The Guru’s NCAAW Report: Temple Defense Yields Big 5 Win at La Salle; Rutgers Nips Monmouth; Saint Joseph’s Wins at Cincinnati; Ranked Teams Dominate

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsgurux

PHILADELPHIA – For the second straight game, Temple’s defensive thrust yielded a motherlode of points from turnovers, this time 38 from 22 and the Owls (2-1) after fending several rallies closed with a flourish Wednesday night and took an 89-67 Big 5 road win at La Salle (1-2) away at the Explorers’ John E. Glaser Arena.

The triumph on Temple’s side of the Big 5 two-pod system sets up the showdown Dec. 1 back home in the Liacouras Center hosting Villanova for the Owls’ chance to make the title game for the second time in three years at the Big 5 Classic triple header which will be held at Penn’s Palestra as part of the fabled arena’s 100th anniversary.

“They’ve bought into the defense, they’ve bought into the defense,” said Temple coach Dianne Richardson of her players and also emphasized, “The Big 5 is very important to us.”

Temple had 21 steals and also had 30 offensive boards for 26 second-chance points and contributed to a 58-24 lopsided advantage scoring inside the paint.

Newcomer Shayla Smith, a transfer back to her hometown from Penn State was a two-way threat with 17 points and 14 rebounds, while Saniyah Craig had 17 point and 10 rebounds, Taliyah Logwood had 14 points and a career-high nine steals, while Kaylah Turner added 10 points.

Overall, the Owls had a 51-36 advantage on the boards, and a 22-5 edge in fast break points.

La Salle was able several times to keep Temple from enhancing double digit leads by delivering 12 blocked shots to none from the Owls, though the visitors’ deficiency in that area was made moot by everything else they did.

It may have been a road game on the schedule, but it was pseudo home game for Smith, who played at the arena many times in high school for Audenreid.

“Shayla Smith had a big night, and I don’t know what her numbers were, but she looked like she had been playing in our gym for a long time with Audernreid,” said La Salle coach Mountain MacGillivray. “Shayla was comfortable.”

“Temple has good athletes who play really hard in as game that was allowed to be physical. They made some plays. I feel like Temple made a couple big shots, but I’m pretty sure it was turnovers after rebounds that got us. We didn’t protect the ball and were antsy with it,” he continued.

“It’s what they do. They do a great job of pressing off missed shots. It’s not normal. It is something I would love to do. And they do it really well. That esentially was a big deal to their success tonight. Temple has length and speed that we do not have.”

The Explorers do have a promising freshman in Tiana Thompson, who had a game-high 18 points.

Acknowledging his young roster, MacGillivray said, “we didn’t set out to be the best team in the Atlantic 10 the first week of the season. We played three different (styles) of teams and we’re better now from what we learned in those games.”

La Salle next travels to Virginia Tech, Sunday, at 6 p.m. in Blacksburg, on ACCNX.

Richardson was effusive over Smith’s performance.

“Shayla is starting to reach all the goals we set out for her,” she said. “We’ve known Shayla for a long, long time. We knew she was a scorer. She holds the (local area) record for scoring.

“But we also knew that she knew how to use her body. She knew how to use her body offensively and defensively. We saw her today rebound the ball, so she’s crashing the boards and we talked about playing offense and defense. To play at Temple, you have to be able to play defense. She has shown that shes doing that very well, especially with rebounding the ball.”

Temple next travels to the nation’s capital on Tuesday night at 6 (ESPN+) as the Owls head to the Smith Center to play George Washington, a former rival when Temple was in the Atlantic 10.

It’s a night of mixed feelings because GWU is going to retire the number of WNBA New York Liberty star Jonquel Jones, who is an adopted daughter of Richardson.

Rutgers Mammoth Rally Clips Monmouth on Pauldo’s Game Winner

Coastal Athletic Association favorite Monmouth was poised for a shocker making the trip in neighboring Central New Jersey to build a 17-point lead on Rutgers (4-0) at the Scarlet Knights’ Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway.

Rutgers eventually got in gear and began chipping away and then went up by two with several seconds remaining on a shot by Mia Pauldo, a Tennessee transfer with her twin sister Mya back near her stomping grounds of Paterson, N.J.

