The Guru’s NCAAW Report: Penn Record Crowd Sees Quakers Topped By No. 23 UNC as Freshman Hapring Scores 30

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsgurux

PHILADELPHIA – Courtney Banghart is a Power 4 coach at No. 23 North Carolina, but her roots are Ivy League as a star player back in the day at Dartmouth and then as a constructor building Princeton in her first mentor job into a nationally relevant force.

That was one side of a highly entertaining contest and sideline reunion with Penn coach Mike McLaughlin at The Palestra Saturday afternoon that saw a Penn program record crowd of 2,714 fans with a large splash of Tar Heels Blue witness the Quakers (4-1) extend the visitors from the Atlantic Coast Conference midway into the fourth quarter until UNC pulled away in the closing minutes for a 71-60 victory.

In the process, the locals here got to see potentially the first draft pick of the future WNBA franchise in South Philly when the team goes online in 2030 in UNC 5-10 freshman guard Kate Harpring from Atlanta, the nation’s number four prospect, who was the difference avoiding a potential upset in playing all 40 minutes scoring 30 points, nailing five shots on nine attempts from deep, shooting 52.4 % from the field along with seven boards and three steals.

“…maybe some other nights we don’t need the same line and that’s ok, but tonight we needed it and she was exactly what we needed,” Banghart said.

On Friday, Harpring, whose dad Matt played for the 76ers a season 25 years ago, ran the steps of the Art Museum paying tribute to the “Rocky” movie series, saying they were her dad’s favorite. She sent him a photo as he was unable to be here due to her brother playing football in Florida.

“She’s wired in a way, there’s a competitiveness to Kate,” Banghart said. “If she had 40 and we lost, she wouldn’t be happy.

“She’s really a special talent. She can keep getting better. She’s one of the special ones, what she’s doing now and how little she’s played college basketball.”

This was Hapring’s first true road game; UNC opened the season losing to nationally ranked Oklahoma in Paris and then to No. 1 South Carolina, coached by Dawn Staley, Sunday in Charlotte before winning at home Wednesday.

“We’re still putting our new pieces together,” Banghart said. “We brought nine back, which is pretty good, but we’re still (establishing the chemistry).”

Achol Acot added 16 points as the other UNC player in double figures.

Having been in The Palestra many times, Banghart made sure Harpring would not leave town before having a cheesesteak but would not mention the establishment to not offend any of the other places offering the local specialty.

Harpring admitted to not knowing much about The Palestra and its storied history, saying, “I did one camp here, but I’d never really played here, and being in a gym like this, it’s just super cool. It was a lot of fun.”

A few years after Mike McLaughlin came along from D2 power Holy Family in the Northeast section of the city and rose Penn from what had been a doormat status in the Ivies, as Banghart reminisced afterwards, the Quakers and Tigers had some terrific battles for league supremacy.

Both coaches being extremely competitive, outsiders thought the league had its own version of (Tennessee’s) Pat (Summitt) and (UConn’s) Geno (Auriemma in that era.

But, in fact, the two communicate a lot and during a recruiting trip in the offseason in Atlantic City as both chatted, with the 100 anniversary of The Palestra looming this season, McLaughlin raised the idea of a home-and-home.

“The storyline was that Mike, and I have some sort of beef, instead, I’m sitting next to him recruiting and he said, ‘you know, we’ve got a 100-year celebration of the Palestra and you should come up,’ and I said, ‘I’d love to, let’s do it,” Banghart said. “To bring our guys, knowing we were going to be youthful … into a true road game shows the respect I have for him and the friendship we have built over 20 years really.

“Courtney and I, we talk, everyone thinks this crazy thing is going on,” McLaughlin said of his invitation. “When you compete the way we did for eight years together, we were both at the top of the league and when you’re in competition, there’s things said. I’m sure I’m just as guilty as she was but I have a lot of respect for her.

