The Guru’s March Madness Report: Day 4 as Rhode Island Unseats George Mason for First A-10 Crown; Villanova Advances to the Big East Title Round; No. 3 South Carolina Upset by No. 4 Texas in SEC Championship

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsgurux

HENRICO, Va. – Just a short drive from here across the lower Appalachian Mountains from where Tammi Reiss hooked up with Philly’s Dawn Staley short of four decades ago to form one of the all-time collegiate women’s basketball backcourts and lead Virginia to its first ACC championship and onto national prominence, Reiss was back in the Old Dominion State Sunday afternoon to earn another date with history.

Now coach of Rhode Island, a program that had spent most of its history in the depths of the Atlantic 10, Reiss’ Rams (28-4) completed the mission that fell just short two seasons ago against nearby Richmond winning a defensive low-scoring slugfest to unseat reigning tournament champion George Mason 53-51 here at Henrico Sports & Events Center, earning URI it’s first automatic qualifier to the NCAA women’s tournament and second overall appearance.

The last one? They were an at-large choice in 1996.

The way Reiss partook in the Rams celebration after the game’s conclusion, brought recollections of all that energy she provided in Charlottesville and often showed the future coach in her persona the many times she took over postgame press conferences from Hall of Famer Debbie Ryan.

In year 50 of the conference’s existence and 30 years after appearing as a 10th seed losing to Oklahoma, Reiss made sure her team knew of what it had just accomplished after the squad reached the locker room.

“You’ve done something that in 50 years no one else has ever done,” Reiss revealed her post-game words to her players. “The first one feels so good. This one is special because it’s never been done at our school. You can only be first once.”

This tournament saw the high seed win each round, a first since 2001, although George Mason needed a late comeback on Dayton in the quarterfinals and Saint Joseph’s had a potential winning shot denied in the closing seconds against Davidson by an offensive charge call from the officials.

Finland’s post player Albina Gray, the tournament MOP, had nine points and 10 boards, but dominated Rhode Island’s comeback the previous day.

Brooklyn Gray and guard Sophia Vital also were cited, Gray scoring 16 points Sunday and Vital adding to four points she sprayed the stat sheet with seven boards, a pair of assists, two steals and a key make in the closing minutes.

For the Patriots (23-9), Zahirah Walton and Kennedy Harris were the other all-tourney picks, Walton scoring 10 points and Harris 15, while Mary Amoateng provided 13 points.

The two teams tied for first in the regular season a game ahead of preseason favorite Richmond, though Rhode Island went most of the way unbeaten in the A-10 until a stunning upset in Philadelphia delivered by La Salle.

At one point during Reiss’ press conference, speculating on a potential matchup, she grinned and said, “How about South Carolina,” where Staley has had a long coaching stint after leaving Temple in 2008 building the Gamecocks to one of the top programs in the nation.

Early on it appeared George Mason might be the first to go back-to-back in nine seasons taking a lead the way Davidson had done against the Rams in the quarterfinals.

“Give credit to Vanessa (Blair-Lewis) and her squad,” Reiss said. “I knew this game was going to be a drag out knock out war.

“We didn’t start the game with any discipline, so we really went in and settled them down a little bit. We had to remind our team who you are and what you do. They came out and executed, especially defensively.”

Speaking of the co-champions going in, Palmire Mbu said, “Today was our game to prove we were the real champions, and it just feels great.”

As the second half through the third and fourth quarters came along, Rhode Island, defending GMU into a 32.2% overall effort from the field, was able to build a slim lead and hold on to it.

“I thought it was a great game by two powerhouses,” Blair-Lewis said. “It was a slugfest nd both teams really stepped up and competed today. I’m proud of these ladies, three games in three days.

“I just think at the end of the day, we did not put the ball in the hole, the way we needed to. We are still regular seasons champions and to be able to get to this point again, somebody had to win, and somebody had to learn.”

Reiss when asked what the comparison was as a player helping to lead Virginia to its place in history and now Rhode Island, she responded, “It’s different as a coach. When you’re a player, you control the game.

