The Guru’s Local/National NCAAW Roundup: Saint Joseph’s Shoots Hawk Best 17 3-Pointers in Rout of D3-Arcadia; No. 4 UCLA Edges No. 4 Ohio State in Big Ten Thriller; No.1 UConn Wins 29th Straight

By Mel Greenberg

PHILADELPHIA – Saint Joseph’s tuned up on area D3 Arcadia Sunday afternoon here at Hagan Arena 108-38 as veteran coach Cindy Griffin after concluding non-conference play proclaimed her Hawks ready to tune in to the Atlantic 10 Conference wars the rest of the way beginning Wednesday when VCU visits at 2 p.m. (ESPN+).

Two other locals played Sunday, both in the Big Ten on the road with Rutgers showing a solid effort though still resulting in a narrow 70-64 loss at No. 24 Michigan State while Penn State was handled 99-76 at No. 14 Iowa.

Here on Hawk Hill the rust from the long week off across the nation over the Christmas holiday fell off quickly as the home team bolted from a 6-6 tie to finish the quarter on a 24-0 run and for all purposes decide the outcome.

“Very, very pleased with the way our team came out today,” Griffin said. “We knocked down a lot of shots, obviously scoring from as many places as we did.

“I thought we got great shots and our players gave up good shots for great shots.”

Arcadia (4-5) is coached by former Villanova standout Diane Decker, who was hired after Jackie Hatzell was chosen to fill the vacancy at Division I Rider in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC).

Taylor Koenig scored 20 points for the visitors, the only Arcadia player reaching double figures.

Retired longtime Villanova coach Harry Perretta has been serving as a volunteer assistant to Decker, though he was not at Sunday’s game.

But a longtime trademark of his approach served Saint Joseph’s (9-3) well with the Hawks shooting 17-32 on 3-point attempts.

“Gabby’s (Casey) always good for a couple and it’s great to see Jill (Jekot) get out there and shoot really well and Emily (Knouse) off the bench was really fantastic.”

In a game in which all 13 Saint Joseph’s players scored, reserve Emily Knouse made four from deep and finished with 14 points, Rhian Stokes and Gabby Casey each connected three times from beyond the arc, Stokes scoring 13 points and Casey collecting 11, while Penn State transfer Jill Jekot made two and finished with a team high 16 points.

Reserve Cecilia Kay was 5-for-7 from the field scoring 11 points with three blocks and Stokes also had 10 assists, the 10th player to date in the nation this season with at least 10 points, 10 assists and no turnovers.

Reserve Meja Jagerskog grabbed nine boards for a personal best, while the bench also produced career scoring highs from Olivia Lutterodt (6), Kaylinn Bethea (8 with an added personal best three assists), and Lauren Greer (5).

The winning 108 points were the most in the 25 seasons Griffin has guided her alma mater.

The previous best in the Griffin era was 104 points against UMBC on Dec. 28, 2015, and combined with the recent 100-40 rout of LeMoyne in the Hawk Classic opener, the two 100-point games this is season mark the first time of occurrence since 1989-90.

The 70-point differential is the third most in program history, just a basket off last season’s record-setting 102-30 season opener against Goldey-Beacom.

“We’re definitely right where we want to be,” Griffin said going into the A-10 slate that had an opening loss last month to Rhode Island on a night that Casey was sidelined with a brief illness.

“As you look at it, you kind of have to say it’s a new season,” she continued. “We can take a lot of good (from the slate to date). The league is really strong. I like where we’re at going into it, but there are a lot of challenges ahead.”

In the Rutgers game, which was tight all the way with Michigan State (12-1, 1-1) holding narrow leads at home in East Lansing, the Scarlet Knights (8-5, 0-2) got 16 points from Nene Ndiaye, while Faith Blackstone scored 15 points, Imani scored 11, and Kaylah Ivey scored 10 along with dishing her 500th career assist.

The Spartans’ Rashunda Jones scored 14 points while Kennedy Blair and Ines Sotelo each scored 12 with Blair also grabbing 11 rebounds.

