The Guru NCAAW Report: Penn Beats Brown to Tie Bears for Fourth in Ivies; Temple Rallies over Tulane; Lehigh Tops Holy Cross in OT to Extend Win Streak to Ten

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PHILADELPHIA — Penn completed a  bottoms  up, so to speak, Ivy weekend sweep here Saturday afternoon at The Palestra, launching an 18-6 second quarter and maintaining the lead on Brown the rest of the way  for a 73-61 victory.

The triumph moved  the Quakers (13-10, 4-6) into a fourth-place  tie with the Bears (10-13,  4-6) for the coveted last spot in next month’s Ivy Madness, which this year Brown is hosting at  its Pizzitola Arena in Providence, R.I.

The remaining run between the two will have a lot of  scoreboard watching the rest of the way, each has two games against the three smash sisters at the top of the Ivy standings in Columbia,  Princeton, and Harvard, the former two officially clinched berths, but not yet seeds, Friday,  while Harvard will seek  to become the third Sunday afternoon playing on the road at first-place Columbia in the Lions’  Levien Gym off Broadway on New York City’s Upper  West Side at  noon on ESPNU.

While beating Brown enabled the Quakers to close a two-game gap with help from Princeton at the start of the weekend, the earlier loss to the Bears knocks out the first tie-break since the two split.

If  neither can knock off a frontrunner, something Penn did last season to grab the fourth spot, Penn will need to beat Dartmouth, to stay even with the split the Bears have already executed with the Big Green.

Ultimately, if it gets to a third tie-break, then when the final standings are determined the .Net used by the NCAA  committee for building the national tournament will be used for comparison and Penn at the moment  holds an advantage.

“We talked about that in the locker room,” said Brown coach Monique LeBlanc. “Everybody’s  aware that this would have made  the path a little easier.

“It is important that we’re sticking together right now.  We have four games that we believe we  can win, and our path is going to be different than we anticipated coming into this weekend.”

Penn’s path is different on the upside as to where Mike McLaughlin’s  squad  stood after last weekend having been dealt a big diet of the league heavyweights at the outset and then suffering two losses many wouldn’t expect against Dartmouth and Brown.

As for the game, the affair harkened back not that long ago to the Penn squads that could go eye  level with multi champion Princeton and win a few crowns of their own.

“It started on the defensive end,”  McLaughlin said of the second quarter eruption. “We do what we call kills,  which you get three stops in a row. We had  two in that quarter alone. Then it turned into some offensive opportunities. The flow was better and it was really impressive.”

Really impressive was the play of Stina Almqvist, a native of  Kinna, Sweden, who had a game-high 26 points, two short of her personal best, on 11-17 from the field, with 12 boards,  including her 1,000th point, the 26th player in Penn history to reach the milestone.

The timing worked well  with her parents  and  sister well making their annual overseas visit to watch her play.

“I  come from a basketball family, so they watch all my games,” she said. “The broadcasters have been talking ab out I’m getting closer (she needed 13 at tipoff).

“Before the trip, my sister who is turning 12 this year was like, you better get it during my three games when I’m there. Just to be able to do that with them in attendance, and with such a great team win was really just exciting.”

The Penn squad produced a congratulatory banner after the game.

Freshman Sarah Miller from  Phoenix with five makes  from  deep scored 17, and sophomore Abby Sharpe, a Plymouth Whitemarsh grad from Laafayette Hill, hit a pair from beyond the arc and scored 10 points.

Brown’s Gianna Aiello scored 18 with eight boards,  and Grace Arnolie scored 17.

Almqvist got to take the family out to Broad Street for the Eagles post-game Super Bowl victory celebration and to Friday’s  parade.

“A person running out yelled Go Eagles and I  told my dad, you’re going  to hear that a 1,000 times,” Almqvist grinned.

As  for the Ivy race, she said:

“Obviously, I love basketball, so I watch Ivy basketball  all the time,”  Almqvist said. “I know what’s at stake. Coming into these games I  knew we were prepared. Everyone knew how big this weekend was going to be and what is coming  up.”