“And I’ve always said, ‘players win games,’ so winning that first one at Virginia was so special.

“It’s why we all went to Virginia. They had never won one. We wanted to be the first. We didn’t want to be another horse in the stable. I always went there for that reason and to get to Final Fours, but as a player, it’s just absolutely fulfilling for all the hard work you do through the course of your career, and Brooklyn said it best, ‘Everything flashes in your mind. All those 6 a.m. track workouts, …, everything flashes when suddenly the buzzer goes off.

“As a coach, I don’t think about myself at all. All I thought about was them. I told them all I cared about was for them to have that feeling, because I know what it feels like as a player to cut down nets and win championships so as a coach it’s completely different.

“It’s like a mother. All you want your child to do is succeed. I have 14 children. It was so fulfilling, but in a different way.”

So far, the act of bid stealing at other mid-majors has been nil, raising the possibility that Richmond and George Mason could be taken by the NCAA as at-large bids.

The data points for the Patriots are a little further off from Richmond, whose coach Aaron Roussell noted after the Spiders’ loss the team had done all necessary to be ahead of the class when it comes to mid-major teams.

A key will be this weekend at Cornell, the site of the Ivy tourney, where No. 23 Princeton with another title, could be the only Ivy team in the field, opposed to three representatives a year ago caused when Harvard won the title.

Princeton is the only one this year believed to have enough to be rescued if failing to add another trophy.

Fast Start on Seton Hall Sends Villanova Against No. 1 UConn for Big East AQ Bid

The Wildcats (25-6) will be a heavy underdog to the defending national champion Huskies Monday night in the Big East title game at 7 p.m. (Peacock) at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., playing UConn (33-0) a third time.

But consider Villanova a lock for the NCAA tourney, after finishing the regular season second in the Big East and making it stand by gaining the title round for the sixth time and first since 2023 with a 62-48 win Sunday afternoon against Seton Hall (19-12), which will end a three-season drought since the run to the Sweet 16 led by Maddy  Siegriest.

Coach Denise Dillon’s team also has a chance to be ranked Monday when the next-to-last Associated Press women’s poll is released at noon. The AP has tacked on a final vote right after national championship weekend.

On Sunday, Villanova jumped to a 12-0 lead and then held the Pirates off the rest of the way.

Brynn MccCurry scored 16 points for the Wildcats, who will break the absence of Philly teams on the women’s side. Jasmine Bascoe added 15 points while Seton Hall’s Zahara Bishop and Jordana Codio each scored 13 points.

Codio and Bascoe each passed 30 points in their respective quarterfinal games.

In the opening semifinal game, UConn pulverized Creighton 100-51, Sarah Strong having 23 points, seven rebounds, and six steals on the way to the Huskies’ 22nd straight conference championship, including seven when they were in the American Conference.

Coach Geno Auriemma’s squad has won 49 straight overall dating to a late season loss at Tennessee in 2025, and has won 38 conference tournament games

But it’s the first 100-point game for UConn in Big East tourney competition.

Southern Cal transfer Kayleigh Heckel added nine boards, eight boards and seven assists.

Kennedy Townsend scored 13 for Creighton (16-15).

The Huskies jumped to a 27-4 lead in this one, but in the last meeting at Villanova the Wildcats held a three-point halftime lead.

Strong is the first NCAA women’s star in Division I the last 25 seasons with 500 points, 200 boards, 100 assists, 100 steals, 50 from deep, and 50 blocked shots.

Azzi Fudd has 100 3-pointers on the season joining Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Katie Lou Samuelson as the only Huskies women’s stars with 100 assists and 100 3-pointers the same season.

The National Scene

Eight teams Sunday joined Saturday’s Ohio Valley champion as those winning conference titles.

The most notable was in Greeneville, S.C. at the Southeastern Conference championship where No. 4 Texas (31-3), which joined the conference last season, beat No.  3 South Carolina (31-3), 78-61, as Madison Booker scored 18 points for the Longhorns while Joyce Edwards scored 13 for Dawn Staley’s South Carolina squad.