Michigan State, which had just upset nationally ranked Ole Miss in the Cherokee Invitational championship in North Carolina, next goes to Indiana on Thursday, the same night Rutgers hosts Wisconsin at Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, N.J.

Meanwhile, Iowa’s Ava Heiden had a career-high 27 points, ahead of five other Hawkeyes (11-2, 2-0) in the win over Penn State (7-6, 0-2) in Iowa City. She also grabbed nine boards and shot 13-19 from the field.

Chazadi Wright scored 16 points with six assists, Taylor Stremlow and Hannah Stuekle each scored 14 points with Stuelke also getting eight rebounds, Addison Deal off the bench had 13 points and reserve freshman Journey Houston had her first double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

The Lady Lions got 21 points from freshman Tea Cleante while Rutgers transfer Kiyomi McMiller had 20 points. Gracie Merkle scored 18 points with 11 rebounds but also committed six of Penn State’s 20 turnovers.

It doesn’t get easier for the Lady Lions hosting No. 4 UCLA on Wednesday while Iowa on Thursday hosts No. 20 Nebraska.

Locally on Monday, Delaware before making its debut on Conference USA wraps up out of league play at 1 p.m. (ESPN+) at Harvard in Cambridge, Mass., Rider in the MAAC is at Iona in New Rochelle, N.Y., at 4 p.m. (ESPN+) and red-hot Villanova is in Chicago visiting DePaul at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.

Penn in first round play of the four-team Fairleigh Dickinson-hosted tournament in Hackensack, N.J., plays Md.-Eastern Shore at 4 p.m. after the hosts meet Binghamton at 2 p.m.

While winners and losers meet Tuesday in pure tournament format, Fairleigh Dickinson will play its game, either championship or consolation, at 4 p.m. while the first game will tip at 1 p.m.

The National Scene

With the exception of the Rutgers-Michigan State game and in another Big Ten game where No. 4 UCLA (12-1, 2-0) edged host and No. 19 Ohio State 82-75 in Columbus, other ranked teams playing Sunday all had easy contests.

In the Bruins win, Lauren Betts had 18 points and 16 boards while Kiki Rice added 16 points and Angela Dugalic scored 15.

The Buckeyes (11-2, 1-1), whose nine-game win streak ended, got a game-high 28 points from Jaloni Cambridge and Elsa Lemmila added 13 points with seven boards.

As mentioned, UCLA is next at Penn State while also Ohio State next goes to Purdue on Wednesday.

No. 5 LSU (14-0) continued to beset opponents with triple digits, winning 109-41 at home in Baton Rouge over Alabama State (3-8).

The Tigers, who lead the nation in scoring with a 108-point average, got 23 points and 11 rebounds from Notre Dame transfer Kate Koval.

LSU has reached 100 points in 11 of its 14 games including an NCAA-record season start eight straight but the challenge now grows heading into SEC play hosting No. 11 Kentucky in a league opener Thursday at 8 p.m.

The Wildcats (13-1) won their Sunday game 80-42 over Hofstra (2-9) as Clara Strack had 24 points and 11 rebounds for Kentucky.

No. 12 Vanderbilt (13-0) won at home in Nashville 109-50 over Stonehill (4-7) as sophomore Mikayla Blakes had 21 points and seven assists, while Aiyana Mitchell shot 7-for-8 from the field and scored 16 points.

The Commodores open SEC play Thursday at Arkansas.

The SEC also saw No. 15 Ole Miss (13-2) win at home in Oxford 64-44 over Alcorn State (3-7), which led at the half before the Rebels took control. Ohio State transfer Cotie McMahon led the winners with 21 points.

Next up is a league opener at Georgia Thursday.

No. 3 South Carolina (13-1), whose sole loss was a narrow non-conference one in Las Vegas to No. 2 Texas, also in the SEC, won 96-55 at home over Providence (8-6) as Madina Okot led the Gamecocks with 18 points.

Dawn Staley’s team on New Year’s Day hosts Alabama at 2 p.m.

Texas (15-0) finished non-league play Sunday routing SE Louisiana 120-38 as Kyla Oldacre scored a career-high 22 points to lead the Longhorns who visit Missouri Thursday night at 7:30 p.m.