Penn hosts Cornell next Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, in the battle at the top, Columbia (18-4, 9-0) in first place battles third place Harvard (18-3, 7-2) Sunday.

Princeton (18-5, 9-1), a game behind Columbia, which it will host this Saturday, kept pace on senior day, beating Yale 71-42 at home in Jadwin Gym.

The five outgoing Tigers Adaora Nwokeji, Parker Hill, Amelia Osgood, and  Katie Thiers started together and got off to a  12-0 start on the Bulldogs (2-21,  1-9) leading to a 22-9 lead after the first quarter and the home team continued to be unthreatened the rest of the way.

Osgood with 10 points and Nwokeji with 13 set  career highs.

Lehigh Rallies to Beat Holy Cross in Overtime While Lafayette Falls at Bucknell

In the Patriot League for first-place Lehigh (21-4, 12-1), the day belonged to Ella Stemmer but the rescue work in a 14-4 overtime belonged to senior Remi Sisselman, scoring  eight of 12 points in the extra period, including a key over-the-shoulder jump shot in a 69-59 road win over defending champion Holy Cross (15-8, 9-5).

The Mountain Hawks have now won ten straight.

“Remi can be our X Factor,” Lehigh coach Addie Micir said. “We’ve  been saying that all year. Moments like this, where she steps up,  goes 5-of-5 from the field, and hits a huge shot – those are the plays that make a difference.”

There were nine ties and nine lead changes.

As the game neared the end in regulation, Lehigh made a turnover but the Crusaders then did  likewise and Maddie Albrecht scored on a driving layup with 10 seconds left to force the extra period.

Stemmer, one-point short at the tipoff, scored her 1000th, the 24th Lehigh player reaching the milestone and she also had her 200th career three-pointer.

“”Anytime you score 1,000 points or hit those threes — many of which have been assisted — it’s an incredible milestone for the whole team,”  Micir said. “That’s why her teammates celebrated the way they did.

“My favorite part of the game was the run Ella went on by herself. That the confident Ella we need, and if reaching 1,000 points gives her that boost, we’re ready to keep going.”

Albrecht joined Stemmer and Sisselman in double figures with 15 points.

Holy Cross’ Meg  Cahalan scored 18 points.

Lehigh hosts Bucknell Wednesday at Stabler  Arena in Bethlehem,  Pa., at   6 p.m.  on ESPN+.

Bucknell (14-10, 9-4) will be coming after a 61-51 win Saturday at home in Lewisburg, Pa., over Lafayette (7-17,  4-9), the other local team in the Patriot League.

The visiting Leopards got 13 points from Teresa Kiewiet and 10 from Abby Antognoli.

Bucknell’s  Ashley Sofilkanich scored 20 points with eight boards, Isabella King had a double double 14 points and 10 boards, and Reese Zemitis scored 10 points.

Lafayette hosts Holy Cross Wednesday at 6 p.m.  at the Kirby Sports Center in Easton, Pa., on ESPN+.

Temple Rallies at Tulane

Just short of a week after the Eagles’ Super Bowl victory in New Orleans, Temple (15-10, 9-5) also hit pay dirt in the jazz city, rallying from a 13-4 deficit and then erupting on a 15-0 run out of the break for an explosive 23-15 advantage in the third period  on the way to a 73-56 victory over Tulane (15-9, 8-5) that put the Owls  a half-game ahead of the Green Wave in fourth place in the American Athletic Conference, the last spot for a double bye in next month’s tournament in Fort Worth, Texas.

Temple’s Kaylah Turner had  her first double double with 22 points and 15 rebounds. The Owls had  a season-high 59 boards.

Jaleesa Molina had 16 points and 15 rebounds, while Tristen Taylor scored 13 points.

The win avenged a recent narrow loss back at Temple that started a three-game losing streak.

Sadie Shores scored 15 points for Tulane and Sherese Pittman scored 11.

Temple is back at the Liacouras Center  Wednesday hosting Wichita State at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.