In the Big Ten in Indianapolis, No. 2 UCLA (31-1), which joined the conference last season, blasted No. 9 Iowa 96-45 to make it back-to-back titles as Utah transfer Gianna Kneepkens scored 18 points against the Hawkeyes (26-6).

Iowa’s Ava Heiden scored 15 points and grabbed four rebounds.

In the Big 12 in Kansas City, No. 15 West Virginia (27-6) deprived No. 10 TCU (29-5) of repeating as champions, winning 62-53 as Jordan Harrison scored 21 points and grabbed six boards for the winning Mountaineers while the Horned Frogs got 17 points from Notre Dame transfer Olivia Miles and 16 points with eight rebounds from Cal transfer Marta Suarez.

The top two teams in the ACC, last of the Power Four leagues here, met with No. 13 Duke (24-8), the top seed, rallying for a 70-65 overtime win against No. 12 Louisville (27-7), the second seed, in Duluth, Georgia, as Taina Mair scoring 19 points with 12 boards and Delaney Thomas matching her teammates’ total.

The Cardinals had led all but five minutes of regulation.

Imari Berry scored 18 for Louisville, while Mackenly Randolph scoring 17 points and grabbing 11 rebounds, playing all 45 minutes.

The Blue Devils’ season was like a reverse bell curved, ranked in the top 10, falling out of the poll, which is in its 50th season, with a 3-6 plunge and then going 21-2 the rest of the way.

Samford upset Chattanooga 72-67 to win the Southern Conference, while Quinnipiac (26-5) in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) survived in overtime beating Iona 63-62, the Gaels falling to 20-12, and No. 25 Fairfield (27-4) ousted Merrimack 65-48 in the semifinals in Atlantic City, N.J. Setting up a rematch in Monday’s championship at 6 p.m. between the two-time defending champion Stags and Bobcats, who shared the league’ s regular season title.

In Sunday’s huge upset among mid-majors, in the Mountain West quarterfinals in Las Vegas, Air Force (15-17) upset No. 1 seed San Diego State 93-76 and making it unlikely the Aztecs (25-5) will be taken as an at-large entry setting up a stolen bid.

Next season in a big realignment among mid-majors in the West, the Mountain West and West Coast Conferences will lose members to a re-organized Pac-12 retaking Oregon State and Washington State, which spent two seasons in the WCC, and adding perennial WCC contender Gonzaga among its new lineup.

Besides championships in the MAAC and Big East on Monday, in the Sun Belt fourth seed James Madison (25-8) meets Troy (25-6) at 2 p.m. on ESPNU.

Most of the second and final wave of conference affairs this week begin Monday and run, in some cases, right to a few hours this Sunday ahead of the revelation of the NCAA field at 8 p.m. on ESPN.

The top 16 teams, in alphabetical order, but not by seed number, in a new move,  will be announced Saturday on ESPN. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Guru’s March Madness Local/National Report Day 3: Rhode Island meets George Mason for A-10 Title; Villanova meets Seton Hall in a Big East Semifinal; The Four Majors Ticket Punching to Occur

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

HENRICO, Va. – The two teams who shared the regular season championship of the Atlantic 10 — Rhode Island (27-4) and George Mason (23-8) — will play for the tournament title and automatic bid to the NCAA championship here at the Henrico Sports & Events Center Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. (ESPN2).

For the second straight year, the preseason favorite, Richmond (26-7), which was third just a game behind in the final standings, was dispatched in Saturday’s semifinals, but unlike last year’s last second win by Saint Joseph’s, the Spiders were thoroughly chewed up by their geographic rival Patriots from up the road in suburban  Washington after taking a 12-8 lead out of the first quarter for a 60-45 victory.

In the opener, Rhode Island, coached by former Virginia star Tammi Reiss who shared the backcourt with Dawn Staley in the Cavaliers’ glory years, used a strong second half to finally break away from top-seed Davidson (21-12) to prevail 55-46.