Seven players were in double digits, including Madison Booker with 20 points, including her 1,500th.

No. 1 UConn (13-0, 4-0) won its 29th straight across two seasons, including its 12th NCAA title, beating host Butler 94-47 in a Big East game in Indianapolis as Sarah Strong scored 15 points and Azzi Fudd scored 13.

Strong also had seven assists, six rebounds and three steals while Blanca Quinonez had 12 points.

Butler (7-7, 1-3), which became UConn’s 51st straight Big East victim, was led by Caroline Dotsey and Addison Baxter each scoring 10 points.

The Huskies and Villanova are quickly the only two Big East teams without a loss in conference play.

UConn is at Providence Wednesday.

As good a day as Saint Joseph’s had shooting 17 3-pointers, Clemson (10-4, 1-1) was even better in a 97-44 win on the road at Chicago State (1-12) making 21 to set a school and ACC member record.

Tennessee last season connected with 30 against N.C. Central.

Syracuse had the previous ACC record in a league game at North Carolina on Feb. 22, 2018, and the previous Clemson mark was 15 at N.C. State on Dec. 29, 2024.

Taylor Johnston-Matthews led the Tigers with 23 points and a personal best six of the 21 triplets.

Washington State (2-12), which won only one non-conference game, got off to a winning start in the West Coast Conference 66-63 against visiting Pepperdine (9-4) as Eleonora Villa had 17 points, and Charlotte Abraham had 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Elsewhere in the WCC, Oregon State (9-5) won 74-65 at San Francisco (7-5) while Gonzaga (9-5) at home in double overtime won 87-80 over visiting Loyola Marymount (6-6).

Stanford (12-2) got 19 points from Nunu Agara and Lara Somfai had 18 rebounds in an 82-50 home win over Cornell (4-8).

The Cardinal head into ACC play at N.C. State Thursday at 2 p.m. on the ACC Network.

On Monday there are five games with teams holding rankings.

In the ACC No. 18 Notre Dame hosts Pitt at 6 p.m. on the ACC Network, which will also air No. 16 North Carolina at 8 p.m. visiting Boston College.

The other three are in the Big Ten featuring No. 6 Michigan at Oregon at 9 p.m. broadcast on FS1 while B1G+ will air No. 7 Maryland hosting Wisconsin at 4 p.m. in College Park and No. 17 Southern Cal at No. 20 Nebraska in Lincoln at 3 p.m.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Guru’s Local/National NCAAW Roundup: After a Five-Day Dead Stop For Christmas Week Teams Begin Returning to Action Sunday

 By Mel Greenberg

After coming to a complete dead stop the last five days for Christmas, other than Saturday’s 90-81 Omaha victory over visiting Briar Cliff, the last piece of the 2025 part of the 2025-26 women’s basketball season begins ramping back up Sunday with conference play phasing in over the next week.

Unlike not too far back in time, the early part of New Year’s Eve on Wednesday and across New Year’s Day on Thursday will be quite active.

Locally, on Sunday, Saint Joseph’s kicks the rust off hosting area D-3 Arcadia at 2 p.m. (ESPN+) at Hagan Arena before entering Atlantic 10 competition later in the week while Rutgers and Penn State dive into Big Ten action with Rutgers at No. 24 Michigan State at 2 p.m. (B1G+) and Penn State at No. 14 Iowa at 4 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.

On Monday Rider returns to Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) play visiting Iona in New Rochelle, N.Y., at 4 p.m. (ESPN+), and Villanova will be at DePaul in Chicago at 7 p.m. (ESPN+).

Delaware wraps up non-conference play visiting Harvard in Cambridge, Mass., at 1 p.m. (ESPN+) and then heads the rest of the way in the Blue Hens debut in Conference USA.

Penn’s Ivy season begins Saturday hosting No. 25 Princeton at 2 p.m. (ESPN+) at The Palestra but first the Quakers will be after a few more wins Monday and Tuesday opening at 4 p.m. playing Md.-Eastern Shore at 4 p.m. in Fairleigh Dickinson’s tourney in Hackensack, N.J., while FDU will play Binghamton at 2 p.m.

