hens (3-8, 0-1) had not played in 15 days, the Old Dominion and Harvard visits cancelled due to a shortage of players caused by various injuries.

Though Drexel (5-6, 1-0) led by 11 in the second quarter, the game was typically close as it has been in this series until the Dragons made some key plays in the fourth quarter.

This was also Delaware’s last appearance as a conference partner, something that dates back to both teams in the America East and a few other leagues.

Drexel coach Amy Mallon said both schools would like to keep the series alive after the Blue Hens join Conference USA this summer.

The key for Delaware was the play of Chloe Wilson with 24 points and 10 boards, while Tina Cousins scored 20.

Drexel countered with a breakout game from Cara McCormick scoring 13 points, Amaris Baker with 12 and six boards, Grace O’Neill with 11 aided by a perfect 3-3 from deep, and Chloe Hodges and Deja Evans each scored nine.

On Sunday, Drexel hosts Northeastern, while Delaware at its Bob Carpenter Center in Newark, hosts Hofstra, both games tip at 2 p.m. and air on FloSports.

Local Look Ahead: Villanova Sold Out for No. 7 UConn

In the interest of organization with a lot of games going on and already mentioned the next ones for the locals who played Friday and Saturday, on Sunday Villanova, trying to bounce back from the Wildcats’ last-second loss at home New Year’s Night to Seton Hall, hosts Big East Favorite, No. 7 UConn at 1:30 p.m. at Finneran Pavilion on SNY.

On Saturday, Villanova announced the game is sold-out.

Rutgers is likely to have a big crowd Sunday night at Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, N.J., when the Scarlet Knights host new Big Ten-member No. 4 Southern Cal and sophomore sensation JuJu Watkins, who was the national freshman of the year last season. The game will air on the Big Ten Network.

Penn State, like Rutgers, still looking for its first Big Ten win of the season, will visit Nebraska at 3 p.m. in Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln on B1G+.

Saint Joseph’s will look to extend its 2-0 start in the Atlantic 10 visiting nearby La Salle at 2 p.m. at the John Glaser Arena on ESPN+.

The Explorers return the visit later in the season but unlike in the past neither will also be a Big Five game off the format change that had the two in separate pods leading up to last month’s first Big Five Classic at Villanova.

Lehigh and Lafayette will try to follow up on their Patriot League season opening wins on the road in home games Sunday, the latter Mountain Hawks welcoming Loyola, Md., at Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa., while Lafayette will host Navy at its Kirby Sports Center in Easton, Pa., both games airing on ESPN+.

The National Scene: No. 1 UCLA Wins at Indiana

The nature of the season throughout realignment and results of polling from UCLA knocking South Carolina from its perch early in the season, had Indiana hosting a No. 1 team Saturday for the first time since 1994.

The Bruins (15-0, 4-0) continued to be one of seven still unbeaten, winning its Big Ten encounter over the Hoosiers 73-62 while holding the opposition scoreless for over eight minutes in the first half.

Lauren Betts, a former Stanford player, had 25 points and 12 rebounds against Indiana (10-4, 2-1), while Kiki Rice has 12 points, seven assists, and seven rebounds. Gabriella Jaquez added 11 points.

The Hoosiers got 19 points from Yarden Garzon, while Chloe Moore-McNeil added 12 points.

UCLA will be at Purdue on Tuesday while Indiana on Wednesday is at Northwestern.

Elsewhere in the Big Ten, Oregon, another new member from the former PAC-12 in its earlier form, topped visiting Wisconsin 68-52 at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene.

Elisa Mevius had 14 points for the host Ducks (11-4, 2-2), while the visiting Badgers (10-5, 1-3) got 12 points from Natalie Leuzinger.

In the Big 12, the three ranked teams prevailed.

No. 12 Kansas State (15-1, 3-0) at home in Manhattan beat Texas Tech 77-57 as Ayoka Lee had 19 points and eight boards, while Serena Sundell had 13 points and 11 assists, and Kennedy Taylor also scored 13 points. Taryn Sides added 11 points. Bailey Maupin scored 21 for the Red Raiders (12-4, 1-2). Kansas State is at Utah Wednesday.

No. 18 West Virginia at home in Morgantown stopped an early threat to beat BYU 66-53 as JJ Quinerly scored 12 of her 19 in the second half and the Mountaineers (21-2, 2-1) forced 31 points, worth 33 points from from the Cougars (9-5, 0-3), whose Kemery Congdon scored 16 points. The winners are at Texas Tech on Wednesday.

No. 11 TCU at home in Fort Worth beat Cincinnati 81-66, using a 23-12 third quarter to pull away. Madison Connor scored 29 for the Horned Frogs (15-1, 3-0) while Sedonna Prince had 21 points against the Bearcats (8-4, 1-2). The overall and conference records are firsts for TCU, which is at Kansas on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in the conference, Baylor at home beat Colorado 76-62, Arizona won 75-53 at UCF, Kansas won 75-66 at Oklahoma State, and Arizona State won 69-60 at Houston.

Noteworthy

In the Big East, Seton Hall followed up its win at Villanova, winning 74-71 at home in overtime in Walsh Gym against Georgetown in South Orange, N.J., as Jada Eads scored 27 for the winning Pirates (12-3, 4-0) while Faith Masonius, who had the game-winner over the Wildcats, scored 21 with six boards. Victoria Rivera scored 26 for the Hoyas (8-6, 1-2).

Middle Tennessee (10-5) won at home 69-41 in a Conference USA game over Liberty (8-5) as Jalynn Gregory scored 26 points and Ta’Mia Scott scored 23 with eight boards.

In the West Coast Conference, the two former PAC-12 teams who are members the next two years, met each other, Washington State (9-7) at home in Pullman winning 66-52 over Oregon State (7-9) as Eleonora Villa on the winning Cougars had 19 points leading three others in double figures, while Kelsey Rees had 17 points and 11 boards for the Beavers.

Looking Ahead Nationally

In the SEC, No. 15 Tennessee gets its biggest test to date hosting No. 9 Oklahoma at 3 p.m. on ESPN in Food City Center in Knoxville, while elsewhere in the conference, No. 2 South Carolina is at Mississippi State at 2 pm. on the SEC Network; No. 5 Texas is hosting Arkansas at 3 p.m. in Austin; Vanderbilt in Nashville is hosting No. 16 Kentucky; No. 19 Alabama is hosting Missouri in Tuscaloosa; No. 25 Ole Miss is at Texas A&M; and No. 6 LSU  is hosting Auburn.

In the Big Ten, No. 8 Maryland is at No. 23 Iowa at 6 p.m. on the Big Ten Network; No. 10 Ohio State is hosting Northwestern.

In the ACC, No. 3 Notre Dame is at No. 17 North Carolina at 1 p.m. on ESPN; Stanford is at Clemson at 2 p.m.; No. 20 California is at SMU at 6 p.m. on the ACC Network, which is airing No. 14 Duke hosting Pitt at noon.

And that’s the report.