But the visiting Hawks (2-1) were not ready to let surrender as Gigi Gamble, the CAA preseason player of the year, who finished with 30 points, knotted the score, only to have Pauldo claim the heroine’s role with a jumper with three seconds left for her 17th point of the night to go with four assists and a steal.

On Monday, Pauldo was one of the five national players of the week cited by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA).

Jaylah Lampley added 12 points for Rutgers, while Zachara Perkins scored 11 points with seven boards, four assists and four blocked shots. Zennia Thomas also had seven boards and had three steals.

Monmouth’s Divine Dibula was also in double figures with 16 points.

Rutgers next hosts Ualbany at 7 p.m. on Monday on B1G+.

Saint Joseph’s Survives Game of Runs Winning at Cincinnati

A 28-11 second quarter for the winning Hawks(2-0) was almost not nearly enough, but with a lead dwindling in the fourth quarter, the visitors reversed direction and went on to a 67-56 triumph over the Bearcats (2-1) at Fifth Third Arena in Ohio.

Rhian Stokes came off the bench to score a game-high 18 points with six rebounds, while Jill Jekot scored 13, Drexel transfer Deja Evans scored 12 with nine boards, and Gabby Casey also scored 12 points.

Cincinnati’s Caliyah DeVillasee had a team-high 12 points.

Saint Joseph’s begins Big 5 pod play Sunday at Drexel at 2 p.m.

Virginia Tops Drexel

The Dragons (1-2), after Friday’s buzzer-beating home loss to Penn, Friday, went on the road to Virginia (4-0) of the ACC and fell 81-39 to the Cavaliers in Charlottesville.

Breona Hurd had 18 points for the home team, Mary-Anna Asare had 15 points, and Kymora Johnson scored 10 points.

Drexel’s Molly Rullo scored 18 points and Laine McGurk scored 10. They now head to hosting Saint Joseph’s Sunday, trying to even their Big 5 record at 1-1.

Lehigh Wins and Lafayette Suffers Narrow Loss

It was a split night for the local duo in the Patriot League in their two non-conference games.

Lehigh (1-2) at home in Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa., won 79-44 over winless Mount St. Mary’s (0-4) for the Mountain Hawk’s first season triumph as Leia Edwards scored 19 points with seven boards, off the bench, Keshia Vitalicio had 14 points, while Olivia Johnston scored 11, and another starter, Ryann Jennings, had 12 points and nine rebounds, a board total equal by teammate Olivia Flemming.

Lafayette (1-2), meanwhile at home in the Kirby Sports Center in Easton, Pa., fell narowly 64-60 to unbeaten NJIT (4-0), Johari Hall leading the losing Leopards in points with 14 and rebounds with seven while Ava Locklear led the winning Highlanders both in points with 16 and completing a double double with 12 rebounds.

On Sunday, both tip times at 2 p.m. and on ESPN+ each, Lehigh visits Amerca East contender Vermont in Burlington while Lafayette goes to Poughkepsie, N.Y., to play Marist.

Winless Delaware Falls at Unbeaten Wisconsin

The Blue Hens (0-3) are still seeking their first victory after dropping a 90-48 visit at Wisconsin (4-0), though Delaware won the battle of the boards 35-31.

Safi Kolliegbo had 14 points, 11 in the first quarter for the visitors, while in the game at Madison the host Badgers were led by Teagan Mallegri with 24 points and Addison Deal scored 19.

Delaware is back in Newark Sunday for its home opener on ESPN+ hosting American U. at 4 p.m. at the Bob Carpenter Center.

Princeton Stays Pefect by Blunting Villanova Rally

PRINCETON, N.J. - On Tuesday in the only game involving local teams, two met each other with Ivy favorite Princeton (4-0) holding off a late rally by the Wildcats (0-2) to win 81-74 wasting on the losing side another strong effort by Jasmine Bascoe with 29 points.

Villanova has not beaten the Tigers since 2023, Maddy Siegrist’s senior season when she hit an incredible shot in a crowd seconds near the finish here at Jadwin Gym.

The home team got off to a hot start and by the third period had built a 16-point 47-31 lead.