Winners and losers meet on Tuesday.

The National Scene

No. 1 UConn at 4 p.m. on Sunday will be in Indianapolis on TNT playing Butler in a Big East matchup, the top attraction of the day with two ranked teams going head-to-head will have No. 19 Ohio State hosting No. 4 UCLA at 2 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.

In non-conference play, No. 3 South Carolina hosts Providence at non on the SEC Network, which will then air No. 2 Texas hosting SE Louisiana at 2 p.m.

The remaining ranked teams playing Sunday are all SEC members: No. 11 Kentucky hosts Hofstra at 2 p.m.; No. 12 Vanderbilt hosts Stonehill at 3 p.m., the same time No. 15 Ole Miss hosts Alcorn State, those games on SECN+, and then at 4 p.m. on the SEC Network, No. 5 LSU hosts Alabama State.

In the Atlantic Coast Conference, Georgia Tech hosts Wofford at noon; Miami hosts Stetson at 2 p.m.; and Syracuse hosts Duke at 4 p.m., all on the ACC Network, while Stanford hosts Cornell at 4 p.m., and California hosts Cal Poly at 5 p.m. on ACCNX.

Illinois is at Purdue at noon on the Big Ten Network and the West Coast Conference has San Francisco hosting Oregon State at 5 p.m. on ESPN+, which also has WCC matchups of Gonzaga at 5 p.m. hosting LMU, and Washington State hosting Pepperdine at 3 p.m., besides the rest of the conference opening slate.

Because of it being a one-day week with many teams not returning until Monday or later The Associated Press will not have a new women’s poll until next Monday while the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) will not be presenting its ongoing awards, likewise, until next Tuesday.

The Guru’s Local/National NCAAW Roundup: Villanova Blasts St. John’s Joining Top-Ranked UConn as Only Two Big East Unbeatens in League Play; No. 25 Princeton Tops Temple

 By Mel Greenberg

VILLANOVA, Pa. – A year ago, Villanova headed into the holiday break with a lot of questions about what conference play in the Big East might bring especially after the second straight time after St. John’s in Madison Square Garden and then Seton Hall here in Finneran Pavilion became losses unable to deal back without the home and home schedule offering from the league.

The one glimmer of hope was then-freshman Jasmine Bascoe, the high-quality recruit from Canada.

That was then, this is now.

Following Friday’s handling of Seton Hall here, the Wildcats (10-2, 3-0) Monday afternoon quickly dismantled St. John’s 85-48 repelling the Red Storm (11-3, 1-2) to come out of finals rust-free over the weekend and head merrily on their way to join the rest of the nation celebrating with family and friends on a pause that will not end until Sunday.

Villanova made 11 shots from deep and sizzled from the opening tip shooting 13-of-19 from the field, including 5-of-6 from beyond the arc.

Though St. John’s was able to connect 6-for-12 from the field in the first ten minutes, the Wildcats were a storm of their own forcing six turnovers bringing nine more points.

Villanova stayed hot heading to the half with a .500 (8-for-16) effort from the field and 4-of-6 from the perimeter.

Bascoe was 9-for-14 collecting 21 points with nine assists, five rebounds and a pair of steals, while Kelsey Joens and reserve Ryanne Allen each connected with three from distance, scoring 12 and 13 points on the day. Additionally, Brynn McCurry and Denae Carter each connected for 10 points with Carter grabbing 10 boards and reserve Brooke Bender also had three threes to score nine points.

The Red Storm never got close as the home team built a 41-lead in the second half.

“December’s been good for us, moving the needle, getting better,” said Villanova coach Denise Dillon, whose Wildcats early in the month here claimed the Big 5 Classic championship over Saint Joseph’s.

“It’s figuring out what we have and understanding who we are. The Big East is brutal. It can be extremely tough, and Georgetown, Seton Hall and St. John’s already gave us a taste of it, we just want to continue to get better.”

Considering the Big East is headed by NCAA champion and top ranked Connecticut, the goal is to be the second or third seed for the easier path to the title game to enhance an at-large invite to the 68-team NCAA field.

