The Guru NCAAW Report: Saint Joseph’s Blasts Saint Louis; Temple Averts Upset; Villanova Nips Butler; N. 1 UCLA Handles No. 7 Ohio State

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PHILADELPHIA — In a local day-night doubleheader for the Guru Wednesday Temple in an Education Day morning tip at home in the Liacouras Center was able to avoid a fourth meltdown and beat Memphis 74-66 in an American Athletic Conference match that also occurred on National Girls & and Women in Sports Day while at night Saint Joseph’s kept pace with the top of the Atlantic Ten through a dominating performance  from Lauren Ziegler in a 69-49 rout of Saint Louis at home in Hagan Arena where the Hawks took their turn in the annual Play 4 Kay games that occur this month to combat breast cancer in the name of the late North Carolina State Hall of Fame  coach Kay Yow.

Defending A-10 champion coach Richmond held the very top of the standings picking up a 72-53 victory not far away from Hawk Hill beating La Salle 72-53 at the Explorers’ John E. Glaser Arena while on the road in the Big East Villanova won 63-59 at Butler in Hinkle Pavillion in Indianapolis and in the Big Ten at home in the Bryce Jordan Center Penn State fell to Washington 82-71.

Nationally, by their Associated Press women’s poll ranking numbers in a Big 12 meeting, No. 12 Kansas State upset No. 9 TCU 59-50, but it was calm elsewhere, No. 1 UCLA at home in the Big Ten in Pauley Pavilion in a marquee game beating No. 8 Ohio State 65-52, on the road in the conference No.7 Southern Cal won 86-64 at Wisconsin, and back in the Big 12 at home in Morgantown No.18 West Virginia beat Kansas 76-43.

Now, dealing with the details, Temple returned home from a Texas trip against two of the top of the league with substantial leads that died late in both matchups and in this one the Owls (13-9, 7-4) forged into a 17-point advantage early in the third when the margin like grains of sand in an hour glass began slipping again in the game with the Tigers (5-16, 3-7),

Still, it was plus 10, early in the fourth, usually good enough for most teams to defend and score enough to prevail.

It got down to four under the four-minute mark when Jaleesa Molina turned it over and Memphis scored but Molina got the points back with a layup on the next possession.

Kaylah Turner after a stop made it plus eight and then with Temple playing some tough defense, the Owls drew another turnover, and Anissa Rivera got it back to double digits on a fast break with 1:47 left.

However, as the final minute ticked down so did the advantage again to four with 13 seconds left.

But time showed up on the home team’s side, Memphis forced to foul, enabling Tiarra East to make two from the line and when Tilly Boler, who had a game-high 27 points, missed a shot, Turner went to the line and canned two more foul shots to wrap up the win.

Alaisa Smith, who had 16 points, and 10 boards was the other threat from the visitors, but Temple had a balance of 10 points from Tarriyonna Garry, though she also committed eight of the Owls’ 18 turnovers, while Molina, Rivera, and Turner each scored 12.

Temple outrebounded Memphis 39-33, helped by Molina with eight boards and East seven, of which six on the offensive glass produced a 19-11 advantage and 18-6 on second chance points.

“We’re back,” said Temple coach Diana Richardson, though how much will be learned quickly when AAC preseason favorite South Florida visits Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. (ESPN+).

Richardson noted her team will have to rebound better than in their first meeting in Tampa last month when the Bulls prevailed.

As for the synopsis here Wednesday, Richardson said, “It was a tough game. We got ahead early and had to fight a little bit at the end of the game trying to maintain that lead.

“But we came out with the win. They didn’t put their heads down.

Rivera confirmed that element by relating huddle talk when the lead began to shrivel again.

“We just said, ‘We can’t go 0-3 the same way. So, we just dug down and played Temple basketball.”

“All through the game, I kept saying, `We’re ahead. We’ve got to stay ahead. Let’s not let them get back in the game,” Richardson said. “They they came out with a press and turned us over a little bit. We’ve got to stay poised. We’re better than that against the press.”

An array of multiple double-digit scoring comes out of Richardson’s trademark “equal opportunity offense,” which breeds confidence, especially for those scoring off the bench.

“I want them not to be afraid to score the ball and not be afraid to shoot,” she said. “It also helps against the other team because they don’t know who to double team.”

Meanwhile over on Hawk Hill, Saint Joseph’s (18-4, 9-2) jumped to an early lead paced by Laura Ziegler on Saint Louis (9-14, 3-7) but when the shots stopped falling the Billikins were able to bounce back and take a slim 17-16 lead after the first quarter, but then the home team lowered the boom.

Ziegler, with 19 of her 27 points in the first half, recharged Saint Joseph’s, besides grabbing 10 boards for her 17th double double, with additional help from Mackenzie Smith out of a recent scoring funk with 17 points, while Aleah Snead, who has been filling in sensationally since Talya Bruglar has been sidelined with a hand injury, scored 13 with eight rebounds.

The Hawks stayed tied for second with George Mason, who beat VCU, though Saint Joseph’s is in the second seed slot right now off beating the Patriots down in Fairfax, Va., last month, while Richmond’s win at La Salle kept the Spiders one game in front.

Saint Louis got 14 points from Tierra Simon and Peyton Kennedy scored 10 points.

“Really impressed with the win,” said Saint Joseph’s veteran coach Cindy Griffin, whose daughter Kaylie had a career-high six assists in 15 minutes of action. “I thought we handled the pressure today. We had some balls (at the beginning) that didn’t go in. But just proud of the team the way we kept fighting and fighting.

“I thought our transition was really good today and our defense was phenomenal. It was going to be the team that owned the glass was going to win the game.”

The Hawks are on a seven-game win streak and the two positives are players like Snead who have come to the fore with Bruglar and that since being out of action five straight games the team has played the weaker end of the schedule.

