The Guru NCAA Roundup: Rutgers Nears Big Ten Tournament Non-Qualifying After a 69-59 Loss to Visiting Northwestern; Olsen Scores 27 For Iowa in Loss at No. 8 Ohio State

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

In a game between two teams in the bottom area of the Big  Ten, Rutgers came up short Monday night, losing to Northwestern, 69-59, at home at Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, N.J.

The positives were individual for the Scarlet Knights (10-16, 2-13), Awa Sidibe scored a season-high 16 points with nine boards, while Zachara Perkins had a personal best  three blocks. Reserve Chyna Cornwell had 13 rebounds.

Destiny Adams scored 15 points and JoJo Lacey scored 11 and each of the latter grabbed seven boards

Northwestern (9-15, 2-11), which got a quick jump with a 25-12 first quarter, had a balanced attack with Caileigh Walsh scoring  13 points, Taylor Williams and Kyla Jones with 12 points, each, with Casey Harter and reserve Melannie Daley each scoring 11.

Two other Big Ten games were also played — No. 8 Ohio State at home in Columbus beat Iowa 86-78 overtime, while No. 21 Maryland at home  in te XFINITY Center in College Park beat Michigan 85-77.

In the former game, the host Buckeyes (22-3, 11-3), who are 1.5 behind the frontrunners of No. 4 Southern Cal (23-2, 13-1) and No. 3 UCLA (24-1, 12-1) got 29 points and four assists from freshman Jaloni Cambridge,, Cotie McMahon scored 25, and Cambridge’s sister Kennedy scored 16 points.

Villanova transfer Lucy Olsen scored 27 with seven assists for Iowa (18-8,  8-7).

In the game in College Park, Sasrah Te-Biasu had 21 for the Terrapins (20-6, 10-5) and Shyanne Sellers scored 18.

Sellers, who limped off the court in the game’s closing seconds, became the first in the program to gain career totals of 1,500 points, 500 rebounds, and 500 assists.

Michigan (18-8, 9-6)  got 26 points from  freshman Olivia Olson and seven boards, while Syla Swords  had 19 points and six rebounds.

Thirteen teams have clinched berths for the conference tournament next month in Gainbridge Fieldhouse but only two of the remaining five will qualify with field sizes after expansion being reduced in the Big Ten, Atlantic Coast and Metro Atlantic Athletic Conferences.

At the moment, the Big Ten bottom is Wisconsin 3-12, Northwestern 2-11, which are above the cut; Purdue 2-12, Rutgers 2-13, and Penn State 1-14 below.

Northwestern still has two games out of pocket — UCLA and Southern Cal — when the Wildcats opted out of a West Coast trip due to the wildfires nearby Los Angeles

The remaining games for each:

Wisconsin: host Northwestern; host UCLA; at Iowa.

Northwestern: host Maryland; at Wisconsin; host Nebraska; UCLA and USC postponed

Purdue: host Minnesota; at Ohio State; at Penn State; host Indiana

Rutgers: at Washington; at Oregon; host Penn State

Penn State: at Michigan; host Purdue; at Rutgers

 

Two other ranked games were played: in the Big 12, No. 17 West Virginia upset No. 12 Kansas State 70-57 at home in Morgantown, while in the SEC, No. 18 Alabama at home in Tuscaloosa beat Texas A& M 88-49.

 

In the game at West Virginia, JJ Quinerly scored 26 points and Jordan Harrison scored 18 for the Mountaineers (21-5, 11-4), the hosts forcing the Wildcats (24-4, 12-3) into a season-high 21 turnovers.

 

Kansas State (24-4, 12-3) got 17 points from Temira Poindexter, while Zyanna  Walker scored 12.

 

The Mountaineers are at No.10 TCU Sunday in Fort Worth, while the Wildcats hosts intra-state rival Kansas on Saturday.

 

In the SEC, Alabama (21-5, 8-4) got 18 points from Sarah Ashlee Barker, while Zaay Green had 16 points, six boards, and six assists.

 

The Aggies (10-14, 3-9) got 17 points from Jada Malone along with six rebounds off the bench.

 

The Crimson Tide are at No. 15 Tennessee in Knoxville, Thursday.

 

On Tuesday, there is only one game on the radar, which will update late to this file, in the Big 12 No.24 Oklahoma State is at Utah in Salt Lake City.

 

Looking Ahead

 

With nothing else on Tuesday, let’s go straight into the Wednesday locals, where Temple fighting for the fourth and final double bye in next month’s American Athletic Conference tournament in Fort Worth, Texas, hosts Wichita State at 7 p.m. at the Liacouras Center on ESPN+.

 

Villanova in the Big East hosts Georgetown at the Finneran Pavilion at 7 p.m. on FloSports.

 

In the Patriot League, first-place Lehigh hosts Bucknell at 6 p.m. at the Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa., while Lafayette hosts defending champion Holy Cross at 6 p.m. at the Kirby Sports Center in Easton,Pa., both games on ESPN+.

 

Saint Joseph’s, after nearly a week off in the Atlantic 10, is at Rhode Island in the Ryan Center in Kingston at 6:35 p.m. on ESPN+.

 

Nationally, No. 5 Connecticut returns to the Big East the rest of the way, playing at Seton Hall at 7 p.m. in Walsh Gym in South Orange, N.J. on SNY.

 

No. 4 Southern Cal hosts No. 22 Michigan State in the Galen Center in Los Angeles for a Big Ten contest at 9:30 p.m. on the Peacock Network.

 

On Thursday, Rutgers begins its Big Ten swing to the Northwest playing at Washington  in Seattle at 9 p.m., while in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Rider at 7 p.m. is at First Place Fairfield in Connecticut on ESPN+.

 

And that’s the report.