The Guru NCAA Report: Saint Joseph’s Wins Big at South Utah; Villanova Cruises Over Penn; Auriemma Becomes the Winningest NCAA Basketball Coach

Guru notes: — geno auriemma, who became the winningest men’s or women’s collegiate coach Wednesday with 1,217 victories, will be a separate

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

 

The last thing Saint Joseph’s thought in preparing for a two-game swing in the state of Utah, was banging into a national story.

But that’s what has happened to the Hawks, in finishing off a home-and-home from last year with the Utes.

The first stop, however, on Wednesday night was quite successful, winning at Southern Utah 82-53 as Laura Ziegler scored a career-high 30 points, shooting 13-19 from the field and 4-8 from deep, while grabbing 10 rebounds to stay unbeaten at 4-0, while Southern Utah stayed winless at 0-5 in the game at America First Event Center in Cedar City.

Gabby Casey was 8-10 for 20 points, a career high, and Talya Bruglar scored 18, while Emma Boslet dealt a career-high 13 assists, matching the career-high from Saint Joseph’s coach Cindy Griffin as a player, fifth on the all-time list.

Daylani Ballena had 12 points and Ava Ulrich scored 10 for the home team.

Soon after landing Tuesday night, the news became public that Utah coach Lynne Roberts was resigning to take the vacant coaching job with the WNBA Los Angeles Sparks.

Thus, Saint Joseph’s, which was 33-59 for .559 pc. from the field Wednesday, in their game Friday night in Salt Lake City (9 p.m., ESPN+) will be Utah’s first under former associate head coach Gavin Peterson, who was promoted to replace Roberts.

Meanwhile, Villanova’s first pod game in the Big 5 formats saw the Wildcats route Penn 80-66 at home in Finneran Pavilion on the Maine Line to go 1-0 and saddle the Quakers (3-2 overall) with a third-place finish at 0-2.

Penn in the Big Five Classic at Villanova on December 6 at 3:30 p.m. will play for fifth place against the third-place team, not yet known, from the other pod.

Freshman Jasmine Bascoe continued to shine for the Wildcats (3-1) with 16 points, the same total from sophomore Denae Carter, with Bascoe dealing five assists. Maddie Burke shot 4-6 from beyond the arc for 14 points, and Maddie Webber scored 12.

Penn’s Stina Almqvist scored a game-high 24 points with eight boards while Mataya Gayle and Saniah Caldwell each scored nine points.

Penn completed a slate of three-straight Ivy opponents for Villanova, which lost at Princeton and won at home against Columbia.

The Quakers will have to quickly shake off the loss in hosting Big West tourney champ UC Irvine Thursday night at 6 at The Palestra (ESPN+), the visiting Anteaters also in the second game of a back-to-back after winning Wednesday a few blocks up the street 57-47 at Drexel (2-1) in the Daskalakis Athletic Center.

The visitors (3-1) got 15 points from Deja Lamb, while reserve Summah Hanson scored 12 points, and Nevaeh Dean had 11 points.

Amaris Baker had 20 points for the Dragons, while while Deja Evans scored 10.

Drexel, Saturday, visits Temple at 2 p.m. (ESPN+) at the Liacouras Center where a win puts the Dragons in the title game on December 6 in the Classic.

The host Owls have yet to play a pod game. They’ll be coming off a loss Tuesday at Georgetown.

La Salle (2-3), meanwhile, edged Rider 55-54 at home in John E. Glaser Arena on Ashleigh Connor’s two foul shots with one second left and a rebound to stop the Broncs (1-3), who advanced the ball, but Camryn Collins missed a layup.

Connor had 20 points for the Explorers, Ayisse Magassa had 12 points and seven boards.

Mackenzie Daleba had eight points and 12 rebounds.

Rider’s Gabby Turco, who played at La Salle last season, had 14 points against her former school, while Collins scored 10.

