The Guru NCAAW Local Report: Tourney Time Gets Saint’s Joseph’s Fourth in A-10; Lehigh No. 1 in the Patriot League; Rutgers Grabs Last Big Ten Spot; ‘Nova Fifth in Big East

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PHILADELPHIA — There were highlights and disappointments Saturday and Sunday among the locals but we’ll take then through the timeline and in the case of those heading into the first week of conference tourneys, we’ll set the stage here for those involved with the locals.

We’ll start on Saturday on Hawk Hill at Hagan Arena, senior day, at Saint Joseph’s, where the Hawks went into action facing defending and regular season Richmond with no other than four seed possibilities pending outcomes for this week’s Atlantic 10 tournament (Wed. through Sun.) returning for the second year at the relatively still new Henrico Sports & Events Center in suburban Richmond, Va.

The outgoing class honored pre-game included a group that began with just a few wins as freshmen but received a bunch of weekly A-10 honors and grew into a unit that became one of the better teams in the league.

“They got a lot of playing time early, which really helped them and their work effort was off the charts,” said veteran coach Cindy Griffin.

As for the game against the Spiders (26-5, 17-1), the Hawks (21-8, 12-6) fell into a double digit deficit trailing 38-28 at the half, fought back into it, but the opposition had too much firepower down the stretch and with the 73-65 victory Richmond had a sweep on the season.

La Salle, the other local A-10 team, for a season of misery in terms of wins and losses, the Explorers finished on a high note on their senior day upsetting VCU 61-60 at the John E. Glaser Arena overcoming a 30-21 deficit at the half by going 40-30 the rest of the way.

Aryss Macktoon had 18 points and a career-high eight steals with nine boards for La Salle (9-22, 3-15), while Jolene Armendariz , one of two departing players with Mackenzie Daleba, scored 14.

Mary-Anna Asare had 18 for VCU (12-18, 6-12).

Back at Saint Joseph’s, in defeat Laura Ziegler had a game-high 21 points with 10 boards, while Mackenzie Smith scored 10 points, and Talya Bruglar scored eight with 11 boards.

Richmond’s Maggie Doogan, a native of Broomall and  Cardinal O’Hara grad whose mom starred at La Salle, scored 13 as did Katie Hill, while Addie Budnik scored 12 and Rachel Ullstrom collected 11 points.

The good news was help from outside with a loss by Rhode Island allowing the Hawks to get the fourth seed and double bye into the Friday’s quarterfinals.

The stumbles along the way in recent weeks has cost the consideration as a lock for the NCAA tournament, though it is possible depending how well Saint Joseph’s does this weekend, advancing to the title game might gain one of the last at—large berths or be listed as one of the first four out putting the squad as Villanova  last year into the WBIT with a top four seed that if advancing would guarantee three home games before the final four in Indianapolis at Butler’s Hinkle Fieldhouse.

“Whatever happened before is now gone, you just have to go down and be ready to win a championship whether its three days or four days,” Griffin said.

A year ago, Saint Joseph’s won the first two games in the WBIT but then fell in the Elite Eight at Villanova, the Wildcats gaining revenge for losing the Big Five title in the old former before the Classic setup begun this season and won by Temple.

La Salle  will be the will be the 14th seed playing No.  11 VCU immediately again as the third and final game in Wednesday’s A-10 openers at 5 p.m., on ESPN+, which will air all the first two rounds.

The tournament begins with 12th seed George Washington meeting 13th seed Loyola Chicago at noon, followed by 10th seed Saint Louis playing 15th seed St.  Bonaventure at 2:30 p.m. before the La Salle game.

In Thursday’s second round, the La Salle  winner meets six seed Dayton at 7:30 p.m. in the last of four games with No.  8 Fordham meeting No. 9 Duquesne at 11 a.m., No.  5 Rhode Island gets the George Washington-Loyola Chicago winner at 1:30 p.m., followed by the Saint Louis-St.  Bonaventure winner at meeting No. 7 Massachusetts at 5 p.m., the farewell appearance by the New  Englanders who are heading  to the Mid-American Conference next season.