George Mason, which ended up handling Saint Joseph’s in last year’s title game, gave Richmond the same treatment in a dominating fashion following Friday’s stirring overtime comeback on Dayton, winning before the game-clock expired, to advance.

The Patriots relied on their All-Conference First team duo of Zahirah Walton (24 points, nine rebounds) and Kennedy Harris (18 points) to take care of business while on the defensive side GMU was able to limit Richmond’s conference player of the year Maggie Doogan, out of Broomall in suburban Philadelphia and Cardinal O’Hara to 10 points on a 5-for-18 struggle from the field.

“The ladies were locked in today,” said George Mason coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis. “We knew we had to come out and be formidable on defense because they have a really good offensive squad.

“I really thought the ladies were locked in and Za and Ken put the nail in the coffin offensively.”

Richmond, with a big supporting crowd in the stands off the program’s near-by location, had more time to see their approaching demise opposed to the sudden sting of defeat 12 months ago applied by Saint Joseph’s finish.

“Obviously, a really tough one today both personally but also as a program,” said Richmond coach Aaron Roussell. “We wanted this and everybody knows how bad I wanted this for everyone in our program.

“When it ends it hits hard and it doesn’t feel good. We know we’re a really good team; it wasn’t our day today; we just didn’t have it. We went against a team that knows us very well. We had a sense it was going to to be one of those slugfests, but they made some big shots today and had some players step up.

In a make-or-miss sport, it didn’t go our way today.”

Following Richmond’s play in the opening period, George Mason harnessed the momentum in the next opening on an 8-0 run and applying the Spiders with a scoring drought of 5:40 that began late in the first period.

A 12-0 run in the third quarter by the Patriots provided a comfortable advantage and every time the Spiders would score as the game continued George Mason would come right back and answer the score.

“Before we left Fairfax, we said everybody had to be ready,” Blair-Lewis said. “This is everybody’s championship. This is everybody’s run run, so everybody has to be ready.

“There was no concern of putting Page (Greenburg) in nor would there have been anyone,” Blair said referencing a pair of rebounds enabling GMU to keep applying the heat.

“She knows the impact and what she has to do. She knew you have to rebound, especially this time in the game. Page has stayed ready.”

Rhode Island, meanwhile, is going back to the title game for the second time in three seasons, losing the previous one to Richmond’s first capture of Atlantic 10 bragging rights.

The Rams blitzed the conference going unbeaten on the league slate until La Salle delivered a stunner late last month in the game in Philadelphia.

Finland’s Albina Syla was the ticket in this one for Rhode Island scoring 22 points off 11-for-14 from the field, with 14 rebounds while the Rams’ fiesty guard Sophia Vital from Cambridge, Mass., added 10 points.

Davidson’s Charlise Dunn, who led the Wildcats in Friday’s tight quarterfinal victory over Saint Joseph’s, had 15 points, the only Davidson player scoring in double figures.

“The second half was our half,” Reiss said. “We got back to what we do discipline wise, and they executed a game plan to a T.

“I woke them up a little bit at halftime about what we had to do offensively and taking care of the basketball,” Reiss continued.

“Albina getting on the boards and starting us off, she just dominated the boards for us where no one else was going. We rode on her shoulders today. Soph was a one-man show, she was a gnat out there. They did a great job controlling the game.”

Davidson went into the halftime break up 29-25 off blockading URI from connecting from the field the final 5:32 of the half.

Following Reiss’ wake-up talk, the Rams took control in the third quarter as Syla scored 12 points and the Rams went into the final quarter up 41-38.

“I feel like I’m confident with everybody else, so I feel like it is time to be confident in myself,” Syla said of her performance. “That’s when you just get to turn it on and keep playing as hard as you can.”

The Rams went into a 12-2 run during the last period while Davidson was just under six minutes without a point as Rhode Island kept working to get further away from Davidson.

“We had these three goals at the beginning of the season and one of them was to have the best chemistry, to be the most together team and I think it is really showing,” Vital said. “We’re staying together and we’re really locked in on that one big goal, winning that championship.”