“She wanted to come to Philadelphia; I was going to bring a big-name school here and she was the first one to ask me and I said, `let’s do it. It probably took us less than two minutes to figure it out.”

Banghart further giving motivation for accepting, “This is sort of their Super Bowl, right? When I was at Princeton, I couldn’t get anybody, any Power Four, to come so he deserves this. He deserves a Power Four to come and play in The Palestra on a Saturday — he said it can’t be on a Sunday because of the Birds – so I knew what I was putting these guys into.”

Penn’s performance gave hope to the Quakers faithful that perhaps the squad could do better than its preseason pick of fourth in the Ivies, whose tournament will be here in March.

Seniors Mataya Gayle in the backcourt and Tina Njike put on their own show for Penn, Gayle firing 24 points, Njike scoring 18 while Brooke Suttle grabbed 10 boards and Katie Collins added nine.

The Penn players noted that many of the crowd were children they work with in the Penn community.

“It was really meaningful,” Gayle said. “We had a lot of people here today, some of the kids we work out with in Philly (Skilladelphia Academy) were here, we know a lot of them, so it was really amazing to have that community support. We wanted that one for them.”

Gayle also spoke of playing in the atmosphere.

“I think it contributed a lot to how hard we went,” she said. “Being a senior, being here a couple of years, it means a lot to us. It definitely contributed to me personally how hard and how much we wanted this one.”

North Carolina next goes to Orlando to play Texas Tech Thursday in the WBCA Showcase.

The Quakers’ next game is Wednesday on Hawk Hill playing Saint Joseph’s at Hagan Arena in a Big 5 game that would send them to the Dec. 6 title contest in the Big 5 Classic Triple header at The Palestra.

Saint Joseph’s, a unanimous pick by the Atlantic 10 coaches to win the league, plays their first Big 5 game Sunday at 2 p.m. (FloCollege) three blocks up the street at Drexel, whom Penn beat at the buzzer last week.

“We didn’t end the game the way we wanted to but the way we were able to fight with the No. 23 team in the country, I just have a lot of confidence in us,” Njike said. “We are very early into the season so I’m just excited to see where this game takes us.”

Rider Bested at Yale

In Saturday’s only other local game, Rider (1-2) on the road in New Haven, Conn., fell at Yale 65-47 as the Bulldogs stayed unbeaten at 4-0.

“We lost to a good team today,” said second-year coach Jackie Hartzell. “I thought we showed a few bright spots throughout the game and tried to fight back in the fourth quarter.

“Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get a big stop when we needed it.”

Aliya McIver was the only Broncos player in double figures, scoring 10 points.

Lea Vukic scored 19 for Yale, Luisa Vydrova scored 13, Helena Keane scored 12, and Dora Kastl grabbed 11 boards.

Rider goes to FDU Tuesday at 7 p.m., the game on NEC Front Row.

The National Scene: Ranked Teams Keep Rolling

Besides the Penn game hosting UNC, there were four other ranked teams Saturday playing, all against unranked teams.

The closest of the day saw No. 18 Minnesota edge Kansas State 68-65, the front end of the MarketBeat Invitational doubleheader in which No. 25 Nebraska handled Kansas 105-73 at Sioux Falls, S.D.

In the win with balanced attack by Minnesota (4-0), Natalie Kussow scored 15 points with four blocks as the winners Kennedy Klick’s layup with 39 seconds left put the Golden Gophers in front by a point.

Kansas State (4-1) missed at the Wildcats’ end on the ensuing possession, then Mara Braun added to the lead with a pair of free throws with 21 seconds left and the opposition was unable to connect with a tying 3-pointer as time expired.

Penn State transfer Gracie Merkle added 13 points for Minnesota, while Grace Grocholski added 11 and Braun scored 10. The Wildcats were led by Nastja Claessens with 20 points.

Nebraska (4-0) had an easier time with Kansas (3-1) in the second game, Britt Prince scoring a career-high 35 points for the Huskers.

