The Guru’s NCAAW Local/National Roundup: Rutgers Tops Rhode Island; No. 5 UCLA Over No. 11 UNC;Fairfield tops South Florida

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

Rutgers and Lafayette bounced back from earlier losses of the three locals who played Thursday while nationally all focus was on the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Challenge in Las Vegas at the home of the WNBA champion Aces where No. 3 UCLA (4-0) bagged its second ranked opponent this week beating No. 11 North Carolina (2-1) 78-60 and Fairfield (3-0) established itself as the top mid major, the two-time defending Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and preseason favorite champion Stags winning 80-72 over reigning champion  and preseason American Conference favorite South Florida (2-1) playing its second game since Jose Fernandez left for the pros as the new Dallas coach.

In an education day victory, Rutgers (3-1) won 68-63 at home in Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, N.J., over Rhode Island (3-1), picked fourth in the Atlantic 10.

Nene Ndiaye had a personal best 24 points, while Kaylah Ivey (13) and Zachara Perkins (12) also scored in double figures over the Rams coached by Tammi Reiss, who was in the backcourt with Dawn Staley at Virginia when the Cavaliers reached three NCAA Final Fours in the early 1990s.

The Scarlet Knights found some distance closing the first half on an 8-0 run to go up 40-31.

URI kept it close in the third and the final quarter got under way with Rutgers in front 55-48.

The Rams challenged but couldn’t pull in front over the closing 10 minutes and Ndiaye sealed it with a three-point play with 15 seconds left on the clock.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game and wanted to focus on rebounding and making them take tough shots,” said Rutgers coach Coquese Washington. “And finish possessions. That’s something we wanted to show growth from our previous game (loss to Stony Brook).

Rutgers next on Sunday at 2 p.m. hosts defending Northeast Conference champion FDU, coached by former Villanova star Stephanie Gaitley.

Lafayette (1-3) got its first season win beating Saint Peter’s 76-58 at home in the Kirby Sports Center in Easton, Pa., leaving the opposition winless at 0-3, despite De’Naya Rippey scoring 23 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.

Haylie Adamski scored 17 points for the winning Leopards propelled by five makes from deep, Haley Poser scored 16, and Tasha Chudy scored 14 while Brynn Beffert grabbed 10 boards.

Lafayette next plays Sunday at Saint Francis, Pa. at 2 p.m. on ESPN+.

Rider (1-2) was unable to bounce off a rout at Boston College losing 24 hours later at nearby Stonehill 77-55 as the Skyhawks improved to 2-1.

Kristina Ekofo, a native of Belgium, and Emmy Roach from Australia, each scored 11 points for the Broncs, who will try to salvage a win Saturday from their three-game road swing in New England when they travel to Bryant at 5 p.m. in Rhode Island.

The National Scene

Following Monday’s win over No. 6 Oklahoma in Sacramento, Calif., the Bruins handled the Tar Heels as all-American Lauren Betts double-doubled with 20 points and 10 boards while dealing seven assists.

Kiki Rice overcame an 0-3 first half from the field to score 15 points and finish with 10 boards for UCLA while Angela Dugalic scored 14 points and Gabriela Jaquez scored 12.

North Carolina’s Elina Aarnisalo, a transfer from the Bruins, scored 13 against her former team while Indya Nivar and Ciera Toomey each scored 11 points.

UCLA dominated the boards 46-30.

In the earlier game Fairfield got 28 points from Katey L’Amoreaux with eight rebounds and four makes from beyond the arc while reserve Christina Pham made five of nine from deep to finish with 17 points.

The Bulls got 17 points from Katie Davidson while Edyn Battle scored 15 and Stefanie Ingram scored 14 points with seven boards.

The teams remain for Saturday when UCLA plays South Florida while UNC meets Fairfield.

In other ranked games, No. 12 Tennessee (3-1) was challenged most of the way at home in Knoxville until pulling away in the final minutes to beat Belmont 68-58 as Talaysia Cooper scored 22 points with 14 boards dropping the opposition to 1-2.

Janiah Barker had 11 points and Zee Spearman scored 10 for the Lady Vols who collected 23 points off 20 turnovers and pulled down 23 boards on the offensive glass.

Tennessee, which finished with a 14-2 game-ending run, next is at Middle Tennessee Thursday while Belmont visits Dayton Sunday.

Freshman Addie Mack had 15 points and six assists as No. 9 Maryland (4-0) at home in College Park beat nearby Towson 88-70 dropping the Tigers to 2-2.

Towson is coached by Cheltenham High grad Laura Harper, the 2006 Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four in Boston, coached by the Terrapins’ Brenda Frese.

Rutgers transfer Kaylene Smikle scored 13 points while Oluchi Okananwa had 10 points and right rebounds for the home team, who host Princeton Sunday.

Towson’s India Johnston scored 23 and Thalia Shepard collected 20 points.

In an annual in-state match up No. 21 Iowa (3-0) at home blitzed Drake 100-58 as freshman Layla Hays had 14 points and 10 boards for the Hawkeyes who also got 14 points each from Ava Heiden and Chazadi Wright.

Iowa goes to Northern Iowa Sunday and Drake (1-2) hosts No. 16 Iowa State Thursday.

A non-ranked game of note saw Colorado State win at Gonzaga 70-66 as the Zags (2-1), one of the perennial top mid majors suffered their first loss and the opposition stayed perfect at 3-0.

The one local game on Friday comes early, Temple hosting La Salle at 11 a.m. at the Liacouras Center in ESPN+ as the other pod in the Big Five gets under way with the visiting Explorers off to a 3-0 start and the host Owls coming off a pounding by West Virginia which will host No. 15 Duke in the Greenbrier Tip-Off at 7 p.m. on ESPNU.

The only other ranked game has No. 7 Baylor at UNLV at 9 p.m. on CBSSN.

Stanford meets a former rival when both were in the PAC-12, the Cardinal traveling to Washington State at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.