Villanova Takes Big East Opener on Bascoe’s Career Night

Out of a long break from Villanova’s season ender and the start of its play in the Big East tournament at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., earning a first-round bye, the second seeded Wildcats erupted in the third period and lived off Jasmine Bascoe’s career-best 31 points to have a cushion to sustain a late comeback from the Friars (15-18) and make it a 3-0 sweep on the season with a 73-65 victory as coach Denise Dillon’s team (24-6) moved into Sunday’s semifinals at 5 p.m. on Peacock, against Seton Hall (19-11).

The Pirates advanced on St. John’s 63-61 as Jordana Codio made two foul shots with a minute left for the winning points as Seton Hall played defense the rest of the way.

Codio was also hot with 35 points but will face Villanova having lost both games in the season series.

The Wildcats, who also got a double double from freshman Kennedy Henry with 13 points and 12 boards while Denae Carter was 5-for-8 from the field, as was Henry, scoring 10 points and grabbing six boards, will likely become a lock for the NCAA by advancing to the title game Monday night.

Henry also was 3-for-4 from distance.

On the other side, No. 1 UConn (32-0), the defending NCAA champion, continued to roll, easily dispatching Georgetown 84-39 to reach the semifinals playing Creighton (16-14), a 57-44 winner over Marquette (18-12).

Serah Williams, a transfer post player from Wisconsin, collected 12 of her 14 points in the first half, while Sarah Strong had 11 points, Azzi Fudd scored 10 to improve the winning streak to 48 games dating back to its launch last season following a loss at Tennessee.

KK Arnold added 12 points.

The Huskies have beaten the Hoyas 43 straight games, are also on 37-straight conference tourney game win streak.

Strong joined former Huskies Nykesha Sales, Jennifer Rizzotti, Rita Williams, Moriah Jefferson, and Gabby Williams as the only UConn players with 100 season steals on the women’s side.

The semifinal game involving coach Geno Auriemma,’s team is at 2:30 p.m. on Peacock.

Penn Gets Revenge While No. 23 Princeton Gets First

It was a bittersweet ending Saturday afternoon for the Penn women on senior day at The Palestra, the Quakers (17-10, 7-7) getting revenge with a 69-56 victory on Brown (16-10, 8-6), whose double overtime win earlier up at Providence knocked coach Mike McLaughlin’s team out of the four-team Ivy Madness this weekend at Cornell’s Newman Arena in Ithaca, N.Y.

Katie Collins and Simone Sayer each scored 17 points, Mataya Gayle had 13 with a perfect 3-for-3 from deep, and Brooke Suttle scored 10.

Elsewhere as seeds were to be decided for the tourney, the day started with No. 23 Princeton (24-3, 12-2) and Columbia (20-7, 11-3) tied for first and Columbia off a 2-0 sweep of the Tigers.

But that’s not how it ended.

Princeton at home in Jadwin Gym got off to a ragged start on Yale but rallied for a 78-55 victory over the Bulldogs.

Fadima Tall scored 22 points and Madison St. Rose had 17 enabling the Tigers to make good on the preseason forecast with a No. 1 finish and top seed because Harvard (17-10, 10-4) upset Columbia 68-64 and will face the Lions in the semifinal game while Princeton plays Brown on Friday, winners meeting Saturday for the NCAA automatic qualifier.

Princeton is the only team capable of an at-large from the Ivies this season as opposed to three overall teams made history advancing last season.

Temple Closes Out Regular Season With a Bounceback Win

Once endangered recently from not making the American tournament this week on Tuesday, the Owls recovered from a rock bottom loss to South Florida in Tampa on Wednesday to beat FAU 84-56 and finish at 14-16 and 8-10 overall in seventh place.

Coach Diane Richardson’s team will open in Birmingham, Ala., Tuesday playing tenth seed Tulane (11-19, 6-12) at 3 p.m.

The winner faces sixth-seed UTSA Wednesday at 3 p.m.