Rider Falls  to Saint Peter’s on Foul Shot While La Salle Loses at Rhode Island

The Broncs (6-18, 4-11) moved closer to being one of the three teams eliminated from next month’s Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) tournament at Jim Whelan  Boardwalk Hall  in Atlantic, falling two games below the ten-team cut after losing 55-54 to Saint Peter’s  at home in Alumni Gym in Lawrenceville, N.J.

The Peahens (8-15, 6-8), one of five teams that have been on the standings  bubble, are three games up on Rider in the loss column.

The Broncs  made things look promising in the fourth, surging from a 48-41 deficit to go on an 8-0 run and go ahead by a point with 1:29 left in regulation.

The two teams exchanged three-pointers in the closing seconds, La Salle transfer Gabby Turco’s make from deep tying it up at 54-54 with 5.4  seconds left.

The visitors then were fouled going for the game-winner, went to the line and made the second after missing the first for the final score.

“It’s  a tough one,” said Rider veteran coach Lynn Milligan. “This time of year, you have to win home games. The second quarter is what  got to us.

“Credit to Saint Peter’s,  they stuck with their game plan. They got the ball to their best   Player, and  she made a play at the end of the game.

“I’m not going to second guess our effort. We’ve stuck with our process all year. We  play young, and these are lessons that are going to help us out in the future. You play most of the game with three freshmen on the floor. These young players are only going to benefit from situations like this.”

Turco and Camryn Collins each  scored 14 points for Rider and  Emmy Roach had a career-high 10 points off the bench.

Rider goes to first-place Fairfield on Thursday at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.

The Stags (21-3, 15-0) with a two-game lead on Saturday moved closer to the top seed, beating Manhattan 84-45 and tying the national lead  with 11 road wins.

Kaety L’Amoreaux scored 16 points to help extend Fairfield’s  win streak to 15 games while also dishing a career-high nine assists and tying another mark with five steals. Emina  Selimovic scored 15, Jillian Huerter scored  11,  and Meghan Andersen had 12 points. Sydni Scogtt nailed three threes from deep to score all nine of her points.

The defending champion Stags have now won 38-straight MAAC games over the past two seasons.

Quinnipiac (21-3, 13-2) moved close to the second seed with a two-game lead on third place after rallying to win at Iona 74-66.

Freshman standout Gal Raviv scored 22 for the Bobcats and dealt five assists while Jsackie Grisdale scored 14  points. Anna Foley had 13 points and 12 boards, and reserve Grace  LaBarge scored 12 points.

Tied late in the game Quinnipiac went on a 12-4 run to secure the win.

The Bobcats have the week off until Saturday, returning home to the M&T Bank Arena in Hamden, Conn., to host Manhattan at 2 p.m.on  ESPN+.

La Salle (8-20, 2-13), meanwhile, in the Atlantic 10 fell at Rhode Island 77-54 at  the Ryan Center in Kingston.

The Explorers, bouncing back from Wednesday’s tough home loss to Fordham, held the Rams to 24 points in the first half and then Rhody (14-13,  9-5) exploded with 33 points in the third quarter.

Aryss Macktoon scored 15 and Ashleigh Connor scored 10 points for La Salle, which is off until Saturday hosting St. Bonaventure at the John E. Glaser Arena at 2 p.m. on ESPN+.  

Harsimran Kaur scored 23 for the Rams with six boards, while Sophia Vital and Ines Debroise each scored 12 points.

The National Scene

The bulk of ranked games were played in the Big 12 where the one upset occurred, BYU at home in Provo, Utah, beat No. 20 Oklahoma State 68-64 as  Emma  Calvert scored 19 points with seven boards for the Cougars (13-12, 4-10).

Anna Gret Asi and Tenin Magassa each scored 13 points for the Cowgirls (20-5, 10-4), who visit Utah in Salt Lake City on Tuesday.

No. 25 Baylor avoided a road upset by Texas Tech in Fort Worth, edging the Red Raiders 66-60 as Darianna Littlepage-Buggs scored 19 points, shooting 9-11 from the field while grabbing 13 rebounds for the visiting Bears (22-5, 11-3).

