The Guru’s Local/National NCAAW Roundup: Joens Gets Career-High Leading Villanova Over Xavier While Rider Picks Up First MAAC Win; No. 5 Oklahoma and No. 6 Kentucky Suffer Upsets in SEC Action

 By Mel Greenberg

VILLANOVA, Pa. – Last season the portal took away an important part of the Villanova attack when Lucy Olsen left to spend her senior year at Iowa.

Wednesday afternoon the portal showed signs of giving back.

Having had a 10-game winning streak get shattered at Marquette Sunday and struggling early here in Finneran Pavilion trailing Xavier down two 11-9 near the end of the first quarter, the Wildcats erupted on an 8-0 run highlighted by three-pointers from reserve Ryanne Allen and Iowa State transfer Kelsey Joens to go in front to stay and protect second place in the Big East with a 67-50 victory.

Allen, a native of Warminster, came home last year from Vanderbilt and Wednesday Joens with a career-high 18 points had a breakout game with her points coming by way of six 3-pointers.

In all, Villanova (13-3, 6-1) connected with 15 makes from deep though after building a 33-20 halftime lead, Xavier (9-7, 2-5) cut the deficit to seven late in the third before the Wildcats prolific shooting continued in the fourth to pull away.

Jasmine Bascoe nailed three from beyond the arc and scored 15 points while Brynn McCurry scored 10 points with a game-high seven rebounds.

Xavier’s Savannah White and Mariyah Noel each scored 16 points with Noel also dishing seven assists.

Joen’s day couldn’t have come at a better time with freshman Kennedy Henry unable to play against the Musketeers.

“There were some areas she wanted to improve on. and I’ll tell you she flipped that switch real quick,” Villanova coach Denise Dillon said. “She would credit her teammates, but we did a much better job moving the ball and not settling for contested shots.”

“We got to figure a lot out, but that’s part of the game,” Dillon said of the portions with narrow lead but we’re in the league now (out of non-conference play) where everybody knows you. They know your tendencies and style.

“There’s a lot of pressure at the start of games. It’s not a selfish thing its everyone wanting to make plays.”

Villanova now hits the road for the next two playing Sunday at Providence, a team that has managed to be a thorn in the side in spite of the superiority of talent and then next Thursday at top-ranked and defending NCAA champion UConn.

Rider also had an early game visiting Siena in suburban Albany (N.Y.) and the Broncs (3-12, 1-5) finally made it into the win column after an opening five-game losing streak in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference courtesy of a three-pointer from Alena Cofield to gain a 61-59 victory over the Saints (6-8, 4-1).

Defense was the key after the score as Rider forced a pair of turnovers and a missed shot to keep Siena off the scoreboard.

“It feels great,” said first-year Rider coach Jackie Hartzell. “I’m really proud of our players and our fight at the end. We’ve been close in a couple of these games, and to pull one out, I’m just really proud.

“Our players showed me a lot today; this is a tough place to play and to keep fighting the way we did hopefully there’s more wins to come.”

Cofield, a freshman who set a career-high her previous game, set a new one with a game-high 18 points, while Kristina Ekofo scored 15 points, reserve Emmy Roach scored 11 points, and Deb Okechukwu scored 10 points.

Rider stays on the road a little further south on Saturday visiting Marist in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. At 2 p.m. (ESPN+).

Three other locals, all at home, also played Thursday and all of them are still looking for their first season conference win, two in the Big Ten.

The Big Ten duo are Rutgers and Penn State who continue to struggle playing ranked teams in the conference.

Rutgers lost to No. 7 Maryland, 88-41, at Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, N.J., while Penn State fell to No. 9 Michigan, 105-65.

In the Rutgers (8-8, 0-5) loss, Yarden Garzon scored 18 points, connecting on all six shots from deep for the visiting Terrapins (16-1, 4-1), while Addi Mack added 15 points.

Nene Ndiaye scored 11 for the Scarlet Knights, who next visit Northwestern Sunday while Maryland hosts No. 19 Ohio State.

Michigan (13-2, 4-1) got 18 points from Mila Holloway while Te’Yala Delfosse scored 17 in the Wolverines’ ninth-straight win and 10th over Penn State (7-9, 0-5), which has not improved returning for a bunch of home games in Rec Hall from the larger Bryce Jordan Center.

It was a wire-to-wire win for the visitors.

Nyla McFadden scored 10 for the Lady Lions, who host Illinois Sunday while Michigan hosts Wisconsin.

Delaware (6-9, 0-3), which dropped both games in its first weekend playing in Conference USA opponents on the road, dropped its home conference opener in the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark, losing 65-50 to Louisiana Tech (8-5, 1-1), the national power of yesteryear which beat Cheyney of suburban Philadelphia in 1982 to win the first NCAA women’s title contest.

No one for the host Blue Hens scored in double figures, Jiya Perry just missed collecting nine points.

Delaware next hosts Sam Houston on Saturday at 2 p.m. (ESPN+).