Rider Sunday plays at VCU in Richmond at 1 p.m. (ESPN+) while La Salle will next go play at American U. Saturday at 2 p.m. (ESPN) in the nation’s capital at Bender Arena.

The National Scene

While Hall of Fame Connecticut coach becoming the all-time winner for men or women with 1,217 victories after the No. 2 Huskies handled visiting Fairleigh Dickinson 85-41 at Gampel Pavilion — a separate will post on all that in the next 24 hours — the big news for the home team on the basketball element was the return of Azzi Fudd, who missed the whole season after her second game with an injury.

Auriemma, who grew up in Norristown outside Philadelphia, had been tied with retired Stanford women’s coach Tara VanDerveer the last five days after wining at No. 14 North Carolina last Friday.

Anticipating Auriemma could rise to the top Wednesday, the school targeted the game to celebrate the 40 years he and associate coach Chris Dailey, who played at Rutgers, have run the program.

Originally, forecasted to return in December, Fudd picked Nov. 20 as the date she would return.

“I didn’t even know the number and all this,” Fudd said of the fuss made of the achievement. “I’m glad to just be part of it.”

“She puts us in a place we haven’t been in a while,” Auriemma said, also having quipped, “I thought it was Azzi Fudd day.”

Fudd off the bench had four points for the Huskies (4-0) led by freshman Sarah Strong, the No. 1 recruit, who had 20 points and six assists with eight boards.

Paige Bueckers, likely the No. 1 WNBA draft pick by Dallas, which won the lottery Sunday, had 16 points, five assists, and and nine rebounds, Ice Brady scored 10, and Princeton transfer Kaitlyn Chen had 11.

FDU (4-2), led on the sidelines by Stephanie Gaitley, whom Auriemma coached against when UConn played Villanova, got 19 points from Ava Renninger, while Teneisia Brown scored 10 with eight boards.

There were several upsets elsewhere and near upsets involving ranked and unranked teams.

At Northern Iowa, the students stormed the court after an 87-75 win in Cedar Falls over No. 8 Iowa State (4-1) as Maya MxDermott scored a career-high 37 points for the host Panthers (3-1). Audi Crooks had 22 points and 10 rebounds, while Addy Brown had 21 points and 12 boards.

No. 1 South Carolina, the defending NCAA champion, set a school record with its 43rd straight victory, which was over in-state rival Clemson 77-45 on the road as Te-Hina Paopao had 13 points, while Ashlyn Watkins had 10 points and 11 rebounds.

The Gamecocks Sunday go to No. 5 UCLA.

No. 23 Oregon (6-0) at home edged Auburn 70-68 to escape from the Tigers (3-1) with a win at home in Eugene, while No. 7 LSU at home in Baton Rouge held off in-state rival Tulane 85-74.

UAlbany won at in-state rival Syracuse 73-70 and Northern Arizona won at home 92-75 over in-state rival Arizona.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

The Guru NCAAW Report: UConn Coach Geno Auriemma Poised for History; Delaware Wins First While Temple and Rutgers Streaks Ended

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

Delaware got it’s first win of the season Tuesday afternoon beating Colgate 88-82 at home in the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark, while Temple and Rutgers suffered road losses later at night at Georgetown and Virginia Tech, respectfully, on a light local schedule.

The Blue Hens (1-3) featured a balanced attack in front of an Education Day sellout crowd of 4,631, shooting a prolific 58.33 percent from the field paced by Ande’A Cherisier with 17 points off 8-11 from the field, while Tara Cousins was 7-9 reaching 16 points.

Adding to the parade of Blue Hens in double figures against the Raiders (3-2), reserve Jiya Perry was 6-8 and 2-2 from deep to collect a personal best 14 points and match a career-high with seven boards, while Ella Wanzer gained all 12 of her points shooting 4-7 from beyond the arc.

 Rounding out the attack Michelle Ojo had 11 points, and five rebounds and Rebecca Demeke scored 10 points.

The Hens were in danger of dropping this one, also, until late in the game when they rallied with a 12-1 run.

