The Guru’s Local/National NCAAW Roundup: Drexel Tops Elon; Penn Beats Host Cornell in Overtime; Columbia Sweeps No. 24 Princeton

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsgurux

There were only three games affecting the local and national scene, but all were quite impactful.

Drexel (15-8, 8-4) at home in the Daskalakis Athletic Center gained a 68-59 win over Elon (11-13, 6-6)  in a Coastal Athletic Association contest building a 53-36 lead after three quarters and then holding off the visitors who outscored the Dragons by eight in the final period.

Amariss Baker led the way shooting 9-for-16 from the field and scoring 27 points, while Deja Evans fired 5-of-8 to score 14 points helped by making all four attempts from the line along with seven rebounds.

Drexel, tied for fourth with Monmouth but holding the tiebreaker, has a bye Sunday and then travels to the Tidewater region in Virginia next weekend playing Hampton at 7 p.m. on Friday followed by a Sunday trip to William & Mary at 1 p.m. in Williamsburg. Both games will air on FloCollege.

Ivy Mayhem – Penn Gets Revenge on Cornell in OT; Princeton Swept at Columbia

Friday’s action saw Penn (14-8, 4-5) potentially doomed from the race for the annual four-team Ivy Madness next month, rotating to where the Quakers played Cornell (8-14, 3-6)  in Ithaca, N.Y., but coach Mike McLaughlin’s group used overtime to avenge a recent loss at The Palestra beating the Big Red 72-66.

Mataya Gayle scored 27 points, including her 1,000th career score, joining 26 others in program history who reached a similar milestone.

Penn dominated the boards 45-31, 20 on the offensive glass resulting in 26 second chance points and a 38-24 advantage in the paint.

Reserve Brooke Suttle scored 11 points with eight boards.

Penn came to life ending the third quarter on a 13-0 run, leading 52-46, but with the score tied at 62 with with 1:33 left in regulation neither team was able to gain the win.

In the extra period Simone Sawyer’s layup put the Quakers up four with 36 seconds and the visitors held on.

Penn on Saturday visits Columbia at 5 p.m. in  Levien Gym in New York City and for the second time the Quakers will meet the Lions (16-6, 7-2) coming off an upset of Princeton (19-3, 7-2) Friday night for a season sweep using a strong second half to tie the Tigers for first place.

Perri Page had a career-high 25 points with 10 rebounds for the winners who also got 23 points from Riley Weiss, 20 in the second half.

Fliss Henderson had 10 rebounds for the home team with eight points.

Princeton’s Fadima Tall scored 16 points and Olivia Hutcherson scored 12.

The loss is likely to cost the Tigers their place in the Associated Press women’s poll, celebrating its 50th anniversary season, whether they win or lose Saturday at Cornell 5 p.m.

Both Ivy games will air on ESPN+.

Penn is in 5th place two games behind Brown and the tourney cutoff.

Looking Ahead

On Saturday in the Atlantic 10, La Salle at 1 p.m. on ESPN+ is at George Washington in the nation’s capital at the Smith Center, while Saint Joseph’s is at Loyola, Chicago at 7 p.m. (ESPN+).

In Conference USA, Delaware hosts UTEP at noon on ESPN+ at the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark.

Temple, in the American Conference, looking to snap a current two-game skid, is at home hosting East Carolina on ESPN+ in the Liacouras Center at 2 p.m.

Rutgers is at Purdue in the Big Ten at noon in West Lafayette, Ind., on B1G+, while in the Patriot League, the two locals face each other a second time, Lehigh traveling to nearby Lafayette at at 2 p.m. (ESPN+) in the Kirby Sports Center in Easton, Pa.

Rider hosts Marist in a MAAC game at Alumni Gym at 1 p.m. on ESPN+.

Nationally on Saturday, No. 1 UConn at 1 p.m. will look to stay unbeaten with a visit to Marquette on FS1 in Milwaukee, where a win helps idle Villanova stay further away from landing in fourth place in next month’s Big East tournament at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, a spot that with advancement avoids meeting UConn until the title game.

In the SEC, No. 3 South Carolina is at No. 6 LSU at 8:30 p.m. on ABC.

In the A-10, Rhode Island is at George Mason at at 3 p.m. (ESPN+) in Fairfax, Va.

A showdown in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference has first-place Quinnipiac home in Hamden, Conn., hosting two-time defending champion Fairfield at 4 p.m. on ESPN+.