Only one local team is in action Friday, Drexel, which dropped its Coastal Athletic Association opener at home Sunday, is at Stony Brook on Long Island, N.Y. Tipping off at 6:30 p.m. (FloCollege) before returning home to host Hofstra Sunday in the Daskalakis Athletic Center at 2 p.m.

The National Scene

Two teams that shot up into the Top 10 of the Associated Press women’s poll Monday both suffered upset losses in Southeastern Conference competition.

No. 5 Oklahoma (14-2, 2-1) part with a 13-game win streak losing at home in Norman to No. 15 Ole Miss, 74-69, just the 13th win for the Rebels (15-3, 2-1) over a Top 5 opponent, though the campus later suffered a downer with the football team dropping its playoff semifinal to Miami in the close of regulation.

Ohio State transfer Cotie McMahon scored 22 points for Ole Miss while Aaliyah Chavez scored 26 points for the Sooners who also got 15 points and 20 rebounds from Raegan Beers.

Oklahoma went ahead briefly in the fourth quarter and next visit No. 6 Kentucky Sunday while Ole Miss the same day hosts in-state conference rival Mississippi State.

Kentucky (15-2, 2-1), which handed LSU its first season and conference loss and then entered the Top 10 on Monday was upset 64-51 at unranked Alabama (16-1, 2-1), which claimed its highest ranked win in the Kristy Curry era, which began in 2013, and highest ranked win overall earned since 1997.

Jessica Timmons scored 24 points for the winning Crimson Tide, while Diane Collins collected 16 points.

Tonie Morgan, who hit the game-winner against LSU scored 14 for Kentucky while Asia Boone added 12 points.

Alabama next is at Missouri Monday.

Elsewhere among ranked teams in the SEC, No. 2 Texas (18-0, 3-0) at home in Austin got a career-high 23 points and 11 rebounds from Kyla Oldacre in a 97-36 win over Auburn (11-6, 0-3), which committed 26 turnovers the Longhorns mined into 40 points.

Texas is off to its best start since becoming the first unbeaten NCAA team at 34-0 in 1986 and is one of four remaining unbeaten teams along with SEC rival Vanderbilt, Texas Tech of the Big 12, and top-ranked UConn, the defending national champion, of the Big East.

The Longhorns on Sunday are at No. 12 LSU, which after dropping its first two overall and SEC contests, won 80-59 at Georgia (15-2, 1-2) as Flau’jae Johnson scored 15 of her 25 points in the final quarter.

No. 7 Vanderbilt (16-0, 3-0) stayed perfect beating visiting Missouri 99-68 as sophomore Mikayla Blakes led five Commodores teammates in double figures with 20 points and now move on to start a three-game road trip Sunday at Texas A&M.

No. 3 South Carolina (16-1, 3-0) won 93-58 at Arkansas and next host Georgia on Sunday.

No. 20 Tennessee (11-3, 3-0) got 26 points from Mia Pauldo, a season-best from the Lady Vols freshman, in a 90-80 win at Mississippi State and next host Arkansas in Knoxville Sunday.

In the Atlantic Coast Conference, No. 10 Louisville (15-3, 5-0) got a career-high 23 points from Elif Istanbulluoglu in a 77-68 win at Miami and next host Pitt Sunday.

Miami’s loss was compensated for its campus fans elsewhere with the football team beating Ole Miss to advance to the national championship against Friday night’s winner between No. 1 Indiana and Oregon.

Elsewhere in the ACC, Duke won its seventh straight topping host California 78-74, while Notre Dame, which ended a long run Monday in the AP Poll following two losses to unranked opponents, beat Boston College 94-60 at home in South Bend, Ind.

Clemson beat N.C. State at home 75-65 while Stanford at home beat Wake Forest 55-43.

In the Big Ten besides the teams mentioned, No. 25 Nebraska (14-2, 3-2) won at home in Lincoln beating Indiana 78-73 with a strong finish as Britt Prince scored 20 for the Huskers and Jessica Petrie scored 17 and next host No. 4 UCLA on Sunday.

No. 15 Michigan State (12-3, 2-2) got 21 points while Grace VanSlooten and Rashunda Jones each scored 17 points in an 82-67 road win at No. 23 Washington (12-3, 2-2) in Seattle.

The hosts got 15 points off five makes from 3-point distance Elle Ladine.

The Spartans Sunday continue to Oregon while Washington the same day is at Purdue.

In the Big 12, No. 16 Baylor (14-3, 3-1) got 10 points and 12 rebounds from Darianna Littlepage-Buggs in a narrow 56-52 home win in Waco, Texas, over Colorado (11-5, 2-2).

Baylor next hosts Kansas Sunday.

No ranked teams play Friday while on Saturday No. 24 Princeton has an Ivy visit to Yale in New Haven, Conn., and No. 17 Texas Tech is at Cincinnati.

Both games are on ESPN+, Princeton tips at 2 p.m. while Texas Tech the same time is at Cincinnati.

Elsewhere in the MAAC, Quinnipiac and Fairfield stayed perfect in league play, the former winning 70-44 at Mount St. Mary’s while the latter won 84-62 at Fairfield.