Delaware now hits an 18-day road swing, beginning at Providence Sunday at 2 p,m, (FloHoops) in the Friars’ Alumni Hall in Rhode Island.

Temple, meanwhile, took a two-game win streak achieved on the road but the Owls (2-2) couldn’t finish off the last stop, shooting a mediocre 28 percent in a 65-51 loss at Georgetown (2-1) in the nation’s capital at McDonough Arena.

Coach Diane Richardson’s squad was beset by missing the target at the outset forcing to play catch-up all night.

Anissa Rivera had 16 points and 12 rebounds for the visitors, while Savannah Curry off the bench scored 12.

The Hoyas’ top player Kelsey Ransom scored 28 points with five assists and five steals while Victoria Rivera scored 19 points, and Ariel Jenkins off the bench double doubled her way with 11 points and 11 boards.

Temple plays its first Big 5 pod game Saturday at 2 p.m. (ESPN+) in the Liacouras Center, hosting Drexel, which already picked up a win beating La Salle at home in their debut appearance as an official member.

Rutgers (4-1) took its perfect record on its first road trip and challenged Virginia Tech through three quarters playing the Atlantic Coast Conference member in Blacksburg, but the Hokies (4-1) prevailed in the fourth quarter going on to a 91-80 victory.

The Scarlet Knights had three players in double figures led by Kiyomi McMiller with 24 points, Destiny Adams collected 18, and Chyna Cornwell scored 12.

Rutgers returns home to play its first of two in the three-team New Jersey rivalry when defending Ivy tourney champion Princeton makes the short trip north to Jersey Mike’s Arena Sunday at 2 p.m. (B1G+) in Piscataway, N.J.

The Tigers first visit Seton Hall in the annual series Thursday at the Pirates’ Walsh Gym.

Looking ahead to Wednesday on the local card, Saint Joseph’s is at Southern Utah (8:30 p.m., ESPN+), the Hawks running into national news on their two-game swing with the announcement that Lynne Roberts resigned as coach at Utah, their next stop Friday, to become head of the WNBA Los Angeles Sparks.

Penn travels to Villanova at 7 p.m. (FloHoops) attempting to even its Big 5 record in its pod, having lost Friday to Saint Joseph’s, while the Wildcats play their first ahead of the annual showdown with the Hawks, which will be at Hagan Arena, Dec. 1.

Drexel hosts Big West tourney champ U.C. Irvine at 6 p.m. (FloHoops) in the Daskalakis AthleticCenter, then the visiting Anteaters will head down 33rd Street Thursday to The Palestra to play Penn, resulting in a back-to-back for both teams.

The arena was unavailable Friday needing to be held for a volleyball match.

Rider Wednesday will be at La Salle at 6:30 p.m. (ESPN+) in the John E. Glaser Arena in which the visiting Broncs will be bringing Gabby Turco, who transferred from the Explorers after last season.

The National Scene: Uconn’s Geno Auriemma Poised for the Mountain Top

A match of two coaches, each in their 40th year, both with Philly local ties, will occur Wednesday at 7 p.m. when Northeast Conference favorite Fairleigh Dickinson visits No. 2 UConn (3-0) at 7 p.m. at the Huskies’ Gampel Arena on the campus in Storrs.

Geno Auriemma, who grew up in Norristown, and his associate head coach Chris Dailey, who played at Rutgers under Immaculata star Theresa Grentz, are being honored in a pre-game ceremony for their 40th year in building the Huskies to a national powerhouse with a record 11 national NCAA championships.

 The game is on SNY but available on the FOX app. The ceremony will be streamed on the school’s Facebook page, information is available on the program’s website.

On hand will be 63 confirmed alumnae including some of the all-time greats of the sport, many such as Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird, and Maya Moore who went on to win WNBA titles and Olympic Gold Medals.