Playing in the same place in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., as the weekend’s Greenbrier Tip-Off that started Friday, No. 13 Notre Dame (4-0) played its annual Shamrock Classic beating DePaul 108-84 handing the Blue Demons (4-1) their first loss as South Jersey’s Hannah Hidalgo scored 31 points with seven boards, seven assists, two blocks and her 500th career steal for the Irish.

Hidalgo is the fifth player for Division I women to grab 500 steals and she is now the only collegiate men’s or women’s player with 2,500 points, 500 rebounds, 500 assists, and 500 steals.

Leah Macy shot 10-for-13 to add 24 points with nine boards while Jacy Abii had 18 points with nine rebounds, Princeton transfer Madison Rose had 13 of her 16 points in the fourth quarter, and Anaya Hardy 13 with a career-high 16 boards and four blocks.

Kate Clarke scored 20 for DePaul.

No. 6 Texas (4-0) at home in Austin won 91-35 over Tarleton State (2-2) as Brihanna Crittendon scored 16 points.

All-American Booker, who was held out as a precaution after taking a hard fall in her previous game, is expected to return for Wednesday’s game with Green Bay, coach Vic Schaefer said.

In the continuation of the Greenbrier Tip-Off, Northwestern (2-3) under former Princeton coach Carla Berube won 75-61 over Appalachian State (3-1) as Casey Harter scored 22 points and Lily Carmody had 10 rebounds and five assists.

Other scores of note: had Colorado 72-63 over visiting Youngstown State; St. John’s 68, Rhode Island 51 in Queens, N.Y.

Looking Ahead

Locally, the Saint Joseph’s/Drexel Big 5 game Sunday has been mentioned; La Salle is at Virginia Tech at 2 p.m. in Blacksburg (ACCNX); Lehigh at 2 p.m. is at Vermont (ESPN+); Lafayette is at Marist at 2 p.m. (ESPN+); Villanova is at Fairfield at 2 p.m. (ESPN+); Delaware is hosting American at 4 p.m. at the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark; Princeton is at No. 10 UCLA at 6 p.m. on the Big Ten Network; and due to the FAA shutdown Friday, Penn State at Arizona State set for Sunday has been moved to Monday at 4 p.m. on ESPN+.

The WNBA Draft Lottery order will be determined at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN.

The national lineup has the second annual Real S.C. game at Greenville, S.C. at No. 3 Southern Cal faces No. 1 South Carolina at 1 p.m. on ABC, the same time Columbia is at No. 19 Maryland in College Park on B1G+; while at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN No. 4 UConn is at No. 7 Louisville.

No. 12 Kentucky hosts Eastern Michigan at 12 p.m. on SECN+; in the Bad Boy Mowers Series in Sioux City, Iowa, No. 8 Vanderbilt meets No. 10 Iowa, which is tied in the rankings with UCLA; No. 17 Ohio State hosts FDU, which bussed from North Jersey after its flight was grounded; No. 19 Oklahoma State is at South Dakota State at 2 p.m. on CBSSN.

No. 5 Duke hosts Marshall at 3 p.m. on the ACC Network, while No. 15 TCU hosts Abilene Christian at 3 p.m. on ESPN+; No. 21 Ole Miss in Oxford hosts Louisiana Tech at 3 p.m. on SECN+ while at the same time No. 22 Illinois hosts SE Missouri on B1G+.

