The Guru’s Local/National NCAAW RoundUp: No. 1 UConn Second Half Surge Spoils ‘Nova Upset Bid; La Salle Stuns A-10 Leader Rhode Island While Saint Joseph’s Handles Duquesne

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

VILLANOVA – When it comes to beating No. 1 and defending NCAA champion UConn, the gold standard of collegiate women’s basketball, Villanova has been involved in two of the upsets in history of the Huskies – in 2003 when the Wildcats ended a  then-Division I record 70 straight win streak at the Big East championship at Rutgers and four seasons ago 72-69 on Feb. 9, 2022 on UConn’s home court when Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma’s squad was dealing  with a slew of injuries causing many program streak-setting records to come to a close.

Playing UConn in Big East competition for the second time this season after getting blasted up at Gampel Pavilion last month in Storrs, the Villanova faithful wondered here Wednesday night at the half at Finneran Pavilion with the Wildcats holding a 40-37 lead whether they should dare to dream that perhaps upset No. 3 was obtainable, especially since it was the first time all season the unbeaten Huskies (28-0, 17-0) trailed at the end  of two periods.

The answer came quick enough started by a score from UConn graduate Azzi Fudd, potentially the number one pick by the WNBA Dallas Wings in April, which would pair her with reigning rookie of the year and former teammate Paige Bueckers and former Villanova all-timer Maddy Siegriest.

Ten minutes later, even with sophomore Sarah Strong on the bench with her fourth foul, the visitors outscored the Wildcats 26-12 and went on to an 83-69 victory, ending a six-game win streak by the home folks. (21-6, 14-4).

Matters didn’t help any with Villanova, traditionally one of the top ball handlers in the nation, committing 26 turnovers leading to a dominating 28-12 Huskies advantage in transition.

Seventeen of the Wildcats miscues came in the first half leading coach Denise Dillon to note to her players how much better the lead might beat if they had been able to get  more shots off.

Fudd finished with 25 points, Strong, who effected the game when she returned from the bench, had 21 points and 12 boards, while Ashlynn Shade had 13 points.

Villanova sophomore sensation Jasmine Bascoe, who played much better here than in the first game with UConn, had 26 points and nine boards with seven assists, and Denae Carter had a career-best 21 points.

“If it weren’t for our Fudd and Strong, Bascoe would be the best  player in the league,” Auriemma said, also noting it’s near the end of a grueling regular season with the  team a little banged up, and possibly the flue might be going around  his squad.

Villanova, has two games remaining, the first, a chance to avenge a loss when Marquette visits Sunday at 3:30 p.m. on Peacock, being one of them.

The other game sees the Wildcats finish up at Seton Hall in South Orange, N.J., next Thursday. They are currently up 1.5 games ahead of Seton Hall in second with the tiebreaker and at worst will finish third.

The improved play was something for Villanova to hang its hat on in fighting for a potential at-large bid to the NCAA tournament to end a three-season drought.

“We know we have to fight  for all four quarters,” Carter said. “Just try to keep the energy going, that momentum going. I think we took some plays off, but next  time we will work harder keeping that fight.”

If Villanova advances in the tournament, no matter from the second or third  seed, the Wildcats couldn’t see UConn again until the title round.

“Give them credit,” Dillon said of the opposition. “They stuck to their game plan. I think we let up on what we needed to do, the focus and  attention on the defensive end and rebound the basketball, just miss a possession here or there, they are  going to take advantage, and that’s what happened.”

The Huskies have won 44 straight games since a late season loss at Tennessee last season and 64 straight in conference competition.

Auriemma thought there was some value moving forward having used a different mix during the game with Strong in unusual foul trouble.

“The lineup we had out there wasn’t exactly the lineup we have often,” he said. “It’s nice to know that when you do need it, you’ve been in that situation. It’s a great learning experience for your team.”

Off the first half, Dillon bemoaned what might have been with a better second half.

“Overall disappointment we didn’t sustain the momentum we had and making it a possession game as we had wanted,” she said. “UConn got the best of us in that second half.”