FDU (4-1), which lost at Syracuse Sunday, is coached by former Villanova star Stephanie Gaitley, who recently won her 700th career game with stops at Richmond, Saint Joseph’s, Long Island, Monmouth, Fordham, and her current school.

With the visitors a prohibitive underdog, the bigger moment of the night will likely be at the final buzzer.

A win for Auriemma will break a tie for the past five days held with retired Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer (last April) following a road victory over nationally ranked North Carolina for the most Division I men’s or women’s triumphs at 1,216, long past the men’s mark held by retired Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski (2022).

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Guru NCAAW Report: Ranked Teams Cruise to Six Home Wins; Brugler of Saint Joseph’s, Collins of Penn, Baker of Drexel Pick Up Weekly Conference Awards

By Mel Greenberg @wimhoopsguru

Monday was a night of perfection for those ranked teams that played in a short overall schedule that did not contain any local teams in action.

Some individuals did get to receive weekly awards – Talya Brugler from Saint Joseph’s earned the A-10 award, this time all along, while Drexel’s amaris Baker shared the Coastal Athletic Association honor, and Penn’s Katie Collins earned her second Ivy freshman citation.

If you want to look ahead first, locally, three games feature local teams – Temple is going for its third straight victory, all on the road, when the Owls visit Georgetown in Washington at 7 p.m. (FloHoops) at the Hoyas’ McDonough Arena.

Delaware holds its field trip day at 11 a.m. at the Bob Carpenter Arena in Bewsrk, hosting Colgate, and Rutgers’ schedule picks up with the Scarlet Knight’s first road trip, visiting Virginia Tech (ACCNX) at 6 p.m.

The National Scene

As for the six games with ranked teams in the season’s third Associated Press poll, week 867 in season 49, all of the outcomes were by double digits.

No. 7 LSU in Baton Rouge beat Troy 98-59 to go 5-0 as Flau’Jae Johnson had 27 points and nine rebounds while Aneesah Morrow had 23 points and 13 rebounds for the host Tigers.

Ole Miss downed visiting Jackson State of the Southwestern Athletic Conference 76-44 in Oxford as Sira Thienou had a career-high 16 points for the Rebels (3-1) who won their third straight after the opening day loss to No. 3 Southern Cal in Paris.

No. 23 Oregon (5-0) is still unbeaten after topping Western Athletic favorite Grand Canyon 70-54 as Peyton Scott scored 17 points.

No. 22 Illinois (4-0) also hosting a field trip day crushed Le Moyne 94-25 as Kendall Bostic had 25 points and 12 boards.

The closest outcome saw No. 15 Kentucky (5-0) beat visiting Purdue Fort Wayne 79-67, Virginia Tech transfer Georgia Amoore, who followed coach Kenny Brooks to the Wildcats, had 23 points and Dazia Lawrence was 8-15 from the field, five from deep, for 21 points.

No. 10 Kansas State cruised to a 73-43 victory over Little Rock of the Ohio Valley Conference as Ayoka Lee and Zyanna Walker each scored 16 points.

 

The Guru NCAAW Report: Notre Dame Enjoys Homecoming Trip Beating Lafayette; Penn State and Lehigh Win.; Upsets Delivered to Stanford and NC State by Indiana and TCU

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

EASTON, Pa. – Last season Rutgers got visitored in a manner of speaking when Iowa’s appearance on the Big Ten schedule spawned a rare sellout at Jersey Mike’s Arena which was decidedly awash in gold rather than scarlet, fans wearing jerseys with the number 22 belonging to one Caitlin Clark.

“Was your daughter wearing one of those?” Rutgers coach Coquese Washington was asked.

“Yes, and she’s walking home,” Washington quipped to a round of laughter.

On Sunday afternoon here at a near sellout crowd of 2,329 in the Kirby Sports Center, Lafayette’s maroon gave way to green, the result of the Leopards hosting No. 6 Notre Dame, the ACC-favorite Irish bringing home Olivia Miles, who hails a mere short distance away across the Delaware River in Phillipsburg, N.J.