Seton Hall hosts NC State at 1 p.m. on ESPN+; in the 410 Invitational Loyola, Md., plays Morgan State at 1 p.m. while Towson plays UMBC at 3:30 p.m. in the championship; in the next round of the Bank of Hawai’i Classic Saint Mary’s plays Alabama A&M at 5 p.m. while Hawai’I plays LMU at at 7:30 p.m. on MW+; Gonzaga is at Stanford at 5 p.m. on ACCNX and Oregon State is at Arizona at 9 p.m. on ESPN+

 

 

 

The Guru’s NCAAW Report: Princeton Edges Pepperdine to Stay Unbeaten

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsgurux

In a low-scoring game Ivy favorite Princeton (5-0) was able to handle the Waves of Pepperdine (2-2) Friday night, the only local team on the daily card, and take a 49-41 victory in Malibu, Calif., to start the Tigers’ two-game swing that will get a bit more challenging Sunday afternoon when they travel nearby to face defending NCAA champion UCLA at 6 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.

Fadima Tall was still leading the way for Princeton, scoring 14 points, on 5-for-8 from the field with two makes from deep on the same number attempts while grabbing six rebounds.

Olivia Hutcherson was the only other visiting player scoring in double figures, scoring 12 points with six boards while off the bench Emily Eadie added to the rebounding effort grabbing seven.

Lina Falk had 14 points and seven rebounds while Elli Guiney had 10 each in points and rebounds.

Ranked Teams Sweep

Three squads were in action with No. 9 LSU (4-0) on a light schedule routing Denver (1-4) at home as MiLaysia Fulwiley scored 23 in the 101-37 victory.

Mikaylah Williams added 20 points while ZaKiyah Johnson added 13 and freshman Anna Minaeva grabbed 10 rebounds.

The Tigers next host Troy Monday.

No. 14 Oklahoma (4-0) at home defeated Oral Roberts (2-3) as Sahara Williams triple-doubled with 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists in the 93-62 victory.

The Sooners next host SWAC favorite Southern U. on Sunday.

The two-day Greenbrier Tip-Off began with No. 24 West Virginia (4-0) playing Northwestern (1-3) in state and winning 66-53 as Gia Cooke scored 22 points and Zahirah Walton had 16 points and six steals.

The Mountaineers host Akron Tuesday.

Other National Notables

Four Baltimore schools played under the theme 410 Invitational, the number also the area code, and Towson won 57-53 over Loyola, Md., while UMBC beat Morgan State, 85-50.

The annual Bank of Hawaii tournament got under way, the host Wahinies winning 93-89 in a triple overtime thriller over Saint Mary’s while LMU beat Alabama A&M 73-37.

Elsewhere Belmont beat visiting Troy 72-46; Texas Tech edged Auburn 73-71; Oregon won 79-72 at Maine; Marquette won 70-58 at Missouri State; Grand Canyon topped visiting Gonzaga 82-62; and Stanford won 66-55 at Santa Clara.

Looking Ahead

Locally, Penn Saturday hosts No. 23 North Carolina at 4 p.m., Tar Heels coach Courtney Banghart returning to the scene of Ivy battles when she guided Princeton.

Rider already played in the only other local scheduled losing 65-47 at Yale.

Nationally, No. 13 Notre Dame is at Greenbrier playing the Shamrock Classic and is up 49-34 on DePaul as this is written, the game on NBC.

In the MarketBeat Invitational, No. 18 Minnesota is meeting Kansas State; No. 25 Nebraska is at Kansas; and No. 6 Texas under way is up 41-15 over Tarleton State at the half.

 

The Guru’s NCAAW Report: Penn, Villanova and Rider Claim Victories; Tulsa Upsets No. 19 Oklahoma State for First-Ever Ranked Win

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsgurux

PHILADELPHIA – The locals went 3-0 Thursday night, here at The Palestra where host Penn (4-0) got a slow start and then started churning on the way to a 72-53 win over Longwood (2-2) which proved an excellent tuneup for Saturday afternoon’s 4 p.m. visit from No. 23 North Carolina (ESPN+) marking the return of Tar Heels coach Courtney Banghart from her days as a Dartmouth player in the Ivy wars and then coaching Princeton as a national force.

Out on the Main Line, Villanova (1-2) had its home opener at Finneran Pavilion and shook off two opening road losses to get the Wildcats’ first win of the season, a 97-55 rout of Merrimack.