Friday’s quarterfinals are all on Peacock beginning at 11 a.m.  when Richmond meets the Fordham-Duquesne winner before Saint Joseph’s meets the survivor of  Rhode Island-George Washington-Loyola Chicago at 1:30 p.m.  and those  winners meet in Saturday’s semifinal at 11 a.m. on the CBS Sports Network, airing both semifinals.

The other part of the bracket has No. 2 George Mason, which Saint Joseph’s swept, playing the UMass-Saint Louis-St. Bonaventure winner at 5 p.m. followed by No. 3 Davidson, which the Hawks also beat, playing the Dayton-La Salle-VCU winner at 7:30 p.m. and those winners meet in Saturday’s second semifinal at 1:30 p.m.

Sunday’s  championship will air at 4 p.m. on ESPN2 for the NCAA automatic bid.

Lehigh Earns Patriot Top Seed

There’s one more night Wednesday of games in the Patriot League before the entire bracket, played on home courts of upper seeds are determined, but on Saturday on senior day Lehigh (24-5, 15-2)  faced its only threat and handled Army 76-61 at  home  in Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa., and clinched the top seed to be home all the way through if advancing while Lafayette won on it’s senior day beating Boston U. 63-58 at the Kirby Sports Center in Easton, Pa., but the Leopards’ seed is undetermined till Wednesday night.

“It feels awesome,” said Lehigh coach Addie Micir, a former Princeton player and assistant from lower Bucks County. “When I took over for Sue (Troyan), I said the foundation was already set, so we needed to keep building.

“But what are we building — a house or skyscraper?  I’m just so proud of our team. The way they showed up for our seniors and the way they showed up for each other is incredible,” she said.

“I would be remiss not to shout out our assistant coaches — they’ve been workhorses the entire time.”

It’s Lehigh’s third regular season title and first since 2010 though in 2021 they won the Patriot Tourney in an upset.

Ella Stemmer scored 18 points for the Mountain Hawks, while Maddie Albrecht and Lily Fandre each scored 14, Meghan O’Brien scored 13, and Bella Brammer scored 10 against the Black Knights (21-6, 13-4).

Lehigh will  finish at Colgate in Hamilton, N.Y., at 6 p.m. (ESPN+) and then host a quarterfinal next  Monday against a team to be determined from Saturday’s opening round.

While Lafayette’s seed is undetermined the Leopards (8-20,  5-12) clinched one of the two hosting berths in Saturday’s opening round of  two games.

Teresa Kiewiet scored 19 points against Boston U.,  (11-17, 5-12) while  Abby Antognoli and Sauda Ntaconayigize each scored 12 and Antognoli dealt eight assists.

The Leopards finish Wednesday at  Loyola, Md.,  in Baltimore  at 7  p.m.

Penn On Course for Four Seed and Princeton Takes Second for Ivy Madness

On Saturday the Quakers were seconds away from backing into the fourth and final seed for the Ivy Madness tournament before Brown made two foul shots with six seconds remaining to win at Cornell slicing Penn’s fourth-place lead to one game over the Bears with one remaining after Mike McLaughlin’s team was handled in the second half again playing Harvard, this time losing 62-44 on the road at Lavietes Pavilion, home of the Crimson in Cambridge, Mass.

Columbia (21-5, 12-1) beating Yale 77-49 clinched a tie for the first and the No. 1 seed for the tourney at Brown’s Pizzitola Sports Center in Providence, R.I., the second weekend of conference tournaments this month.

It’s the  first time since Dartmouth in 2009 that someone other than Penn or Princeton had the top spot, either as regular season champions with the automatic qualifier before the start of the Madness format, or as the Ancient  Eight tourney winner, though only half the Ivies get berths.

Columbia has been regular-season co-champions with the Tigers (20-6,  11-2) the last two seasons but was a two-seed. The Lions can be outright regular season champs Saturday winning at home  over Cornell or Penn upsetting Princeton at The Palestra.