In the win Saturday over FAU, Kelian Cedano scored 16 points for a career-high and Savannah Curry shot 4-for-6 from the field for 12 points.

“I thought we played well,” Richardson said. “I thought our defense was great and we all played together.”

Drexel Earns Third Seed for Coastal Athletic Association Tournament

The Dragons’ winning ways were blunted Saturday in the regular season final, Towson, coached by former Maryland star and Philly great Laura Harper, winning 74-58.

As a result, Drexel (20-9, 13-5) will drop one spot lower to third, still with a double bye into Friday’s quarterfinals in the Coastal Athletic Association in the nation’s capital.

In the loss to Towson, Ameris Baker scored 25 points while Julia Garcia Roig dealt six assists.

Charleston will be the No. 1 seed and ECU the second seed.

Delaware, which lost its season finale the previous day, will open in Game #1in the Conference USA tourney as the eighth seed facing ninth seed Kennesaw Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN+.

The National Scene

The first team into the field of 68 NCAA women’s tournament will be Western Illinois, which became the Ohio Valley champion Western Illinois, which beat Lindenwood 71-65.

On Sunday, the Power 4 conference champion entries into the national field will be decided.

In the Atlantic Coast Conference 12th ranked Louisville (27-6) meets 13th ranked Duke, the Blue Devils advanced with a slim 65-63 win over Notre Dame (22-10) as the Fighting Irish missed three straight shots in the final 11 seconds.

Taina Mair had 16 points for Duke with eight rebounds and Toby Fournier had 14 points and eighth boards while Hannah Hidalgo scored 24 points for Notre Dame with eight rebounds.

Louisville beat third seed North Carolina 65-57 to advance as Imari Berry scored 22 points and collected 10 rebounds.

Saint Joseph’s transfer Laura Ziegler had 13 points for the winning Cardinals.

In the Big 12, defending champion No. 10 TCU (29-4) goes against No. 15 West Virginia (26-6) at 5 p.m. on ESPN.

TCU downed Cinderella Kansas State 74-62 in Saturday’s semifinals as Marta Suarez, a Cal transfer, scored 14 of her 22 points in the third quarter.

Jordan Speiser had 16 points for the Wildcats.

On the other side, No. 15 West Virginia (26-6) got a go-ahead shot score from deep in the final minute from Gia Cook, who had 14 points in the Mountaineers’ 48-47 win over Colorado.

In the Big Ten, No. 2 ULA (30-1) kept pace nationally with the Big East’ UConn, beating No.11 Ohio State 72-62 in Indianapolis where the Bruins on Sunday will face No. 9 Iowa (26-5), which advanced with a 59.

Kiki Rice led UCLA with 17 points, with four teammates also scoring in double figures. The Hawkeyes (26-5) eliminated No. 8 Michigan 59-42 as Ava Heiden scored 16 points and Hannah Stuelke and Chazadi Wright each scored 13 points.

Iowa will meet UCLA at 2:15 p.m. on CBS.

In the Southeastern Conference, No. 3 South Carolina (31-2) meets No. 4 Texas (30-3) after Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks on Saturday continued to beat No. 6 LSU (27-5) as Raven Johnson scored a career-high 22 points and Joyce Edwards scored 15 of her 18 points in the second half.

Texas handled No. 24 Ole Miss 85-68 as Madison Booker had 31 points and 11 rebounds.

The Rebels had advanced to face the Longhorns upsetting No. 5 Vanderbilt.

In MAAC semifinals Sunday in Atlantic City, N.J., No. 25 Fairfield plays Merrimack, the two-time defending champions on the verge of returning the title game again Monday and facing last year’s opponent Quinnipiac, which meets Iona at noon on ESPN+ before the Stags play at 2:30 p.m. on ESPN+.

In the Southern Conference at noon on ESPNU Chattanooga plays Samford, while in the Summit League South Dakota State and North Dakota State play for the title at 4 p.m. on CBSSN.

The Big South winner gets determined between Radford and High Point at 6 p.m. on ESPN2.