This week is the 621st consecutive one UConn has been ranked in The AP women’s poll and on Monday Auriemma tied retired Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer for most coaching appearances in the poll with 654 on week No. 900 in the 50th anniversary season.

Chaos Strikes the A-10 Led by Huge La Salle Upset of Rhode Island

Just as the bandwagon for Rhode Island was suddenly getting crowded off the  Rams’ season success becoming the Atlantic Ten frontrunner, La Salle (15-11, 8-7) struck a potential damaging shot at home in the John E. Glaser Arena with a rally from a 14-point deficit to win 63-59 handing the opposition (23-3, 14-1) their first league loss and ending a program record 17-game win streak.

“Our players believed and executed on (defense) so well,” La Salle coach Mountain MacGillivray said afterword.

“Yeah, undefeated this late in the year is tough to top,” he said when asked if he thought it’s his best win since arriving of the coaching staff of Quinnipiac’s Trish Fabbri. “But Fordham was better,” he said of a win over another Rams contingent early in his head coaching career.

Rhode Island is coached  by Tammi Reiss, the backcourt mate of South Carolina coach and Philly native Dawn Staley on the powerhouse Virginia teams in the early 1990s.

Trailing 46-39 at the outset of the fourth  quarter, La Salle launched a 10-0 run that was part of a 17-4 run across the two final quarters to take control.

Overall, the Explorers owned the final quarter 24-13.

Joan Quinn scored 21 points, shooting 8-for-12 for the winners, while Ashleigh Connor scored 15 points, with five rebounds and three assists, and Aryss Macktoon had 13 points and five rebounds.

Defensively, Lauren Patnode held URI leading scorer Brooklyn Gray to five points on nine boards.

On Sunday La Salle heads to preseason favorite Richmond (2 p.m., ESPN+), which suffered its second straight conference loss this week, the Spiders (22-6, 12-3) falling 57-54 at George Washington (14-14, 6-9) in overtime at the Revolutionaries’  Smith Center in the nation’s capital.

Gabby Reynolds, the only GWU player in double figures, scored 22 points while Broomall’s Maggie Doogan scored 14 points for Richmond.

“It’s wide open,” said Saint Joseph’s veteran coach Cindy Griffin of the league race for seeding for next month’s tournament in suburban Richmond, Va., after her Hawks (18-8, 9-6) at home in Hagan Arena won 61-46 over Duquesne (9-17, 2-13) and still held the tiebreaker in what is now a two-way deadlock with Davidson for fourth and the last double byes into the quarterfinals.

Gabby Casey shot 7-12 from the field and 3-5 from deep to collect 19 points for the home team with nine boards, a rebounding total matched by teammate Faith Stinson, who shot 5-9 from the field for 13 points.

Saint Joseph’s next is at Saint Louis on Saturday at 3 p.m. on ESPN+

Lehigh Upsets Navy

In the Patriot League, Lehigh (14-11, 10-5) at home in the Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa., gained at 75-64 win over first-place and preseason favorite Navy (18-7, 13-2), reducing the Midshipmen to a one-game lead over Army (21-5, 12-3), which won 61-48 over visiting Loyola, Md., and host Navy Saturday at 11 a.m. on CBSSN in West Point, N.Y.

In the Lehigh game, Lily Fandre scored 21 for the host Mountain Hawks with seven boards, while Zanai Barnett-Gay had 14 points and eight rebounds with six assists for Navy.

Lehigh next visits Boston U. at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Lafayette (9-17, 5-10) fell at home 53-44 to Holy Cross (17-9, 11-4) in the Kirby Sports Center in Easton, Pa.

Teresa Kiewiet had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the host Leopards, while Meg Calahan had 15 points for the visiting Crusaders.

Lafayette on Saturday is in Bender Arena at noon on ESPN+ visiting American U.

The National Scene

In the Big Ten, No. 23 Minnesota (21-6, 12-4) continued to surge wining over host and No. 10 Ohio State (22-5, 11-4) in Columbus, the Buckeyes continuing to slide.