“That break we had during finals was a concern,” Dillon said. “The practices went well bht they were carrying that academic load. We had a little rust starting the Seton Hall game but we should what we’re capable.

“Today you never know. Everyone is heading on their way, but we came together. We took care of business.”

Villanova goes into the break with a .net ranking number of 28, best among the 13 area teams of which Princeton is next at 38. That’s a good range to exist to draw the committee’s attention.

The Wildcats and UConn are quickly the only unbeaten Big East teams at 3-0.

Meanwhile, two other locals played each other in the only other Monday game involving area teams and Ivy favorite Princeton (12-1), which retained its No. 25 ranking in the Associated Press women’s poll, won its 10th straight winning 87-77 at home in Jadwin Gym over Temple (6-6).

The visiting Owls shot 50 percent from both the field and 3-point land but in a reversal of how games have gone for the Tigers, they led early by 22 points with Temple narrowing the differential in the second half.

Turnovers plagued Temple again with 22 miscues negating Kaylah Turner’s career-high 36-point performance that included eight makes from deep, also a personal best.

Tristan Turner missed her fourth straight game with an ankle sprain to diminish play in the backcourt.

Jaleesa Molina added 12 points while Saniyah Craig scored eight with 12 boards and five assists.

Princeton’s Madison St. Rose scored 22 points and Skye Belker added 19.

Temple, which went 1-4 against NCAA tournament teams in non-conference play, opens its American Conference play Jan. 3 hosting UTSA.

The same day Princeton opens Ivy play visiting Penn at The Palestra though the Quakers will first come back from the break Monday and Tuesday playing in FDU’s tournament in Hackensack, N.J.

The National Scene

Five ranked teams, two against each other, wrapped up the pre-break schedule.

Three were home as No. 23 Tennessee (8-3), which plunged Monday after the loss to Louisville in Brooklyn in a first meeting with Southern Indiana (8-3) demolished the opposition 89-44 in Knoxville led by Nya Robertson with 20 points, propelled by six 3-pointers and Mia Pauldo scored 19 with five makes from deep.

No. 8 Oklahoma (12-1) set a program record for points in the Sooners’ 126-54 win in Norman over North Carolina Central (2-10) led by Zya Vann with 21 points and 10 rebounds.

No. 19 Ohio State (11-1) won 95-47 in Columbus over Western Michigan (3-7) led by reserve Elsa Lemmila with 15 points.

In the title game of the Cherokee Invitational in Cherokee, N.C., No. 24 Michigan State (11-1) pulled an impressive upset with a 66-49 over No. 15 Ole Miss (12-2) as Rashunda Jones scored eight of her 13 points in the third quarter when the Spartans took control.

Grace VanSlooten had 16 points and 10 boards for the winners who head to Big Ten play hosting Rutgers Sunday.

Ole Miss was led by Ohio State transfer Cotie McMahon with 13 points.

In the third place game, Old Dominion won 89-68 over Indiana State.

The Guru’s Local/National NCAAW Roundup: Saint Joseph’s Tops Delaware Winning Its Hawk Classic; Unbeaten Texas Tech Upsets Baylor in Big 12 Opener

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru (temporarily go to poll416 on threads)

PHILADELPHIA – After opening its annual Hawk Classic on Saturday here at Hagan Arena experiencing a holiday cupcake equivalent result by blasting Le Moyne, less than 24 hours later Saint Joseph’s, not surprisingly, Sunday afternoon dealt with much tougher resistance in its championship game from nearby Delaware that had advanced by battling Akron.

It was the kind of game that a year ago, even with a much more fortified lineup, still got away from the Hawks in several key tilts costing an at-large placement in the NCAA tournament.

But as has happened in several earlier triumphs this season, defense produced differential moments, with some luck also involved, and though a 12-point lead early in the second quarter evaporated to a two-point deficit to the Blue Hens (6-5) with 4:25 left in regulation, the Hawks (8-3) pushed back and inched their way to a 73-66 win and the trophy.

It’s the team’s 14th win in 31 annual appearance participations of its own event, now presented by Jersey Mike’s.