The Wildcats then stirred and closed the deficit by the end of the third quarter and were down 57-48 after a 14-8 closing run. The rally continued to move with a few possessions, trailing 62-58 with 5:04 left in regulation when Princeton then blasted its way with an 8-0 run.

Villanova countered again to get within four 78-74 with 20 seconds left but the Tigers closed it out on a 3-1 finish on the foul line.

Kennedy Henry had a career high 23 points for Villanova while Fadima Tall continued her excellent start for the Tigers, who won two over conference contenders Belmont and Murray State and at Richmond, Tall scoring 28 in this one while while Skye Belker added 18 points.

Princeton heads to a West Coast trip visiting Pepperdine Friday and then defending NCAA champion and No. 10 UCLA Sunday.

Villanova heads for its home opener at Finneran Pavilion Thursday night hosting Merrimack at 7 p.m. on ESPN+, the same night the only other two local games, Penn hosts Longwood at 6 p.m. in The Palestra on ESPN+ while Rider visits Central Connecticut in New Britain at 7 p.m. on the NEC Front Row streaming network.

The National Scene

Since the start of the season, there have been upsets among games involving mid-majors beating each other, but ranked teams against unranked teams in games have been perfect.

The domination continued Thursday night, in five games: No. 12 Kentucky at home in Lexington routed Evansville 98-30 as Emily McDonald scored 27 with her points all accounted for setting a program record with nine shots on 12 attempts from deep.

No. 6 Texas at home in Austin blasted Summit contender South Dakota State 93-63 as Jayda Clark scored 24 shooting 10-for-15 from the field; No. 8 Vanderbilt at home in Nashville was a 101-59 winner over Western Kentucky as Mia Woolfolk scored 27 points.

No. 21 Ole Miss at home in Oxford romped 95-41 over Ualbany, Tennessee transfer Talaysia Cooper scoring 29 points, and at home in Chapel Hill, N.C., No. 23 North Carolina set a program record with 18 from deep in a 109-40 victory over North Carolina Central with Nyla Brooks scoring 17 points in the Tar Heels’ first win of the season.

Former Princeton coach Courtney Banghart returns to The Palestra Saturday at 4 p.m. bringing UNC to play Penn on ESPN+.

Looking Ahead

The lite local list was noted above but there are some worthy attractions nationally Thursday as No. 4 UConn (2-1) continues its rugged schedule start visiting No. 17 Ohio State in Columbus, the city of this season’s Women’s Final Four, at 6:30 p.m. on FS1; Columbia in New York City hosts No. 2 Michigan at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.

Games in which ranked teams will be heavy favorites but are worth watching for their evaluation has No. 1 South Carolina paying an in-state visit to Clemson at 7 p.m. on ESPN2; No. 5 Duke visiting MEAC contender Norfolk State at 7 p.m. on the MEAC Network; No. 10 UCLA at 10:30 p.m. hosts former Pac-12 rival Arizona, now in the Big 12, on the Big Ten Network out of the conference the host Bruins are now a member.

Iowa, tied with UCLA for 10th in this week’s AP Poll on the same network hosts Northern Iowa at 8:30 p.m. in Iowa City.

Other ranked teams Thursday in action are No. 19 Oklahoma State at Tulsa at 6 p.m. on ESPNU; No. 15 TCU hosts SE Louisiana in Fort Worth, Texas, at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN+; No. 7 Louisville visits Ball State, the MAC favorite, at 8 p.m. on CBSSN; and No. 16 Washington at home in Seattle hosts Bakersfield on B1G+.

Worthy in the unranked pile: Holy Cross visits Brown in Providence, R.I., at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN+; Fairfield is at Seton Hall at 7 p.m. on ESPN+ in South Orange, N.J.; Middle Tennessee is at Tennessee in Knoxville at 6:30 p.m. on SECN+; South Florida is at Florida at 6 p.m. on SECN+; Old Dominion is at Richmond at 6 p.m. on ESPN+; and Howard is at Iowa State at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN+.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Guru’s NCAAW Report: Delaware and Penn State Still Winless After Road Setbacks

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

On a lite schedule Monday night locally two border schools in the Guru 13 D-1 group on the road stayed winless with Delaware (0-2) to the south getting nipped 57-55 at Towson (1-2) in suburban Baltimore while to the west Penn State (0-3) lost 77-71 at Dayton of the Atlantic 10 in Ohio.