Sophie Hart had 18 points for the Golden Gophers who with their ninth straight win moved into fourth in front of their hosts with Mara Braun adding 18 points with nine boards.

Its Minnesota’s longest win streak in conference competition in 22 seasons.

Jaloni Cambridge had 23 points for the Buckeyes, who host Southern Cal Sunday while Minnesota hosts No. 18 Michigan State (21-6, 10-6), which in the Big Ten’s other Wednesday game easily won at home in East Lansing 104-68 over Northwestern (8-18, 2-13).

Grace VanSlooten scored 22 points for the winning Spartans. Northwestern next on Sunday plays Illinois.

In the Big 12 on Wednesday, No. 20 Texas Tech (24-4, 11-4) at home in Lubbock, pulled an 87-56 upset of No. 15 Baylor (22-6, 11-14).

Reserve Snudda Collins scored 23 points and Bailey Maupin collected 22 for the Lady Raiders while Taliah Scott and Darianna Littlepage-Buggs each scored 13 points for the visiting Bears.

Texas Tech, which snapped a long losing streak home in Lubbock to Baylor dating to Jan., 2006, next visits Colorado Saturday while Baylor the same day hosts Arizona.

TCU (24-4, 12-3) (24-4, 12-3) got 21points from Cal transfer Marta Suarez in a 72-50 win at Houston (7-19, 1-14). Olivia Miles scored 18 points while off the bench Veronica Sheffey scored 11 points.

Kyndall Hunter scored 20 for the host Cougars.

The visiting Horn Frogs host Iowa State Sunday.

Looking Ahead

On Thursday, locally, Delaware is at FIU in Florida in a Conference USA game at 11 a.m. on ESPN+ while Rider later in the day in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is at Canisius in Buffalo at 6:30 p.m. (ESPN+).

On Friday, Drexel in the only game of the day, locally, pays a visit in the Coastal Athletic Association to Hampton at 7 p.m. on FloCollege.

On Thursday in the Top 25 in the SEC, No. 3 South Carolina is at No. 25 Alabama at 8:30 p.m. on the SEC Network, which at 6:30 p.m. will air No. 11 Oklahoma at No. 24 Georgia, while at 7:30 p.m. No. 4 Texas is at Arkansas (SECN+), and at 6:30 p.m. No. 21 Tennessee hosts Texas A&M (SECN+).

 No. 7 LSU is at No. 17 Ole Miss at 9 on ESPN.

In the ACC, No. 22 North Carolina is at Virginia Tech at 6 p.m. on the ACC Network; at 7 p.m. On ESPN, No. 9 Duke in Durham, N.C. hosts NC State, while in the Big Ten, No. 13 Iowa is at Purdue at 7 p.m. on B1G+ and at 10 p.m. on the main Big Ten Network, No. 2 UCLA hosts Washington.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Guru’s Local/National NCAAW Roundup: Temple Snaps Three-Game Slide; ‘Nova on Six-Game Win Streak Hosts No. 1 UConn; Ole Miss Downs Tennessee

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsgurux

After holding control deep into the fourth quarter Tuesday night and then letting things get away with just over two minutes left in regulation Temple (11-14, 5-8) nailed eight straight shots from the line and grabbed a 58-54 victory in the American Conference at Charlotte (12-14, 6-7) in Halton Arena in North Carolina.

Prince Anderson, who gave the 49ers a lead just over the two-minute mark, blew a chance to tie it for the home team, missing two foul shots with 11 seconds left, enabling the Owls to snap a three-game losing streak and stay in ninth two spots above the cutoff line for next month’s tournament in Birmingham, Ala.

Temple, which had been making turnovers in huge piles, continued to do so with 21, but defensively the Owls held the opposition to 26% from the field.

 Savannah Curry scored a career-high 21 points for the visitors, shooting 7-for-12 from the field and 3-for-4 from deep. Jaleesa Molina, playing her best game since back from briefly sidelined with an ankle injury, shot 50% (5-for-10) for 12 points, while grabbing 13 rebounds.