It was also a near homecoming for sophomore sensation Hannah Hidalgo, the ACC preseason player of the year, from Merchantville, as well as Sonia Citron from outside New York City, and Kylee Watson from outside Atlantic City.

If Notre Dame (4-0) made quick work of Lafayette given the comparisons of rosters and riding a program record afternoon of 15 three-pointers to a 91-55 victory, the team did not make a quick get-away, being mobbed for autographs by the bus parked just outside the arena.

The Irish air attack connecting 11 of those 15 in the first half, was a near perfect 6-8 in the second quarter.

Miles, who missed last season with an ACL injury, was not distracted by her well-wishers, scoring 20 points, with 11 rebounds and seven assists.

“I thought we had a great team win,” said ND coach Niele Ivey, who has been running the show at her alma mater in South Bend (Ind.) now in her fifth season since the retirement of Big 5 Hall of Famer and Saint Joseph’s grad Muffet McGraw, whose coaching career began down the road in Bethlehem at Leopards’ Patriot League arch-rival Lehigh.

“Really fun to watch. We’ve had a lot of (lineup) changes, so our rhythm has just been what we have available. We’re constantly pivoting and adjusting, but that’s a credit to the character of the group.”

Hidalgo continued to shine after being the top freshman in the country last season not named JuJu Watkins at Southern Cal. She led the winners with 29 points, and had five steals and five assists, while freshman Kate Koval lived up to being the new rookie flavor on campus with 11 points and 19 rebounds and seven blocks, the most Irish rejections since Brianna Turner in 2017 and the boards were just three short of another program record.

“That was an amazing performance for anyone, let alone a freshman,” Ivey said. “She stepped up and did what needed to be done. She’s bringing it every game.”

Sonia Citron was also in double figures with 10 points.

Though the matchup could be akin to a mid-major hosting a WNBA all-star team, the Leopards (1-3) competed as best they could, not being intimidated by the jerseys worn by the opposition.

In doing so, they held Notre Dame to its lowest differential (36) of the young season.

“They competed, and that’s one of the things we talked about, we understood their personnel and what the challenges presented for us, but at the same time we thought there were some opportunities for us,” said Lafayette coach Kia Damon-Olson.

“For us, it’s never about our opponent, it’s always about can we get better with the things we’ve been working on for the last couple of days and I thought that we needed to be super attentive coming off the Marist game where I thought we weren’t as attentive as we needed to be.

 “The girls tried to slow down the Notre Dame attack and as you can see in transition, they’re a handful for anyone to deal with and then battling against some of their size on the interior, that was a problem as well.”

Kay Donahue had 18 points for Lafayette, while Sauda Ntaconayigize scored 17 with eight rebounds, career highs for both through the nets, and Abby Antognoli scored nine.

The Leopards next have another nationally ranked opponent, traveling to No. 15 West Virginia on Friday in Morgantown at 7 p.m. (ESPN+).

Of course, this one, being unavoidable out of the way, sets up a national highlight just ahead for the Irish.

“Yes, now we can talk about it,” Ivey smiled.

“It,” being Saturday’s trip to No. 3 Southern Cal in Los Angeles (4 p.m., NBC), matching Watkins and Hidalgo for the first time.

“I think it’s a great matchup for women’s basketball, and we’re looking forward to going there,” Ivey said.

That comes a day before another showdown out west in L.A. with No. 5 UCLA hosting No. 1 South Carolina, the defending national champions.

Next month for the Irish comes games at home against No. 4 Texas and then the ongoing rivalry with No. 2 Connecticut, which means a visit from Paige Bueckers, who learned early Sunday evening she’s likely heading to WNBA Dallas, which won the No. 1 draft lottery pick. Villanova alum Maddy Siegrist represented the Wings on the ESPN telecast.

Three other locals played Sunday, Lehigh rallied from an eight-point deficit going into the fourth quarter and dominated the period 23-8 going on to a 62-55 victory at Brown of the Ivy League at the Pizzitola Sports Center in Providence, R.I.