Up north on the road Rider (1-1) picked up its first win, triumphing 56-45 at Central Connecticut (0-4), which is seeking its first victory of the season.

Nationally, it was a nice night for The American, the conference of which Temple is a member, as Tulsa (2-1) became the first unranked team to beat a ranked team this season, occuring on the 12th day by downing No. 19 Oklahoma State 64-62 in overtime.

It was also the first time in 56 games that Tulsa beat a ranked team and flipped the Cowgirls (3-1) , the last of such opponents faced, a year ago when Oklahoma State won 90-58 in Stillwater.

American favorite South Florida (3-1) under new coach Kristy Curry won 72-70 at Florida (3-1) of the SEC, while American member Memphis (4-0) at home upset Curry’s former team Alabama of the SEC 75-70 handing the Crimson Tide (4-1) their first loss of the season.

In the Penn game, center Tina Njike and freshman guard Rachel Thatcher of the Quakers each scored 16 points, with Thatcher going 3-for-3 from deep, pulling 10 boards, with three steals and five assists, playing all but 50 seconds.

Njike pulled seven boards, Brooke Suttle was 4-for-8 from beyond the arc and scored14 points and Mataya Gayle scored 11 points.

Longwood got 14 points from Kayla Washington, Shakira Gresham scored 12, and

Nal’La Bennett scored 11 drawing a nice crowd off her local roots of Sicklerville, N.J., and Friends Central High, whose collegiate career began at Stony Brook on Long Island.

“That may have been their intent give her a homecoming but we were just looking around for people to go home-and-home as part of our scheduling,” said veteran coach Mike McLaughlin.

A 13-0 run in the second quarter gave the Quakers control of the game the rest of the way, building a 21-point lead in the fourth quarter.

“They got a really nice team, well-coached, they’re going to give a lot of teams trouble,” McLaughlin said the Quakers’ opponent.

But he was generally pleased with his outfit.

“They controlled the tempo the first half but I thought the second half we controlled the tempo both sides of the ball,” McLaughlin said.

He had praise for Thatcher who is the latest in a long line of freshmen he has recruited who have stepped in and been a big factor from the moment they made their collegiate debutes.

“What are you going to say … she can score the ball, she’s tenacious on the glass, as a freshman to come out there and perform 39 minutes,” McLaughlin said, also praising Njike’s development to date.

“Tina’s worked real hard,” he acknowledged.

North Carolina (1-2) comes to town having lost the Tar Heels’ first two games, 91-79 to then-No. 21 Oklahoma in Paris, 84-39 Sunday to Dawn Staley’s No. 1 South Carolina squad, and finally got a win 109-40 at home over NC Central in UNC’s home opener as the Tar Heels set a program record with 18 shots connected from beyond the arc.

UNC features one of the top freshman in the nation in Kate Hapring, who had 16 points with five boards and five assists in Wednesday’s victory.

Villanova Sinks Merrimack

In the Wildcats’ win, Jasmine Bascoe continued to impress in her junior year to date, scoring a game-high 26 points against the winless opposition (0-4).

Tied 13-13, Villanova then ripped off an 11-0 run to close the opening period up 24-13.

The home folks continued to build on their advantage throughout the rest of the game reaching a 53-point lead.

Defensively, Villanova forced Merrimack into 15 turnovers in the first half.

For the game behind Bascoe’s performance, EJ Bender added 13 points, Kelsey Joens scored 12 and Kennedy Henry scored 10 while Simone Pelish grabbed 10 rebounds.

For the game, the Wildcats had 24 steals and forced 29 turnovers to mine 42 points.

 

Villanova returns to getting tested by bigger fish on Sunday, traveling to multi-Metro (formerly MAAC) champion Fairfield at 2 p.m. (ESPN+).

Fairfield Thursday took down a Wildcats’ Big East rival on the road, defeating Seton Hall 69-67  to stay unbeaten at 3-0 while the Pirates (2-1) suffered their first loss.