“Really proud of our team today, playing back-to-back games, we knew this game was going to be a little bit different than the previous day, we beat a very good Delaware team,” said Saint Joseph’s coach Cindy Griffin.

“They answered every time we went for a run. Just really proud of our team, we stayed together, we stayed relentless, some really big plays down the stretch. Gabby (Casey) played terrific … and (Jill) came through with the three-point play,” she continued.

“A lot of contributions from starters but also the guys coming off the bench. We’re learning to find a way to win in close games, this is what this team is going to be, we’re going to be better together, this is a team that’s going to thrive off each other’s energy.”

Akron (3-9) earlier in the day took third place winning 94-68 over Le Moyne (1-11) with Monique Mitchell and Keiryn McGuff, the daughter of Ohio State women’s coach Kevin McGuff, each scoring 20 points for the Zips.

Asked whether her father told her much about the fieldhouse, where he had major moments coaching Xavier, the younger McGuff said, “He didn’t tell me much about it. He just told me good luck with my game. Excited to watch.

“It was definitely a team effort,” she said of the win over Le Moyne. “Every game a chance to learn and grow. Going into (Mid-American) conference, we’re happy with a win.”

This is her first year with Akron having transferred from MAC member Bowling Green.

Sierra Linnin was a silver lining for the future for Le Moyne, scoring 24 points off 9-13 from the field and 5-8 on 3-point shot attempts.

Only two other locals played Sunday, Penn State (7-5) in the 4 Tha Culture Holiday Classic in Henrico, Va., fell 70-54 to nearby Richmond (11-3), the Atlantic 10 preseason favorite, while Georgia (13-0) won 82-55 in the other game over Coppin State (2-12) that lost at Temple on Friday night.

Rider (2-9, 0-2) lost a chance to get out of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) opening weekend with a split when host Sacred Heart (4-7, 2-0) which won at Iona in overtime Friday, edged the Broncos 61-59 on Nalyce Dudley’s layup with three seconds left after teammate Amelia Wood tied it with 17 seconds with a pair of foul shots.

Just two locals play Monday: Temple, which has won two straight games, travels up to Ivy favorite and No. 25 Princeton in the host Tigers’ Jadwin Gym at 11:30 a.m. and Villanova hosts St. John’s at noon in a Big East contest at Finneran Pavilion, both games on ESPN+.

The entire country, excepting one game this Saturday, will then be idle from Tuesday through the Christmas break until next Sunday.

Back here, after Delaware went in front, Aleah Snead tied it and put Saint Joseph’s ahead on an ensuing old fashioned 3-point play,

Gabby Snead, the tournament Most Outstanding Player, then stole the ball and Rhian Stokes made two foul shots that were quickly diminished on Safi Kolliegbo’s score to make it 64-63.

Snead, however, answered but missed a chance to add one more when she failed to convert from the line.

Faith Stinson then took an offensive charge and then scored inside off a turnover to put the home team up by five with 2:35 left on an assist from Casey.

The Blue Hens, however, refused to die and got three points back on Kolliegbo’s score, followed on the next possession by Lay Fantroy shooting 1-2 from the line with 1:36 left.

Delaware’s Ella Wanzer, who on Saturday predicted the team with the greater willpower in a close game would prevail, then stole a ball forcing Casey into a turnover with 1:14 left.

The Blue Hens, however, were unable to score and tie with Snead grabbing the missed shot for the Hawks.

Saint Joseph’s then produced a defining moment when Casey missed a three-point attempt, but Stinson grabbed the failed effort on the offensive board and Penn State transfer Jill Jekot went inside and scored, drawing a foul which she converted for a five-point lead with 28 seconds left.

Delaware took a full time out, down five, but the Blue Hens then stepped out of bounds and Stokes cashed in on the turnover making two foul shots for the final points of the game.

Turnovers were nearly even in the tight contest, but the Hawks had a 25-16 scoring advantage from them and also went 20-7 on fast break points and 9-0 on second chance points.

Casey had 19 points with three makes from deep, three steals, six rebounds and five assists, while Stokes scored 17 points with five boards, and Snead had 14 points, six boards, five assists, and three blocks.