“I love how our kids responded in the fourth quarter,” said Lehigh coach Addie Micir, who competed against the Bears (1-3) playing for Princeton. “It took a little bit, but we took a deep breath after the third quarter, we took care of the ball, rebounded defensively, and we made shots.”

Maddie Albrecht, the Patriot League player of the week, had 16 points and 13 rebounds for Lehigh (3-1), while Ella Stemmer scored 15, and Lily Fondre scored 13.

The Mountain Hawks next hosts Hofstra of the CAA Friday in Stabler Arena at 6 p.m. (ESPN+).

Penn State reached triple digits for the second straight game, beating Monmouth of the CAA 100-55 to finish the season-opening home stand in the Bryce Jordan Center at 5-0.

Gracie Markle had 24 points and seven rebounds with three blocks, while Moriah Murray scored 17, Gabby Elliott collected 11 and reserve Taliyah Walker scored 18, shooting 7-8 to keep the Hawks (0-5) winless.

The Nittany Lions now head to the new WBCA Showcase in Orlando, Fla., playing Marshall, Thursday (7:30 p.m., Peacock), and Georgia, Saturday (2:30 p.m.).

La Salle (1-3) was competitive in the first half at Virginia (3-1), trailing the Cavaliers 29-25 at the half, but got outscored 47-23 the rest of the way for a 76-47 loss in Charlottesville at the John Paul Jones Arena.

Reserve Joan Quinn had 16 points for the Explorers, while Aryss Macktoon scored 13.

Kymora Johnson had 20 points for Virginia, leading four other teammates in double figures, including Latasha Lattimore, who had 12 points and 12 boards.

The Explorers host Rider at the John E. Glaser Arena, Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. iESPN+).

No locals are on Monday’s NCAA slate, but three teams are on the road Tuesday: Temple, going for three straight, visits Georgetown at 7 p.m. (FloHoops) in Washington, D.C.; Delaware hosts Colgate at 11 a.m. (FloHoops) in the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark; Rutgers (5-0) takes its first road trip, the Scarlet Knights visit Virginia Tech in Blacksburg at 6 p.m. (ACCNX).

The National Scene

Two more weekend upsets highlighted the schedule of ranked teams, Indiana downed No. 24 Stanford 79-66 at home in Bloomington as Chloe Moore-McNeil scored 21 and Yarden Garzon scored 18 to help the Hoosiers (2-2) avenge last year’s rout by the Cardinal (4-1), who got 15 points from Nunu Agara to lead the visitors.

TCU (4-0) at home in Fort Worth, Texas, rode Sedona Prince’s 31 points and 16 rebounds to a 76-73 upset of No. 13 N.C. State (2-2), holding off a Wolfpack rally.

Taylor Bigby’s shot with 8.4 seconds remaining in overtime sealed it for the Horned Frogs.

Elsewhere, No. 16 Duke avoided the peril many teams have succumbed playing at South Dakota State in Brookins and pulled out a 75-71 victory as Jadyn Donovan had 23 points and 15 rebounds for the Blue Devils.

The Jackrabbits (3-1) were led by Brooklyn Meyer, who had 25 points off 9-13 from the field.

Rutgers transfer Kaylene Smikle had 21 points for No. 11 Maryland (5-0) in a 98-63 win over nearby Towson (0-4), coached by former Terrapins star Laura Harper, a Cheltenham grad who played in the WNBA.

Villanova transfer Christina Dalce had 13 points and 10 boards for Maryland, while Shyanne Sellers had 10 points and 10 assists.

Harmony Turner followed up her 41 points in a win over Boston College to lead Harvard (4-1) to an 83-41 win at Maine (2-2).

Iowa (4-0) stayed unbeaten winning 86-73 at Drake (2-2) as Addison O’Grady had 27 points and 10 rebounds while Villanova transfer Lucy Olsen continued to score in double figures, collecting 18 points.