The Guru NCAAW Conference Tourney Report: Drexel Routed at Delaware; La Salle Ousted in A-10s; Rider Misses MAAC Cut; Tennessee and Alabama SEC Upset Victims; Olsen Leads Iowa to Big Ten Quarterfinals

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

NEWARK, Del. — The NCAA  tournament is upon us even though the actual Big Dance is still one First Four kickoff and two weekends away.

But with all but three Associated Press ranked teams jammed into the Power Four conferences whose tourney’s got under way several days ago something’s got to give, and Friday’s the day it starts, though it already started giving on a Thursday night not very good for the locals as well as several ranked teams.

Down here at the Bob  Carpenter Center, the 99th meeting as rivals in several conferences through history between Drexel and  departing Delaware in the Coastal Athletic Association became  the exception rather than the rule in which the host Blue Hens (12-15, 9-8) gave the Dragons an Eagles Super Bowl style wipeout.

How bad was it?

  The 82–59 final score was the widest margin of victory by the Hens in the series since 2007 resulting in a split after Drexel (16-11, 12-5 CAA), the reigning conference  tournament champions as a seventh seed from last  season, won the earlier meeting  in early January 65-59 at the Daskalakis Athletic Center in Philadelphia.

By saying this was the exception, that was the fifth straight for the Dragons and after a 12-point win in the first of the string, the other differentials were four, two, two, and six points.

“It’s the first  time I ever beat them as a  head coach,” Delaware’s  Sarah Jenkins completing her third season here smiled.

The home team has been on a late season 8-of-9 renaissance after being so injured that  two games had to be cancelled  and when Villanova came down here Delaware had just six players available.

“We still haven’t gotten everybody back,” Jenkins said when asked to recall what started to get things back on track.

For Drexel, coupled with the late drought in Sunday’s home  loss to Campbell, the performance comes a little short time from operating as the second seed and chasing front-running North Carolina A&T with the regular season ending Saturday when  coach Amy Mallon’s group goes to Long  Island to face Stony Brook.

It  could be worse but a win Saturday claims the third seed for next week’s  tourney down in Washington, D.C., which isn’t much off from being the second seed, now claimed by Charleston,  which the Dragons beat in their lone  meeting.

Though Delaware is heading  to Conference  USA  this summer both coaches have expressed a desire to continue the series as non-league opponents, not much different than the games played this season against each other by former members of the decimated  PAC-12.

In this one the  Hens had a season-best 21 assists and made 10 shots from deep.

Ella Wanzer scored 19 points shooting 70 percent from  the field incorporating 4 of 6 makes from deep. Ande’a Cherisier was 8-for-12 from the field for 18 points and six boards, while Tara  Cousins  collected 15 points on 7–of-8 shooting with six assists, and Rebecca Demeke scored 11, shooting 50 percent from beyond the arc.

Delaware  finishes with a senior  day celebration on  Saturday at 3 p.m. on Flo Sports currently in sixth place one  game ahead of a four-team gridlock.

Drexel is in third and at worst would be fourth, still good enough for a double-bye.

Against the Hens, Amaris Baker was 6-for-15 for 16 points  with a pair of makes from deep.

The tip time Saturday against the Seawolves is noon on FloSports.

Rider Misses the MAAC Tourney Cut While Fairfield Stays Perfect Over Two Seasons

Meanwhile, over in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Rider’s bid to make make the field for next week’s  tournament, held again at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, came to a crushing 77-61  collapse at Canisius in Buffalo, N.Y.,  the host team also needing the win to make  the cut.

The MAAC,  like the Big Ten  and ACC,  off expansion, have lopped the bottom teams in the final regular season standings from  participating.

In the Big  Ten, Penn State was eliminated, and Rutgers made it by one game, having swept the Lady Lions in their two meetings, one in State College by way of rallying from  a deep  deficit. However, the 15th-seeded Scarlet Knights were quickly ousted by 10th seeded Nebraska in Indianapolis on Wednesday in a tourney opener.

Rider is currently is 7-21 overall and 5-14 in the MAAC, while the Golden Griffins are 9-20 overall and 8-11.

La Salle transfer Gabby Turcol had a game-high 18 points for the Broncs, who also got 15 points from Winner  Bartholomew,  and Camryn Collins scored 10.

Elsewhere at  the top  of the league, Fairfield,  which ran the table last season, has kept the string going, unbeaten in the MAAC and clinching the top seed with one  game left after a 62-49 victory over visiting  Siena at the Leo D. Mahoney Arena in Connecticut.

