The Guru’s NCAAW Local/National Roundup: Stokes’ Steal Leads to Saint Joseph’s Win over Cincinnati; La Salle Offense Clicks Again to Ruin Lehigh’s Home Opener; Temple Crushed at W. Va.

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

PHILADELPHIA – Variety was mostly the spice of life among two of the three Big 5 teams which were the entire participants on Tuesday night’s local schedule but here on Hawk Hill in Hagan Arena Saint Joseph’s action hosting Cincinnati of the Big 12 was not for the feint of heart.

Lead changes and runs existed throughout the night but in the end when it looked liked the Hawks’ final thrust had been enough but the Bearcats, whose season start had been 0-2 losing at home to Lehigh and then at Penn State, were in possession with a chance to nail a shot from deep to tie, bang, Rhian Stokes in a crowd grabbed a pass and darted the other way drawing a foul and knocked down both attempts to keep Saint Joseph’s unbeaten at 3-0 with a 70-65 victory.

On the previous possession, Stokes missing the second of a two-shot foul had put Cincinnati in position of being able to tie before atoning for the 1-2 with the defensive play of the game.

“That was the game right there, no question,” veteran Saint Joseph’s coach Cindy Griffin said of her team’s finish.

In the early part of the season Griffin has been seeking a new combination in the wake of Talya Bruglar and Mackenzie Smith’s graduation and the transfer of Laura Ziegler off to nationally ranked Louisville of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

On Tuesday night, the answer offensively was the local combination of Penn Charter grad Aleah Snead, scoring nine of her 19 points in the fourth quarter while newcomer Emily Knouse out of Archbishop Wood was hot from deep to keep her team alive, shooting 5-9 and 6-10 overall to collect 17 points with five boards.

Answering the question on her decision to come to Hawk Hill, Snead said, “Everyone was so welcoming, like they wanted me here and I felt comfortable and could fit right in.”

Faith Stinson was in double digits with10 points on 4-6 from the field, a scoring total matched by Gabby Casey, who struggled offensively to get that total shooting 4-16 but who made up for it on the defensive end grabbing nine rebounds.

“What a great win for our program, beating a Big 12 team on our home floor,” Griffin said. “When you have opportunities, you have to take advantage of them.”

It was a physical contest and Griffin harkened back a year ago when the Hawks had to deal with a similar force from that conference playing nationally ranked Utah in Salt Lake City, losing close in overtime.

Griffin alluded to the Bearcats’ main weapon Mya Perry, whose prior career stops before landing at Cincinnati were at Ohio State and then FAU, and who was 6-15 from the field, including 4-8 from beyond the arc, compiling 19 points for the opposition, while Caliyah DeVillasee scored 15 points and Kylie Torrence had 10 points and eight boards.

“We got pushed around a little bit and we pushed around, too, and that’s a credit to our will and resilience,” Griffin said. “We’re not a finished product but the fact that we’re winning while we’re still learning is a great sign.”

Next up is Penn State (2-0), who first hosts Coppin State (B1G+) Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. at home in Rec Hall, before coming for Sunday’s tip at 2 p.m. (ESPN+), reviving a rivalry from when the Lady Lions were also in the Atlantic 10  coached by the late Immaculata star Rene  Portland and the matchup was popcorn viewing highlighted by the point guard battles of Debbie Black for the Hawks and Susie McConnell-Serio for Penn State.

The game was originally set for The Palestra on a doubleheader with Rutgers playing Fordham, part of the A-10’s 50th anniversary celebration, though women’s competition came later when the NCAA began sponsoring women’s championships in 1981-82.

Griffin played for Saint Joseph’s later in the decade under coach Jim Foster, who was to later make stops at Vanderbilt, Ohio State, and Chattanooga, and to this day is the only coach to have four different programs appear in the Associated Press women’s poll, which is now in its 50th anniversary season dating back to its creation at The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Jill Jekot of the Hawks will be facing the program which she transferred in the offseason.

“Two historical programs, great competition against each other,” Griffin said. “We’re looking forward to the matchup; Penn State’s a very great team.”

La Salle’s Offensive Thrust Leads to Win at Lehigh

The Mountain MacGillivray era with the Explorers started with the addition of Australian stars from down under, followed by the program going down under in the won-and-loss column, but the revival spurred by eight returnees continued up in Bethlehem, Pa., as La Salle ruined Lehigh’s home opener, beating the Mountain Hawks 84-73 in Stabler Arena.

His squad lived up to the pre-game hype noting the best offensive start since 2001 as Aryss Macktoon scored a game-high 24 points with 6 boards and matching a personal best with eight steals, while Ashleigh Connor, who is shooting 66.7 percent from deep following the win, scored 22 points, and Joan Quinn scored 20 points.

On the inside, the Explorers outscored the opposition 38-26.

To give you an idea how long ago 2001 was in terms of the program, iPads were just over a decade away from making their first appearance.

Lehigh’s Jessie Ozzauto scored 17, Whitney Lind added 16 and Belle Bramer scored 14 points as the home team dropped to 1-2.

“Playing Lehigh is always an entertaining game,” MacGillivray texted afterwords. “They love to get up and down and shoot the three. Proud of the way we defended them and finished off our plays on the offensive end.

“We gave up eight threes in the first half. Guarding the arc in the second half made all the difference. We only allowed two late.”