Preseason Metro player of the year Kaety L’Amoreaux had 26 points with five rebounds.

Hoddinott Leads Rider

Giana Hoddinott led the Broncs to their first win scoring a career-high 18 points while grabbing four rebounds and adding three assists.

Gabby Sweeney followed up her 11-rebound mark her previous game by equaling that total on the boards on Thursday.

“I am really proud of the resiliency our team showed tonight,” said second-year coach Jackie Hartzell. “We have plenty to improve on, but I am really happy to come out with our first win.”

Rider will stay in Connecticut to face Yale of the Ivy League on Saturday at 11 a.m. in Connecticut.

The National Scene: Huskies Handle Buckeyes

In the third straight game playing a ranked opponent, No. 4 UConn (3-1) after losing last week at Michigan, followed up Sunday’s home win over Iowa by claiming an 87-55 win over No. 17 Ohio State (3-1) to hand the Buckeyes their first loss.

Reigning national player of the year Anna Strong had 25 points for the Huskies fueled by a career-high seven 3-point shots and was 9-for-12 from the field in her game and missed just one 3-point shot in her eight attempts.

Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma’s record-breaking collegiate win total for men or women reached 1,291.

Ashlynn Shade added 15 points, freshman Olivia Vukosa had 12 rebounds.

The Buckeyes’ Jaloni Cambridge had 21 points on a mediocre 6-for-21 from the field and 1-for-7 from deep. Ava Watson had 13 points.

Defensively Uconn hampered an Ohio State squad that had been shooting nearly 50 percent their previous games to 19-for-55 from the field for 34.5 percent and 5-for-24 on shots beyond the arc.

Leading 38-35 at the half, UConn erupted for a 27-11 attack in the next period. The Huskies are 8-1 against the Buckeyes, though the one several years ago during their injury-riddled season came in the Sweet 16 ending a long consecutive run to the Women’s Final Four.

The visitors move on to No. 7 Louisville Sunday while Ohio State hosts Fairleigh Dickinson the same day.

No. 1 South Carolina Keeps Rolling

The unbeaten Gamecocks (3-0) won their 16th straight in-state triumph over host Clemson (3-1), this one 65-44, as Tessa Johnson had 13 points and Chloe Kitts had 12 points and 12 boards.

The Tigers failed to make a shot in seven attempts in the third period as S.C. outscored them 21-7.

Next up is the recently created annual Real S.C. game Sunday playing No. 3 Southern Cal in Greenville with 2025 national player of the year JuJu Watkins back in play following rehabbing a knee injury last season.

Wolverines Tame Lions

No. 2 Michigan joined the teams with dominant (3-0) third-quarters Thursday, the Wolverines outscoring host Columbia of the Ivy League 24-14 in taking an 81-58 victory.

Syla Swords led Michigan scoring 17 points while Kendall Dudley grabbed 10 boards.

Columbia’s Riley Weiss scored 23 points.

Olivia Olson had 15 points while Dudley scored 15 also.

The Columbia squad played their highest-ranked opponent ever besides hosting one. The only other ranked opponent to visit Levien Gym off Broadway on the Upper West Side in New York City was Ivy rival Princeton, though No. 5 Duke is on the schedule to visit later this month.

Megan Griffith was back on the sidelines for Columbia after a three-game suspension starting the season following a external review finding her coaching interactions with the team didn’t align with expectations for the program. The Lions also had a banner raising ceremony for winning the 2026 WBIT.

Michigan hosts Central Michigan on Monday while Columbia visits No. 19 Maryland in College Park on Sunday.

Tulsa Upsets Oklahoma State

In the first-ever win over a ranked team besides the first unranked team to beat a ranked team this season Mady Cartright had 17 points while Alisha Peavy had 12 points and 11 boards in the overtime triumph by the Golden Hurricane in overtime.