The Stags (25-3, 19-0) have  won 42 straight over the last two seasons, fourth—longest in the nation and second longest in MAAC history.

Meghan Andersen scored 16 points, Kaety L’Amoreaux scored 14, and Emina Selimovic scored scored 10.

In what could be a preview of the championship, Fairfield finishes Saturday at 4 p.m. with a trip to nearby second-seeded Quinnipiac, which has been on the heels  of the  Stags all season. The game will air on ESPN+.

The Bobcats avoided getting swept by Mount St.  Mary’s winning on the road Thursday 64-60 at Emmitsburg, Md., as Jackie Grisdale scored 14 points and freshman sensation Gal Raviv had 13 points and 11 boards. Anna Foley had 13 points, six assists, five rebounds, three blocks and  three steals, while Paige Girardi scored 11 and Grace LaBarge scored ten.

La Salle Felled By Dayton in A-10  While Saint Joseph Starts Play Friday

The 14th-seeded Explorers were unable to sustain Wednesday’s buzzer-beating finish, falling in the second round of the Atlantic 10 tourney 60-45 to sixth-seeded Dayton (18-12) at the Henrico Sports and Events Center in Glen Allen, Va., a suburb of Richmond.

The Flyers, coached by former Connecticut star Tamika Williams-Jeter, move on to Friday’s quarterfinals playing third-seeded Davidson at 7:30 p.m.

The Wildcats, suffering a slew of injuries, opted  out of the tournament last season.

“We’re playing another team, full of seniors, who want to win, who are going to claw, who are aggressive, and we got to make the game ugly.”

Ivy Wolf scored 14 points for the Flyers, Rikki Harris scored 11, Molly O’Riordan and Arianna Smith each scored 10.

“Credit to Dayton on finding a way to get that ball in the paint against our zone and be efficient,” said La Salle coach Mountain MacGillivray.  “They deserved it. They went to their strengths and capitalized on it.”

Mackenzie Daleba was 7-for-14, scoring 14 for La Salle (10-23), while Aryss Macktoon scored 12.

All four of Friday’s games are airing on Peacock.

Fifth-seed Rhode Island (17-15)  beat 12th-seed George Washington 52-41, putting the Rams in position to bedevil Saint Joseph’s again in Friday’s second quarterfinal game at 1:30 p.m. a year after  ousting the Hawks (21-8) in the same round, ruining a chance to end a long-running drought missing trips to the NCAA tournament.

Last month Rhode Island at home upset Saint Joseph’s in the teams’ only meeting.

Defending champion Richmond (26-5), the top seed, opens Friday’s round at 11 a.m. hosting ninth-seed Duquesne (19-11), which advanced with an upset by seed number beating No.  8 Fordham 79-63 as the Dukes were on target as Jerni Kiaku scored 21,  Megan McConnell scored 17, and Andjela Matic scored  15,

“When the ball goes into the basket, you tend to have that confidence and that rhythm that the next one is going to go down,” said Duquesne coach Dan Burt. “And not just you as an individual but as a team.”

Rhode Island, coached by Dawn Staley’s backcourt mate at Virginia in Tammi Reiss, who said after beating GWU (11-18),  “We win games when we defend and rebound. And the difference is today they did that. They stayed lock in no matter how they were shooting.

“No matter what happened, they stayed lock in to `if I keep crashing  the glass and they keep fouling usL’’’ eventually I’ll get to  the free throw line and now I can see the ball go through the hoop.”

Harsimran Kaur had 12 points and 11 boards for Rhode Island and Ines Debroise scored 11.

No. 10 Saint Louis (15-18) upset No. 7 Massachusetts 67-57 as  Brooklyn Gray shot 12-17 and scored 30 points, marking the losing Minutewomen (16-14) in their last appearance since their bound for the Mid-American Conference this summer.

The Billikens will meet No. 2 George Mason at 5 p.m.

The semifinals Saturday will air on CBS Sports and Sunday’s championship  for the NCAA automatic bid will air at 4 p.m. on ESPN2.

The National Scene

The day’s big stunner occurred in the SEC tourney in Greenville, S.C. Where eighth-seeded Vanderbilt took out No.  9 and 18th-ranked Tennessee 84-76, the third loss for the Lady Vols (22-9) in the last four games.

The SEC is a grind  and I don’t  think we handled the load well,” said first-year coach Kim Caldwell. “Now we get a lot of rest and then we’ll go right back at it.”

It’s the first time the Commodores (22-9) have beaten their in-state  rival twice in the same  season.