La Salle next visits Temple (ESPN+) Friday at 11 a.m. at the Liacouras Center and it will now be interesting to see how the week’s second and season’s second Big 5 women’s game results.

Lehigh next on Saturday host defending America East champion Vermont at 1 p.m. ESPN+).

Temple Crushed at West Virginia

Forward progress off the Owls’ first two games, both wins, came to a dead stop against the Mountaineers of the Big 12, who dominated on the way to an 89-61 setback.

A bright spot was Kaylah Turner’s season-high 23 points, while Savannah Curry and Tristen Taylor each scored 11.

These early games are about measuring sticks, so while Temple learned where it is not, coach Diane Richardson has scheduled these contests to hopefully prepare her squad strong enough to dominate the mid-major foes of the American Conference coming next month.

Off of La Salle’s season start and result Tuesday night at Lehigh, intrigue is now built into Friday’s contest as the Owls begin defense of the Big5 title they won last season over Villanova.

The pods were shuffled a bit in the offseason, so Temple is going to see the Wildcats after La Salle as the second opponent needed to beat to gain the title game of the tripleheader Big 5 Classic returning to Villanova, Sunday, Dec. 7.

The Eagles don’t play that day and are out of town the next for another Monday Night Football meeting so remove the Super Bowl champs as a reason to not attend.

On West Virginia’s end, Gia Cooke and Sydney Shaw each scored 16 points, and Shaw completed a double-double with 10 points, while Jordan Thomas scored 10.

So much for getting the Mountaineers in a trap game as they move on to host No. 15 Duke Friday at 7 p.m. on ESPNU.

Looking Ahead Local

On Wednesday, the overall first Big 5 game occurs at 6 p.m. (FloCollege) when Penn goes several blocks up 33rd Street to meet Drexel in a battle of 2-0 teams.

Saint Joseph’s is the third team in that pod, with Temple, La Salle, and Villanova in the other.

In another big game, yeah, would be nice to have a doubleheader, Princeton is at Villanova (ESPN+) at 7 p.m. at the Wildcats’ Finneran Pavilion. The Tigers opened Sunday with a win at Georgia Tech of the Atlantic Coast Conference while the Wildcats romped over VCU of the Atlantic 10 in Toronto to go to 2-1.

Delaware is at Old Dominion at 6:30 p.m. (ESPN+) in Norfolk, Va., Rider is at Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Mass., (ACCNX) at 6 p.m., and Penn State hosting Coppin State was mentioned above.

The National Scene

Because of the delay in the previous blog being posted, details of a morning game between No. 20 Oklahoma State winning at home 105-55 over Prairie View in Norman have been noted.

In two other games, both romps, No. 2 South Carolina whipped neighboring Clemson 65-37 at home in Columbia while No. 10 N.C. State handled America East contender Maine at home in Raleigh, N.C.

In the win by Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks (3-0) over the Tigers (2-1), Joyce Edwards scored 18 points and Tessa Johnson added 13 in the 15th straight victory over South Carolina’s state rival.

The home team notched its 300th win since Colonial Life Arena was completed for business in the fall of 2002.

Ta’Niya Watson, a former USBWA national freshman of the year at Florida State and leading national scorer before transferring to S.C., added 12 points while Mississippi State transfer Madina Okot grabbed 12 rebounds.

South Carolina before the opening tip announced the suspension of reserve guard Maddy McDaniel before the game without details and Staley just saying “Doubt it,” when asked if McDaniel would be with the team this Saturday in Los Angeles when the Gamecocks visit No. 8 Southern Cal. The team recently lost Chloe Kitts to a season-ending injury.

In the win by North Carolina State, Vanderbilt transfer Khamil Pierre had 18 points and 10 boards, Zoe Brooks scored 14 with nine boards, and Zamera Jones had 10 points, seven rebounds, and five assists.

In other games of note, Pitt edged Cornell 56-54 at home, Towson at home beat Stetson 76-54, St. John’s won 53-51 at Quinnipiac, Howard nipped George Washington 62-60 in the Revolutionaries’ Smith Center, UMass in Amherst beat Harvard 68-55, Tennessee Tech at home beat MTSU 63-54, Missouri beat Arkansas State, Minnesota toppled visiting Marquette 90-47, Oregon at home bested Grand Canyon 84-66, and South Dakota State whipped Murray State 91-60.

Looking Ahead Nationally

On Wednesday, No.1 UConn hosts Loyola Chicago at 7:30 p.m. on truTV, No. 22 Louisville hosts Colorado, 7 p.m., on ACCNX, No. 5 LSU hosts Charlotte at 8 p.m. on SECN+, No. 6 Oklahoma hosts Kansas City at 9 p.m. on the SEC Network, No. 19 Vanderbilt is at Austin Peay, at 7 p.m. on ESPN+, No. 15 Duke hosts Norfolk State on ACCNX at 7 p.m.,the same time No. 18 Notre Dame hosts Akron on the network, No. 23 Kentucky hosts SC Upstate at 6:30 p.m. on SECN+, No. 24 Michigan State hosts Youngstown State at 6:30 p.m., on B1G+, No. 13 Ole Miss hosts Southern at 7 p.m. on SECN+, No. 26 Iowa State hosts Valparaiso at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN+, and No. 17 TCU hosts Tennessee State at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN+.

 And that’s the report.