Delaware’s Ande’a Cherisier scored 16 points, shooting 8-16 from the field, Fantroy was 6-8 and scored 13 points with seven boards and five steals, Kailah Correa scored 11 with six boards, and Kolliegbo scored 10.

Casey, Snead, and Stokes, along with Akron’s Mitchell, Delaware’s Wanzer, and Le Moyne’s Linnin made the all-tournament team.

Saint Joseph’s is off until hosting area Division 3 Arcadia next Sunday to get the rust off before heading into Atlantic 10 play the rest of the way.

Delaware next plays a week from Monday visiting Ivy contender Harvard at 1 p.m. on ESPN+ and then heads for its debut season in Conference USA that means a schedule, for now, without the longtime home-and-home rivalry with Drexel that existed in the CAA and several leagues before both schools moved in that direction.

In the Penn State game, Gracie Merkle scored 15 points shooting 7-10 from the field for the visiting Lady Lions while freshman Tea Cleante scored 11.

The co-host host Spiders, by location, got 30 points from Cardinal O’Hara’s Maggie Doogan, and Ally Sweeney scored 20.

Penn State next Sunday returns to Big Ten play by visiting No. 11 Iowa at 4 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.

In Rider’s game, Perez Mesquida scored a team-high 13 points for the Broncos, while Aliya McIver and Deb Okechukwu each scored 11 points.

The team next plays, following the holiday break, at Iona in New Rochelle, N.Y. a week from Monday at 4 p.m. (ESPN+).

The National Scene

No. 10 Iowa State (13-0) at home in Ames got a buzzer-beating 3-pointer as time expired from Kenzie Hare to take a Big 12 opening 79-76 win over visiting Kansas (10-3), Hare’s only points of the game.

Audi Crooks, who missed her previous game with the Cyclones, picked right up where she had been, scoring 41 points, shooting 19-28 from the field as the nation’s scoring leader reached 40 for the third time this season.

S’Mya Nichols had 29 points for the Jayhawks and had tied the score with with 5.12 seconds left.

Kansas had trailed by 11 in the final period.

The Jayhawks next host West Virginia New Year’s Day while the day before Iowa State travels to Houston.

In another Big 12 opener, Texas Tech (14-0) upset No. 15 Baylor 61-60 on the road in Waco, Texas, snapping a 31-game series losing streak dating to 2011.

Snudda Collins scored 21 for the Lady Raiders while Bailey Maupin had 11 points and the winning foul shots.

Yutin Deng scored 22 for the host Bears and hit a shot from deep to snap a tie with 53.7 seconds left.

Collins then hit two foul shots for Texas Tech with 39.7 left, Baylor missed on its next possession, and Maupin drove the baseline and was fouled with 3.4 left, sinking the winning attempts from the line.

Texas Tech had lost 11 straight games to ranked teams.

Deng missed a final attempt to try to win it for the Bears.

The Lady Raiders host UCF New Year’s Eve while Baylor the same day visits Oklahoma State.

In yet another Big 12 opener, Arizona State (14-0) beat visiting Colorado 79-63, extending the Sun Devils’ record season-opening win streak and moving into a second-place tie, one behind the frontrunner, with the longest in program history.

Reserve McKinna Brackens scored 18 points, while starters Heloisa Carrera and Gabby Elliott each scored 14 points, and Marley Washenitz collected 13 points.

Zyanna Walker had a team-high 15 points for Colorado (9-4).

The Sun Devils next visit Utah on New Year’s Eve.

In a string of ranked teams elsewhere winning games, No. 24 Michigan State (10-1) in the Cherokee Invitational opening round in North Carolina routed Indiana 115-66 as Emma Shumate led six other teammates in double figures, scoring 22 points and matching her career high while she topped another personal best from deep with seven 3-pointers.

Kennedy Blair was just short of a triple double against the Sycamores (4-6) with 11 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists.

In the other game, No. 14 Ole Miss (12-1) won 86-57 over Old Dominion (7-5) as Christeen Iwuala had 23 points and 10 boards for for the winning Rebels.