Temple is back home in the Liacouras Center Sunday at 2 p.m. (ESPN+) hosting Memphis.

Rutgers Woes Continue

In the only other local game Tuesday the Scarlet Knights (9-17, 1-14) lost a Big Ten game on the road 76-56 at Illinois (18-8, 8-7) in Champaign to stay in the basement way below the cutoff line to next month’s tournament.

Faith Blackstone, back from an injury, scored 13 points, Nene Ndiaye scored 10, and Imani Lester scored nine, returning from a three-game absence.

Rutgers is back home Saturday (4 p.m., Big Ten Network) at Jersey Mike’s Arena hosting Penn State, looking for a sweep over the only team in the conference it has beaten.

On Sunday, in one of two local games on the schedule, the Lady Lions (9-17, 2-13) picked up their second conference triumph, an 81-71 win over Northwestern (8-17, 2-12) at home in Rec Hall, their first victory in the annual Pink Zone game in the fight against breast cancer since 2017.

Rutgers transfer and sophomore Kiyomi McMiller scored 32 points, her fourth straight 30-point game, collecting 32 with 12 rebounds.

Gracie Merkle had 19 points, shooting 8-for-13 from the field with 11 rebounds, and Moriah Murray had 14 points with 12 beyond the arc.

Penn State outrebounded the Wildcats 45-28 and dominated the paint, 40-22.

There were no local games Monday.

Villanova Wins Sixth Straight, Hosts No. 1 UConn Wednesday

In the only other local game Sunday, Villanova (21-5, 14-3) won 74-64 at Creighton (12-14, 8-9) in Omaha, Neb., clinching at least third in the Big East, meaning the Wildcats by advancing couldn’t face No. 1 UConn, the defending national champs who are unbeaten, until the title game in next month’s tournament at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn.

They will, however, host the Huskies (27-0,16-0) playing the second of the home-and-home series Wednesday night at 7 p.m. (Peacock) in Finneran Pavilion (seats still available).

On Monday in the 50th anniversary season, week 900 of the Associated Press women’s poll, Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma, who grew up in Norristown, tied retired Hall of Fame Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer with 654 appearances.

The Huskies have been ranked a record number 621 consecutive times since the the 1993-94 preseason poll over three decades ago.

In Sunday’s win over the Bluejays, Jasmine Bascoe scored 21 points and on Tuesday was named one of five Ann Meyers-Drysdale national players of the week by the United States Basketball Writers Association.

She also had seven boards and five assists.

Three other Wildcats were also in double figures: Kennedy Henry had 17 points and four steals, Denae Carter had 16 points and eight rebounds, and Brynn McCurry had 11 points and nine rebounds.

Elsewhere locally Wednesday, in the Atlantic 10, La Salle hosts first-place Rhode Island, having its best season unbeaten in league play, at 6:30 p.m. (ESPN+) at John E. Glaser Arena, while Saint Joseph’s, in a fourth-place three-way deadlock holding the tiebreaker, hosts Duquesne at 7 p.m. (ESPN+) at Hagan Arena.

In the Patriot League, both at 6 p.m. on ESPN+, Lehigh hosts first-place and preseason favorite Navy at Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa., while Lafayette hosts Holy Cross at the Kirby Sports Center in Easton, Pa.

On Thursday at 11 a.m., Delaware has a Conference USA visit to FIU in Florida on ESPN+, while in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Rider at 6:30 p.m. (ESPN+) visits Canisius in Buffalo, N.Y.

On Friday, there’s just one local game, Drexel has a visit in the Coastal Athletic Association at 7 p.m. to Hampton in Virginia on FloCollege.

The National Scene

On Tuesday, there was just one game of note, in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), No. 17 Ole Miss (21-6, 8-4) at home in Oxford, won 94-81 over No. 21 Tennessee (16-8, 8-4), the visiting Vols coming into the game after a narrow 65-63 home loss Sunday in Knoxville to No. 4 Texas (24-3, 9-3).