She’ll miss a sixth Sunday when Loyola Chicago visits at 1 p.m., (ESPN+), the time was moved one hour earlier due to a certain local team playing in the Super Bowl.

But her return is expected next Wednesday when nitty-gritty time hits the rest of the way, beginning with the front end of a home-and-home at Richmond at 8 p.m. on Peacock.

“That’s the plan,” Griffin said when asked for a progress report. “She’s been doing well through her rehab.”

On Wednesday, Saint Joseph’s .Net dipped under 50 to 49 and on Tuesday ESPN’s Charlie Crème had the Hawks inside his twice-weekly projected bracket.

Nearby, La Salle (8-17, 2-10) got off to a competitive start on Richmond (195, 10-1) but then the Spiders took over in what was the first of two homecomings this month for Maggie Doogan, the Cardinal O’Hara grad and Broomall resident whose mom Chrissie was a star with the Explorers.

She had a game-high 22 points and 11 rebounds and will be back at the end of the month for the second of two games with Saint Joseph’s.

“You can definitely see why they’re the best team in the league,” said La Salle coach Mountain MacGillivray. “They got positional size everywhere, shooters everywhere. They are really well connected and have a variety of ways they can beat you. And they’re very old, mature.”

Jolene Armendariz scored 15 points, all from five made from deep.

“We mde some nice individual plays, but it’s not enough, but it’s growth.”

La Salle is at Saint Louis on Saturday afternoon.

In the midwest, where Villanova played in the title game of the inaugural WBIT last spring, the Wildcats (13-10, 7-4) moved within a game of third-place Seton Hall in the Big East off the win over Butler (12-13, 2-10).

Maddie Webber scored 19 points, Jasmine Bascoe, the Canadian, scored 16 with six boards, and Denae Carter had 10 points and six rebounds.

Kilyn McGuff, the daughter of longtime Ohio State women’s coach Kevin McGuff, had 19 points and 15 boards for Butler, while Riley Makalusy had 15 points.

Villanova hosts Creighton 2 p.m. Saturday.

Up at Happy Valley, Penn State (10-13, 1-11) lost 82-71 to Washington (14-9, 5-6), one of four new entries to the Big Ten along with former PAC-12 members No. 1 UCLA, No. 7 Southern Cal, and Oregon.

Hannah Stines scored 28 points for the Huskies of Seattle, while Elle Ldine scored 20, and Chloe Briggs scored 12,

Gabby Elliott and Talayah Walker each scored 17 for the Lady Lions, Jayla Oden scored 14, and Gracie Merkle was held to 11 for the Lady Lions.

It was the first meeting between the two teams since 1996 and besides the national occasion, Penn State celebrated 60 years of women’s sports.

The Lady Lions are at Northwestern Sunday afternoon.

The National Scene

In the one upset, Serena Sundell had 27 points, while Jaelyn Glenn scored 14 for Kansas State (22-2, 10-1) putting the Wildcats in sole possession of first place in the Big 12 in the game in Manhattan.

Held to lower scores, Sedona Prince collected 14 and Hailey Van Lith had 11 for the Horned Frogs (21-3, 9-2).

The Horned Frogs, who committed 17 turnovers, is at No. 25 Oklahoma State, while TCU hosts Texas Tech, both Saturday.

UCLA (22-0, 10-0) set a school record with 21 straight victories topping the 21 in 1977-78 when they won the AIAW national title in the pre-NCAA era.

Lauren Betts had 19 points and 14 boards for the Bruins, hile Kiki Rice scored 12, while the Buckeyes (20-2, 9-2) got 21 from Jalonie Cambridge and Cotie McMahon scored 14.

UCLA will see former PAC-12 rival Oregon up at Eugene Sunday while Ohio State is at Southern California Saturday at 9 p.m. on FOX.

In Southern Cal’s win at Wisconsin (11-12, 2-10), JuJu Watkins scored 14, while Kiki Iriafen scored 15, Talia Voelhoffen scored 10, while reserves Avery Howell scored 14, and Kaylieh Heckel scored 10 for the Trojans (30-3, 10-1).

Sydney Shaw had a career high 22 points, 13 in the first quarter, for West Virginia (18-4, 8-3) against Kansas and the Mountaineers next is at Houston Saturday.

Looking Ahead

On Thursday, just two locals, in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Rider hosts Sacred Heart at 6 p.m. on ESPN+ while Rutgers is at Indiana at 6 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.

In the 1-2 MAAC teams, Quinnipiac, in second, is at Canisius at 6 p.m., while frontrunner Fairfield is at Marist, both on ESPN+.

Nationally, not that long ago the only game all year looked upon was Uconn/Tennessee, which then got called off in 2007 but renewed several years ago and airs Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN from Knoxville.

“The coaches are different over there, they are playing a whole new system,” said Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma ahead of the game.

“There are years we won the game and didn’t win the national championship and years we didn’t win the game and won the national title. So, we’ll see.”

In the Big Ten, No. 14 Maryland is at Oregon at 9 p.m. on FS1, while in the SEC No. 2 South Carolina is at Georgia; No. 23 Alabama is at Florida at 7 p.m. on the SEC Network No. 6 LSU is at Missouri at 7:30 p.m.; and at the same time No. 15 Oklahoma is at Ole Miss. And No. 24 Vanderbilt is at No. 4 Texas at 9 p.m.

In the ACC, No. 10 Duke hosts Clemson at 7 p.m.; at the same time No. 17 Georgia Tech hosts SMU; No. 22 Florida State is at Virginia, also at 7 p.m., No. 21 California is at Louisville at 8 p.m. on the ACC Network; and Stanford is at No. 3 Notre Dame at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN.

And that’s the report.