On Monday, Indiana State and ODU will play for third before Ole Miss and Michigan State contest for the championship.

No. 6 Michigan (10-1), home in Ann Arbor, easily won 97-54 over nearby Oakland (3-9) as Olivia Olson scored 23 points. The Wolverines next Monday head to a Big Ten matchup visiting Oregon.

No. 2 Texas (14-0) returned the home-and-home set up from last year by visiting Summit League power South Dakota State (10-4) in Brookings and breaking away from a slim eight-point lead midway in the third quarter for a 70-51 victory as Jordan Lee had 17 points and four steals.

Brooklyn Meyer scored 20 for the host Jackrabbits.

Texas hosts Southeastern Louisiana Louisiana Sunday in Austin.

No. 5 LSU (13-0) poured another triple digit attack on a lesser non-conference opponent at home in Baton Rouge, La., beating UT Arlington 110-45, Grace Knox leading the winning Tigers with 25 points while the opposition dropped to 6-6.

No. 18 North Carolina (11-3) at home in Chapel Hill got 19 points from reserve Nyla Brooks as the Tar Heels won 83-74 over Charleston Southern (2-10).

UNC next Monday is on the ACC trail visiting Boston College.

No. 23 Nebraska (12-0) at home in Lincoln won 87-56 over Cal Baptist (6-7) as Jessica Petrie scored 17 points and Amiah Hargrove scored 15, the Huskers tying the second longest winning streak in program history, also the best-ever 12-0 start of the 2021-22 edition.

Next up is a Big Ten visit next Monday from nationally ranked Southern Cal.

No. 22 Washington (10-2) bounced off its narrow loss at Stanford to win 90-50 at Pacific (5-6) in Stockton, Calif., as Sienna Harvey had a career high of 22 points.

No. 20 Notre Dame at home in South Bend smashed visiting Bellarmine 110-38 as South Jersey’s Hannah Hidalgo made headlines again scoring 30 points against the opposition (2-11) in her second career triple double that had 13 steals and ten assists.

She also snapped a tie with Arike Ogunbowale of the WNBA Dallas Wings, scoring her 12th game of 30 points for the most in program history.

 The Irish next play next Monday at home hosting Pitt in an ACC contest.

Out West, in the Bay Area Women’s Classic, Stanford (11-2) completed a weekend to bid for a return to the next AP Poll on Monday by beating former Pac-12 rival Oregon 64-53 at the Chase Center in San Francisco as Courtney Ogden scored 20 points for the Cardinal,  who last season joined the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Oregon (12-2), which at the same time went to the Big Ten, got 14 points from Ehis Elute.

In the other game, No. 19 Southern Cal (9-3), now part of the Big Ten, foiled an upset bid from California (8-5), now with the ACC, winning 61-57.

The Trojans were led by star freshman Jazzy Davidson with 24 points, while Sakima Walker led the Golden Bears with 13 points.

In two MAAC games of note, two-time defending champion and preseason favorite Fairfield (8-3, 2-0) completed a perfect conference start with an 84-65 win over visiting Merrimack (3-7, 0-1) as Kaety L’Amoreaux had 23 points for the winning Stags.

Quinnipiac (7-4, 2-0), also with a perfect MAAC start, won 76-67 at Marist (3-9, 0-2) in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., as the Bobcats got 19 points from Sydney Ryan.

America East contender Maine (5-8) pulled an upset winning 59-57 at Ivy contender Harvard (6-6) as the Black Bears were led by Adrianna Smith with 21 points and the host Crimson got 22 from Abigail Wright.

Penn fans take note since the Quakers recently plundered Maine at home in The Palestra.

In the Maui Classic, Oregon State (8-5) was led by Kennedie Shuler, who scored 21 points in the Beavers’ 64-57 win over Liberty (6-5), which got 14 points from Avery Mills.

In Monday games not already mentioned, with rankings to change in the AP Poll released at noon, Oklahoma hosts NC Central at 1 p.m. in Norman; Tennessee hosts Southern Indiana at 6:30 p.m., which is the same time that Ohio State hosts Western Michigan.