Sarah Andrews scored 16 while setting the Big 12 games played record with her 159th appearance. Jada Walker scored 10.

Bailey Maupin scored 15 for the Red Raiders (14-13, 3-11).

Baylor is at Colorado Wednesday.

No. 18 West Virginia at home in Morgantown had an easy 69-50 win over visiting Cincinnati as J.J.  Quinerly scored 29 for the Mountaineers (20-5, 10-4). The Bearcats (14-10, 5-8) were led by Jillian Hayes with 20  points.

The Mountaineers stay home Monday to host No.  14 Kansas State (24-3, 12-2), which will be coming off a 97-67 win over visiting UCF  at  home Saturday in Manhattan.

Taryn Sides off the bench scored 21 points for Kansas State with six assists, while Temira Poindexter scored 16 points, and Jaelyn Glenn and  Zyanna Walker each scored 14 points.

In the Big East, second-place and No. 24 Creighton stayed close to No. 7 Connecticut winning 70-48 at Georgetown as Morgan Maly had 18 points for the Bluejays (21-4, 13-1), while Lauren Jensen had 17 points,  nine boards, four assists, and  two blocks with a steal.

The Hoyas (11-14, 4-10) got 20 points from Kelsey Ramson.

Creighton hosts St. John’s  on Wednesday.

In the Big Ten, one game played in which host Indiana in Bloomington beat visiting Purdue 78-56, the losing Boilermakers  (9-16, 2-12) in a three-way tie with Wisconsin and  and Rutgers at the cut line for the  three teams to be eliminated from  playing in the conference tourney next month in Indianapolis.

Two below the three are Northwestern at 1-11 in the Big Ten and last place Penn State at 1-13.

Fairleigh Dickinson continued to dominate the Northeast Conference winning at home 75-45 over Long Island as Ava Renniger scored 25 points.

South Florida in the American Athletic Conference won 74-62  at Florida Atlantic as Sammie Puisis scored 23 for the Bulls, shooting 7-15 from  beyond the arc.

Looking Ahead

Locally on Sunday, Villanova is at Xavier in a Big East game at 2 p.m. in Cincinnati on FloSports.

Delaware hosts William & Mary, the Blue Hens on a four-game win streak in the Coastal Athletic Association. The tip at the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark at 2 p.m. on FloSports.

Penn State at 1 p.m. in the Bob Carpenter Center in State College hosts Wisconsin, a team in the bottom mix with the Lady Lions trying to avoid ouster from  the Big Ten tourney.

The NCAA’s first 16-tea reveal is at noon on ESPN, one more will follow in a few weeks ahead of the 68-team tournament bracket on March 16 at 8 p.m. on ESPN.

The day’s national highlight is the doubleheader on ABC beginning at 1 p.m. when No. 7 Connecticut visits No. 4 South Carolina followed at 3 p.m. when No. 5 LSU visits No. 3 Texas.

UCLA, no longer unbeaten and likely to drop from No. 1 in the new Associated Press women’s poll Monday after last week’s upset loss to crosstown rival No.  6 Southern Cal, is on the Big Ten Network at 9 p.m.  hosting No. 22 Michigan State.

At 7 p.m. on the network, Southern Cal is in Seattle playing former PAC-12 rival Washington, the two with UCLA and Oregon having gone to the Big Ten after the breakup.

In the ACC  at 2 p.m. No. 10 North Carolina State is at No. 12 North Carolina in Chapel Hill on ESPN.  

At noon on the SEC Network, Ole  Miss is at No. 15 Tennessee in Knoxville.

On Monday in the Big Ten, Northwestern is at Rutgers at 8 p.m. on the conference network, the two teams scrambling to get above the conference tournament cut.

Much higher up the Big Ten ladder, Notre Dame, favored to jump to No. 1 prior to the game, hosts Duke at 6 p.m.,  while FOX at noon is hosting Iowa’s  visit to Ohio State.

And that’s the report.