Oklahoma State kept Tulsa from connecting from the field the final 3:25 of the overtime but was unable to erase all of a 7-point deficit.

Jade Clark had 11 points for the home team and Dora Toman had 10, including five in the extra period.

Iowa State transfer Audi Crooks scored 17 points and Florida transfer Liv McGill had 13 points while Stailee Heard grabbed 15 boards to go with eight points.

Oklahoma State visits Summit contender South Dakota State Sunday.

Ranked Teams Still Dominate

The rest of the ranked teams all won their games against unranked opponents. Toby Fournier came back for her second game of the season following a lower leg injury and led No. 5 Duke (3-0) to an 85-23 win over Norfolk State (1-3) in Virginia before hosting Marshall Sunday at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C.

No. 15 TCU went to 5-0 winning 108-47 over visiting SE Louisiana (1-2) as Clara Silva led the way with 20 points, shooting 9-of-11 from the field. The TCU home-winning streak of 49 is the nation’s longest active one.

No. 7 Louisville (5-0) on the road easily won 94-73 at Ball State (1-2) as Imari Berry scored 22 points in Muncie, Ind. over the favorites in the Mid-American Conference ahead of No. 4 UConn’s Sunday visit to back home in Kentucky.

No. 10 Iowa (3-1) bounced back from Sunday’s loss at UConn winning 78-40 over Northern Iowa (3-1) back home in Iowa City as Dani Carnegie scored 22 points. Freshman McKenna Woliczko scored 14 points with nine rebounds for the Hawkeyes who next host No. 8 Vanderbilt Sunday in Sioux City, Iowa.

Elsewhere in the Big 10, No. 16 Washington at home in Seattle beat Bakersfield 85-51 while defending champion and No. 10 UCLA at home in Pauley Pavilion won 76-44 over Arizona, a rival when both were in the former makeup of the PAC-12. The Wildcats are now in the Big 12.

In key games and wins by mid-majors, in South Florida’s narrow 72-70 win at Florida Stefanie Ingram scored 25 points with 10 rebounds for the visiting Bulls while Memphis in its 75-70 win over Alabama got 17 points from Tamya Smith off the bench and got 12 rebounds to go with 11 points from Daejah Richmond.

Richmond of the Atlantic 10 got a big second half to down nearby Old Dominion of the Sun Belt 90-67, Holy Cross of the Patriot League won at the Ivy League’s Brown 77-64.

Tennessee (4-0) at home in Knoxville with a totally remade roster blasted Middle Tennessee 100-64 as Kaylene Smikle, a former Rutgers player who made several other stops, scored 30 points for the Lady Vols.

Next up Tuesday is a visit to Missouri Valley contender Belmont in Nashville, Tenn.

Looking Ahead

Locally in the first of two stops Friday Princeton visits Pepperdine at 9 p.m. in Malibu, Calif., on ESPN+.

Nationally, the Bank of Hawai’i Classic gets under way with Saint Mary’s playing the host Wahinies at 4 p.m. on the Mountain West Network MW+ and LMU playing SWAC contender Alabama A&M at 7:30 p.m. on YouTube TV.

In the Greenbrier Tip-Off Northwestern plays No. 24 West Virginia at 5:30 p.m. on CBSSN, in the 401 Invitational involving Baltimore area schools this weekend, Towson is at Loyola, Md., and UMBC hosts Morgan State.

Elsewhere, Oregon making a Northeast/New England swing visits Maine at 7 p.m. on ESPN+, PAC-12 favorite Gonzaga is at Grand Canyon of the Mountain West in Phoenix at 8 p.m. on the CW; Stanford is at West Coast favorite Santa Clara at 10 p.m. on ESPN+, and among ranked teams, No. 14 Oklahoma hosts Oral Roberts at 11:30 a.m. on SECN+, which also airs No. 9 LSU hosting Denver at 7 p.m. in Baton Rouge.