Ohio State transfer Cotie McMahon had a career-high 39 points for Ole Miss, passing 2,000 to 2,038, shooting 12-for-22 from the field, 14-for-18 from the line, with five assists and 10 boards in the wire-to-wire win.

Latasha Lattimore added 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Tennessee’s Talaysia Cooper had 30 points.

The game was a reschedule caused by winter weather.

On Thursday Tennessee hosts Texas A&M, while Ole Miss will host No. 7 LSU (22-4, 8-4), coming off Saturday’s 79-72 loss at home in Baton Rouge to No. 3 South Carolina (25-2, 11-1), the visiting Gamecocks’ 17th straight win in the series and 500th for coach Dawn Staley, including her earlier triumphs at Temple University.

On Monday, there were two games of note, in the Big Ten, No. 13 Iowa (20-5, 11-3) won 80-67 at Nebraska (16-10, 5-10) in Lincoln as Ava Heiden scored a career-high 27 points with 11 rebounds and Taylor Stremlow had a career-high 17 points.

The Hawkeyes next is at Purdue Thursday, the same day Nebraska is at Oregon.

In the A-10 in another weather-related makeup George Mason (17-8, 12-2) at home in Fairfax, Va., won 46-37 over pre-season favorite Richmond (22-5, 12-2), both teams trailing first-place Rhode Island (23-2, 14-0).

Kennedy Harris scored 15 for the winning Patriots, Jada Brown had 10 points, and Hawa Komara grabbed 12 boards.

No one scored in double figures for the Spiders; Rachel Ullstrom held to nine points and Broomall’s Maggie Doogan held to seven points with eight boards.

On Wednesday, in the Big Ten, No. 18 Michigan State hosts Northwestern at 6:30 p.m., and No. 23 Minnesota hosts No. 10 Ohio State at 8 p.m., both on B1G+, while in the Big 12, No. 12 TCU is at Houston at 7:30 p.m., and No. 15 Baylor is at No. 20 Texas Tech at 7 p.m., the host Raiders coming off Saturday’s 75-65 upset loss at Oklahoma State.

On Monday, Princeton’s weekend loss at Columbia sent the former No. 24 Tigers out of the AP poll after an eight-week run.

On Sunday, in four key results, then-No. 20 Maryland tied a program record with a 19-point comeback to nip then-No 8 Ohio State 76-75 in a Big Ten game in Columbus; Georgia in the SEC edged No. 5 Vanderbilt 76-74, downing the Commodores who had beaten Oklahoma and Texax the previous week to land on the top seed line in the NCAA committee’s first 16-team reveal; and in the Atlantic Coast Conference, then-No. 11 Duke (19-6, 14-0) at home in Durham, N.C., won its 16th straight with a 72-68 outcome over then-No. 21 North Carolina (21-6, 10-4) and Saint Joseph’s transfer Laura Ziegler scored 14 points to lead then-No. 9 Louisville (24-4, 14-1) to an 88-65 win over visiting Florida State.

The Guru Local Report: Turnovers Bedevil Temple in Loss to ECU; Its Ivy Chaos the Rest of Way; Saint Joe and La Salle Get A-10 Road Wins

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsgurux

PHILADELPHIA – Back on day one when Temple beat Atlantic 10 tournament champion George Mason in the season opener an energetic coach Diane Richardson stated “l hate losing in the semifinals of the American Conference tournament,” a reference to the one-bid only regard the NCAA women’s basketball tournament committee has traditionally treated the league and the reason to load the non-conference portion of the schedule with difficult challenges to be ready for the second portion of the season.

She also complimented her staff for recruiting players to solve some of the weaknesses in the rooster of 2024-25.

That was then and this is now on Saturday afternoon when the Owls (10-14, 4-8) dropped a 79-72 affair to East Carolina (19-7, 11-2) here at the Liacouras Center leaving them in ninth place one spot above the new 10th place cutoff to make the revised five-day event next month in Birmingham, Ala.

Once again turnovers plagued the effort with 24 committed against the second-place Pirates.