Vanderbilt, which got 24 points from freshman sensation Mikayla Blakes and 23 from Iyana Moore, will meet top-seed and fifth ranked South Carolina in a quarterfinal on Friday.

“Take care of the ball,” said Commodores coach Shea Ralph, another former Connecticut standout,  on the key to the win and dealing with the pressure instituted by first-year coach Kim Caldwell.

The upset likely cost Tennessee a chance to be one of 16 hosts for the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament.

In another upset of a ranked team in the SEC, 11th-seed Florida (16-16) eliminated sixth-seed and 19th-ranked Alabama 63-61 as freshman Liv McGill had 11 of her 29 points in the fourth quarter against the Crimson Tide (23-8).

The Gators advance to play third-seeded LSU.

No. 10 ranked Oklahoma handled Georgia 70-52 and will meet 12th-seeded Kentucky (22-6) at 2:30 p.m.

Seventh seed Ole Miss beat 10th-seed and in-state rival Mississippi State 85-73 as Kennedy Todd-Williams and Madison Scott each scored 20 points, sending the Rebels against second seed and No. 1 ranked Texas Friday.

The Longhorns and Gamecocks tied for first and Dawn Staley’s defending NCAA champions won the coin flip to determine top seed.

Olsen Leads Iowa to Upset of No. 24 Michigan  State and the Big Ten Quarterfinals

Villanova transfer Lucy Olsen carried the Hawkeyes to another key win in the Big Ten tourney at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, beating the sixth-seed Spartans 74-61 as she scored 21 points to knock Michigan State (21-9) out of the tournament.

The Hawkeyes (22-9), whose former star Caitlin Clark was in the building of the WNBA Indiana Fever she plays with in the summer, move on to play third—seed and eighth-ranked Ohio  State.

This is the day the new make their conference tourney debut in top-seed and No. 2 ranked Southern Cal with national player of the year contender JuJu Watkins, who will meet  ninth-seeded Indiana, which moved on beating eighth-seeded Oregon, another former Pac-12 member, 78-62, as Yarden Garzon scored 18 points and Penn State transfer Shay Ciezki scored 17.

Fourth-seed Maryland (23-6), ranked 15th, is hoping to pick up some wins to gain a hosting nod for the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament. The Terrapins will fifth—seeded Michigan (21-9), which advanced beating Washington 66-58, another of the former Pac-12  quartet.

The fourth one, second-seeded and fourth-ranked UCLA (27-2), which features Lauren  Betts whose only two losses were to Southern Cal,  meets 10th-seeded Nebraska, which advanced beating Illinois 74-70 after ousting Rutgers in the first round.

TCU Seeks First Big 12 Crown

Having their best year in history, the top-seed and eighth-ranked Horned Frogs (28-3) playing Colorado (20-11) in a quarterfinal in Kansas City after the Lady Buffs advanced beating former Pac-12 rival Arizona 61-58 as Tabitha Betson scored 16 points.

Second-seeded Baylor (25-6), with Oklahoma and Texas gone to the SEC,  hopes to return to old times when the Bears start play in the quarterfinals playing Iowa State, which advanced beating Arizona State 96-88 as Addy Brown scored 41 points, third most in tournament history.

Texas Tech upset Utah 75-64 as Bailey Maupin scored 22 for the Red Raiders, while Gianna Kneepkens scored 23 for the Utes.

With 20th-ranked Kansas State taking out UCF 80-65 as Serena Sundell scored 21, the Wildcats in the quarterfinals meet another ranked team in West Virginia (23-6), ranked 16th.

The other quarterfinal has No. 21-ranked Oklahoma State hosting Texas Tech.

Tobacco Road Trio Featured in ACC  Quarterfinals

Having survived the second round, fifth-seed and 14th-ranked North Carolina (26-6) collides with fourth-seed and  22nd ranked Florida State (23-7) featuring Ta’Niya Latson, the nation’s leading scorer, in one of the ACC quarterfinals in Greensboro, N.C., on Friday.

Second-seeded and sixth-ranked Notre  Dame (25-4), featuring sophomore Hannah Hidalgo from Merchantville, N.J., will play seventh-seeded California (25-7), which advanced beating Virginia 75-58 as Ugonne Oniyah, Marta Suarez, and Lulu Tvidale each scored 16 points for the Golden  Bears.

Third seed  and No. 11 Duke (23-7) meets Louisville, which edged Clemson 70-68.

Top-seed N.C. State ranked seventh, will meet Georgia Tech in the other quarterfinal.

And that’s the report.