Playing her second collegiate game at Delaware, Ava Andrews had 17 points and six rebounds while Safi Kolliegbo scored 12 points, Frances Ulysse scored 10, and Jordyn Coleman had a personal best nine rebounds.

Towson is coached by Cheltenham grad Laura Harper, a star on Maryland’s NCAA champs in 2006 and former WNBA player, while the Tigers were a regular rival in the CAA before Delaware left a year ago to join Conference USA.

The Blue Hens next visit Wisconsin Wednesday night 7:30 p.m. on B1G+.

Meanwhile as alum Tanisha Wright is still looking for her first win at her alma mater the Lady Lions had rallied from a ten-point deficit to three inside a minute left in regulation before falling short.

Petra Bozan had a personal best and game high 27 points shooting10-for-11 from the field and 5-of-6 from deep while Devyn Quigley scored a career-high 23 points with six makes from beyond the arc.

Dayton is coached by Tamika Williams Jeter, a former UConn and WNBA star who served in the past as an assistant at Penn State.

Next up is a Sunday trip to Arizona State in Tempe Sunday at 4 p.m. on ESPN+.

The National Scene

It was a quieter night across the nation with two ranked teams gaining wins as No. 19 Oklahoma State (3-0) at home in Stillwater won 94-56 over Northwestern State (1-2) with Florida transfer Liv McGill scoring 23 points with seven assists and Iowa State transfer Audi Crooks getting 12 of her 13 points in the second half.

The Cowgirls next at Tulsa on Thursday.

In the other ranked game No. 8 Vanderbilt (3-0) beat Morehead State 102-50 with Sommerville (N.J.) native Mikayla Blakes getting 25 points, Aubrey Galvan collecting 18 points and dealing 10 assists, Mia Woolfolk scoring 20, and Aiyanna Mitchell double doubling with 15 points and 10 boards.

The Commodores next host Western Kentucky Wednesday night.

In other scores of note, Grand Canyon won 81-74 over visiting Oregon, Harvard won 63-42 at Holy Cross, Creighton won 66-60 at North Dakota State, and Washington State won 76-53 against visiting Idaho.

Looking Ahead

Just one local Tuesday night and its notable with two area teams as Villanova visits Ivy favorite Princeton in Jadwin Gym at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.

Nationally at 10:30 p.m. on the Big Ten Network No. 3 Southern Cal hosts Iona, No. 13 Notre Dame hosts Detroit Mercy at 7 on ACNX, which at the same time hosts No. 7 Louisville at home against Lindenwood, which visits Penn Thursday.

 

The Guru’s NCAAW Report: Rutgers Reaches 7-Year Scoring High Demolishing Indiana State

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsgurux

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – For those that lived the days of Theresa Grentz building Rutgers as a national power or after Grentz left for Illinois, the arrival of C. Vivian Stringer from Iowa, taking the torch and guiding the jump to the original Big East glory days seeking to make the competition more than a UConn conference, the words of first-year coach Gary Redus II Sunday afternoon almost seemed biblical here at Jersey Mikes Arena after the home team obliterated Indiana State 107-76, the scoring eruption a seven-year high dating to 2019 while the visiting team dropped to 0-3.

“I’m just trying to make Rutgers be Rutgers,” he said giving a general picture of his recruiting prowess because he could not yet officially speak about the reported commitment from No. 15 prospect Ashley MacCalla, who in announcing her decision for her collegiate career said, “I chose Rutgers because I felt like that was the best play for me to grow and develop,” she said to ESPN.

“I also felt like I would have the best chance to get on the floor early as a freshman and be able to continue to build confidence in myself. I want the ability to make a direct impact and the room to make mistakes. And I just had the best connection with the coaches all around.”

Soon after taking the reins as the fourth fulltime coach in Rutgers history after coming from LSU as the chief recruiter for Hall of Famer Kim Mulkey, Redus managed to land the twin sister combination of Mya and Mia Pauldo from the talent drain evacuating Tennessee and back to their hometown where Mia in week one has shown to be a magnetic appeal for others.