“ECU does have a tough defense, but I think our turnovers today were self-imposed, Richardson said. “Not making crisp passes, not going to meet the passes.”

She noted that her players need to move on to the next play after a  miscue where worry over a mistake leads to a second turnover.

Temple managed to stay even at the break 36-36 but then fell way behind 21-12 with ten minutes left, a period that saw another Owls rally that fell short.

Richardson also noted, “we need our bench to step up,” so the starting group can be rested more.

Anzhane Hutton and Kennedy Fauntleroy each scored 19 points with two other ECU players also in double figures.

Richardson said the team still needs a consistent four-quarter effort and play with more confidence.

Saniyah Craig scored 20 points, while Savannah Curry shot 6-for-8 from the field for a career-high 18 points, including two makes from deep, Kaylah Turner collected 14 and Tristen Taylor scored 10 for Temple.

Jaleesa Molina, who missed the last game with an ankle injury, played from the bench, scoring four points in 12 minutes.

South Florida was the overwhelming favorite preseason in the American but the Bulls are in fourth place after Jose Fernandez left to coach the WNBA’s Dallas Wings featuring rookie of the year Paige Bueckers and Villanova standout Maddy Siegrist and possessing the No. 1 pick again in April’s draft.

Teams in the city have made low-seeded runs to conference titles and although the American is considered wide-open, in the new format the bottom four play the first day, advancing to the next round where the five and six seeds have byes.

The third and fourth seeds get double byes to the quarter finals and the top two get passes straight to the semifinals.

But first Temple has to get there and the first attempt to finish the regular season with a kick starts Tuesday at Charlotte in North Carolina  at 6:30 p.m. (ESPN+).

Penn Falls at Columbia While Princeton Wins at Cornell

The Quakers (14-9, 4-6) are now on life support in returning to the four-team Ivy Madness, this year at Cornell in Ithaca, N.Y., after losing 69-56 to Columbia (17-6, 8-2), which got revenge for the recent loss at The Palestra and is tied for first with No. 24 Princeton (20-3, 8-2), which recovered from Friday’s loss to the Lions to win 59-38 at Cornell (8-15, 3-7).

The big damage of the night to the Quakers was not Columbia’s Riley Weiss with 21 points, Perri Page with 15 and reserve Mia Broom with 12 while Susie Rafiu had 10 rebounds.

While Penn’s Katie Collins had 22 points and Simone Sawyer scored 12 with eight points and reserve Abby Sharpe had her best night since an early season injury shooting 4-for-5 in 20 minutes making both three-point attempts, up in Providence, R.I., Brown (15-7, 7-3) pulled a 68-62 upset of Harvard (14-9, 7-3), moving into a third-place tie with the Crimson and No. 3 seed spot, both teams three games up on the Quakers and just a game behind the leaders.

It’s the wildest standings at this point in the season since the start of the Ivy tourney, maybe even overall, in terms of race for placement.

Grace Arnolie had 21 points for Brown while Ada Anamekwe scored 15 with nine rebounds, the same board total as Olivia Young.

Harvard’s Abigail Wright had 29 points and Karlee White had 16.

Princeton’s Madison St. Rose had 15 points while Skye Belker scored 12 and Fadima Tall had 11 points.

The Tigers next host Brown 5:30 p.m. (ESPN+) Saturday while Penn hosts Yale at 2 p.m. (ESPN+) the same day.

As of Sunday morning in the League the Net order is Princeton (47), Columbia (57), Harvard (65), Brown (118) and Penn (129).

A year after a historic three bids to the NCAA the only team with an at-large shot is Princeton, and that has gotten slimmer for the Tigers, likely to drop out of the AP Poll on Monday.

Penn must win its remaining four games Yale, Harvard, Dartmouth, and Brown as step one to survive while Harvard must lose its last four of Cornell, Penn, Princeton, and Columbia, or Brown must lose its last four of Princeton, Cornell, Columbia and Penn.

In either scenario, a dead heat goes to the other teams courtesy of a sweep of Cornell and a Penn split.