Princeton beating Harvard Friday night gave the Tigers a sweep of the Crimson  (21-4, 10-3), thereby the tie-break for the two seed, though academic because they would play each other right now no  matter how things happen between the two.

The Tigers won at Dartmouth Saturday 67-55 to stay a game in front of Harvard.

But Friday’s rout of Dartmouth is the key for the Quakers (15-11, 6-7).

Holding a one-game lead on Brown (11-15, 5-8), a Penn win over Princeton on Saturday or Brown loss to Yale gives the Quakers the four outright.

But if  neither happens, going through the Ivy tiebreakers, head-to-head is gone since the teams split, so is best win because both teams’ performance against the other six is identical.

Thus on Sunday the league will go the NCAA Net ranking which on Saturday’s last report showed Penn at 162 and Brown at 183 and that differential won’t reduce, especially since the Quakers are going to play a power-packed quadrant opponent compared to Brown’s opponent.

By the way, ahead of Penn, the Net for the top three is 36 for Harvard, 41 for Columbia, and 49 for Princeton, Saint Joseph’s is at 53, which is why speculation continues toward a precedent-setting three Ivies in the NCAA  field.

In the history of the NCAAs which began in 1982, though the Ivy automatic came later, only three  times have there been a second Ivy, twice by Princeton and last year by Columbia.

As  for detail on Saturday’s  games, in Columbia’s win, less than 24 hours after Australian Kitty Henderson had a triple double for the Lions,Cecilia Collins did likewise with 16 points, 20 rebounds, and 10 rebounds, marking just second and third time the statistic has occurred in program history.

“Anytime one player, let alone two, can affect and impact the game as much as these two do is really special,” said Columbia coach Megan Griffith. “We are totally led by our seniors right now.”

In the Penn-Harvard game, the host Crimson got 24 points from Harmoni Turner along with 11 board and three assists, while the Quakers’ Stina Almqvist and freshman Katie Collins each had 13 points, seven boards, and two assists, with Collins also getting a block.

In the Princeton game, Skye Belker poured 25 points shooting 9-for-15 against the Big Green while Fadima Tall scored 12 points.

Rutgers  Nips  Penn State and  Makes the Big Ten Tourney

Moving to Sunday, in what could  be called the Big Ten’s basement bowl, Rutgers (11-18, 3-15) did its part, winning 75-70 over last-place Penn State (10-19, 1-17) at home at Jersey Mike’s  Arena in Piscataway, N.J., gaining a sweep of the Lady Lions with the comeback in State College earlier, while Northwestern and Purdue lost, allowing the Scarlet  Knights to gain the 15th and final spot  in the conference tourney that begins Wednesday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, home of  the NBA Pacers and WNBA Caitlin Clark-led Fever in Indianapolis.

Penn State was eliminated Thursday, losing at home to Purdue.

Realignment and expansion has the Big Ten, Atlantic Coast Conference, and MAAC loping  bottom three teams in standings from their tournaments.

Rutgers will open Wednesday against 10th-seeded Nebraska.

In the win over Penn State, Destiny Adams had 19 points and 14 boards with seven assists, three steals and two blocks. Mya Petticord and Lisa Thompson each scored 13, while JoJo Lacey scored 12, and  Zahara Perkins collected 10 points.

In what became the Lady Lions’ last game of the season, Grace Hall matched her personal best of 16 points achieved in the previous game, Gabby Elliott scored 15, and Tamera Johnson scored 11.

The rest of the Big Ten news is in the national blog to be posted depending what time this is being read.

Villanova Falls at No. 22 Creighton and Gets Big East 5th Seed

Playing the last game in America Sunday night, Villanova lost to No. 22 Creighton 70-55 in Omaha, Nebraska, though the Big East bracket for this weekend’s tournament returning to the Mohegan Sun was already determined before the result.

The Wildcats (17-13, 11-7) will be the fifth seed playing fourth-seeded Marquette.

Creighton (24-5, 16-2), whose only conference losses were to No. 5 Connecticut, will be the No. 2 seed.

In the game, freshman Jasmine Bascoe from Toronto, Canada, had a career-high 27 points, including four makes from deep, for Villanova, with nine boards, while Maddie Webber scored 14.

