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.