The only team Penn has a chance with a better Net if it comes to it is Brown.

La Salle and Saint Joseph’s Take A-10 Road Games

Down in Washington La Salle (14-11, 7-7) took a 67-52 win over George Washington (15-14, 5-9) while in the Midwest Saint Joseph’s (17-8, 8-6) won 63-50 at Loyola, Chicago (12-13, 8-6).

In a big showdown game Rhode Island (23-2, 14-0) continued its historic season winning 79-63 over George Mason (16-8, 11-2) and leads preseason favorite Richmond (22-4, 12-1), which has a makeup game Monday afternoon with George Mason.

Saint Joseph’s is in a three-way tie for fourth with the tiebreaker after Aleah Snead had 16 points, 12 boards and six assists in the Hawks’ win. They next host Duquesne at 7 p.m. Wednesday (ESPN+). Jill Jekot scored 13 points.

La Salle got 18 points and nine boards from Ashleigh O’Connor while Kiara Williams scored 14 points, Joan Quinn had 13 points and Aryss Macktoon pulled down 11 boards.

The Explorers next host Rhode Island Wednesday at 7 p.m. (ESPN+).

Lafayette Upsets Lehigh in the Patriot League

In the Patriot League rivalry game, Lafayette (9-16, 5-9) pulled a 73-59 upset of Lehigh (13-11, 9-5) at home in the Kirby Sports Center in Easton, Pa., as Talia Zurinski scored 19 points for the winning Lepoards, Teresa Kiewiet had 17 points, Haylie Adamski was 4-for-6 from deep and finished with 14 points.

Lehigh’s Lily Fandre had 20 points and Alana Reddy scored 14 points.

Navy and Army, the 1-2 punch with the Midshippmen the preseason pick, continued to win as Navy stayed two games in front of the Black Knights.

On Wednesday, Lafayette hosts Holy Cross at 6 p.m., and Lehigh hosts Navy the same time at Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa., the same time, both games on ESPN+.

Rutgers Falls at Purdue; Rider Beats Marist; Delaware Loses to UTEP

In the Big Ten, Rutgers (9-16, 1-13) fell 72-57 at Purdue (12-13, 4-1) in West Lafayette, Ind.

Kiki Smith led four Boilermakers in double figures with 17 points, while

Nene Ndiaye was 4-for-5 from deep for the visiting Scarlet Knights and scored 25 points while Zachara Perkins scored 10.

Rutgers next is at Illinois, Tuesday, at 7 p.m., on the Big Ten Network.

Penn State (8-17), 1-13), the other Big Ten local and just one of two locals overall, hosts Northwestern at 4 p.m., also on the Big Ten Network.

The other is in the Big East, where Villanova, with a chance to clinch at least third, is at Creighton in Omaha, Nebraska, at 5 p.m. on TruTV.

The Wildcats are hosting No. 1 UConn on Wednesday at 7 p.m. on Peacock and as of Sunday mid-afternoon seats at Finneran Pavilion are still available.

Back to Saturday, down in Newark, Del., at the Bob Carpenter Center, Delaware (12-13, 6-7) dropped a 79-72 game in Conference USA to UTEP (11-13, 3-10).

In the loss, Ande’A Cherisier scored 17 points, Kailah Correa collected 16, and Lay Fontroy scored 14.

The Blue Hens next visit FIU Thursday in Florida at 11 a.m. on ESPN+.

In the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Rider (6-19, 4-12) won 56-43 against visiting Marist (10-17, 7-10) at Alumni Gym in Lawrenceville, N.J., as Aliya McIver scored 19 points for the Broncs and Kristina Ekofo scored 17.

The Broncs next play Thursday at Canisius in Western New York at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN+.

At the top of the MAAC, two-time defending champion Fairfield (22-4, 16-1) avenged its home loss to Quinnipiac (21-5, 16-1), defeating the Bobcats 75-63 in Hamden, Conn., to create a knot in first and split in the series and likely championship showdown again next month in the conference tourney in Atlantic City, N.J.