Morgan Maly had 23 points and 10 boards for the Bluejays, while Lauren Jensen scored 17, and  Molly Mogensen grabbed 11 boards.

In the other Big East game of note, No. 5 Connecticut (28-3, 18-0) on senior day beat Marquette 92-57.

Two other games on the slate had slim victories, 59-57 Seton Hall winning at Xavier, while DePaul beat St John’s 65-64 in overtime in Chicago at Wintrust Arena.

In the Connecticut game, Paige Bueckers, after an extended collegiate career with the Huskies caused by injuries and the Covid fifth-year allowance that now has her now headed to the WNBA, potentially the overall No. 1 pick in April’s draft, scored 19 points, dealt seven assists, and grabbed three steals in her final regular season game.

Freshman Sarah Strong had 17 points, five rebounds, four assists, three steals, and  two blocked shots, Azzi Fudd, who is deciding between coming back or becoming WNBA eligible, had 12 points, and Aubrey Griffin scored 11.

Marquette (20-9, 12-6) got 13 points from Jaidynn Mason, while Skylar Forbes scored 12, and Lee Volker scored 10.

Had Villanova not blown a lead in the first Marquette meeting in Milwaukee or lost at the buzzer on a wild shot to Seton Hall, the Wildcats could  be a three seed and out of the way of Connecticut until the finals if advancing, though Creighton would still be a big hurdle in the semifinals.

The Big East opens Friday with three games beginning with No. 8 St. John’s meeting No. 9 Butler at 11 a.m. Then No.  7 Providence meets No.  10 Georgetown at 11:30 p.m., followed by No.  6 DePaul playing No. 11 Xavier. All three games will be on FloHoops.

In Saturday’s  quarterfinals, Connecticut, playing for a potential No. 1 NCAA seed that could come with another Big East crown, meets the St. John’s/Butler winner at noon on FS1, followed by the Villanova/Marquette game at 2:30 p.m. on FS2, the winners meeting in one of the semifinals Sunday at 2:30 p.m., while on the other side of the bracket on Saturday, has No. 2 seed Creighton meeting the 7-10 Providence-Georgetown winner at 7 p.m. followed by No.  3 Seton Hall meeting the DePaul-Xavier winner at 9:30 p.m., both on FS2.

Those winners meet in the other semifinal  Sunday at 7  p.m. on FS1.

The championship is Monday at 7 p.m. on FS1.

Drexel Upset by Campbell Squanders Chance to Gain CAA First-Place Tie

Finally, locally on Sunday, in a regular season game in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), the tourney in Washington D.C., the following week,  Drexel had its last home game with honors to the seniors but late could not get over the hump playing Campbell (18-10, 11-5) and lost on a fourth-quarter scoring drought 56-52 at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.

“Disappointed to have our final home game at home not end with a win,” said Drexel coach Amy Mallon, whose Dragons (16-10, 12-4) had a five-game win streak snapped with the Camels (18-10, 11-5) also holding a five-game win streak pre-game.

“I think it was evident when you’re not scoring those little things, and some of the things we didn’t do well, that put us in a position every possession mattered.”

With league-leader North Carolina A&T getting clipped by Elon, Drexel lost a chance to move into a first-place though the former team would hold the tie-break.

On the other side, Charleston moved into a tie with Drexel, but the Dragons hold the second seed tie break at the moment.

Amaris Baker scored 17 assists with four helpers for the home team while Deja Williams had 15 for the Dragons with 13 rebounds. She also blocked five shots and reached 60 on the season. She’s 15 rejections from setting the program’s season record and needs four to reach seven on the career list.

Drexel has two games left in the regular season and on Thursday heads to long-time conference rival Delaware at the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark at 6:30 p.m. on FloSports in what will be the last visit playing the Blue Hens in the same league unless they meet in the tournament.

The Hens, who played with Drexel in previous leagues, are headed to Conference USA next season, though there’s a strong possibility the relationship will continue in non-conference matchups.

And that’s the local report.