Having scored 21 and 22 points in opening wins over LIU and La Salle, Pauldo from nearby Paterson, N.J. torched the nets for a career-high 33 points and tied an arena mark shooting 16-for-17 on the line.

Unhappy with the way La Salle kept getting back into Wednesday’s game here every time the Scarlet Knights appeared ready to turn the affair into a rout, the defensive effort brought the joy he desired on the way to a third straight win.

All five starters reached doubler figures, two others gaining 20+ totals in Zachara Perkins just one off her career high with 22 points but also nailing four shots beyond the arc and registering six blocks.

Jaylah Lampley connected with four from beyond the arc and enjoyed a career day with 20 points, while Lauryn Swann had 15, her most in a Rutgers uniform, while Tara Daye scored 12 points.

Redus’ energy is bringing a different personality to the postgame podium and Mia spoke how catching it is after surviving La Salle.

“It's been everything I envisioned and more,” she said. “He was real energetic the first call he had with me and my sister, and he’s been that since day one.

“He let me and my sister know right away that he wanted us to bring that TBC tour back,” Mya said Wednesday. “That got out attention because me and my sister are a package deal and we want to play on the court zn d play on the team together.

For a while these games can be considered a shakedown cruise because the front end of the season in recent years with mostly lackluster competition have caused misreads based on what happened once the Big Ten started showing up.

But this team has the making that if its possible could beat those teams occupying the Banks.

The thing to do is circle the dates in a few weeks when a trip down Route 1 provides a visit to perennial Ivy power Princeton and just beyond the first of the heavy hitting, nationally ranked Big Ten gauntlets in Ohio State.

Losses don’t necessarily mean its just another false read this time around. But if wins come early it means the ship of state is ready to start rising from the floor of the conference.

“If we play together we can become very dangerous,” said one of the scoring starters. “We’ll be able to beat anybody.”

Next up Wednesday at 7 p.m. is a visit from nearby Monmouth, the preseason pick to win the Coastal Athletic Association.

How About Those Ivies

Penn (3-0) followed up the Quakers’ buzzer beating win at Drexel with a solid 72-56 win at MEAC contender Norfolk State (1-2) as Mataya Gayle went 6-for-10 from the field, highlighted by a pair of three-pointers for 18 points, while freshman Rachel Thatcher continued to wow with 13 points on a sizzling 6-for-7 from the field, Brooke Suttle scored 12, Katie Collins collected 10 and reserve Gabriela Kelley scored 11 on a day Tina Njike after her game-winner 48 hours earlier, bought just two shots in 12 attempts.

Defense was the name of the game getting Penn 21 points off turnovers while yielding just seven to the opposition.

Clemisha Prackett had 18 points with eight boards for Norfolk State.

Next up is a visit Thursday from Longwood.

Meanwhile Ivy favorite Princeton rallied to give the locals a second straight daily sweep defeating Murray State 76-74 while Columbia thumped Belmont 84-64 to give the Ivy League a perfect four-game record in the Opening Statement eight team MTE event in Richmond and Nashville.

The Atlantic 10 got a nice win as Rhode Island gained an 82-63 upset of American Conference favorite South Florida though the league called it even with Rice in overtime edging Richmond 73-60.

Helping the fourth quarter rally by Princeton, Skye Belker finished with a career-high 28 points while Olivia Hutcherson had a likewise effort with 22 points for her best with 10-for-12 from the floor.

Fadima Tall, off to a hot start on the season, added 15 points and eight boards to the Tiger attack.

Princeton hosts Villanova Tuesday in Jadwin Gym at 7 p.m.

Columbia got 13 fourth-quarter points and 28 overall from Riley Weiss in the Lions’ win while Fliss Henderson double doubled again with 11 points and 13 boards.

Next up is a visit from No. 5 Michigan Thursday, the game in New York a homecoming for Kim Barnes Arico, who previously coached St. John’s before getting the coaching job with the Wolverines.

America East Tops Metro

Completing the opening week series of games in the challenge between the America East and Metro, formerly known as the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, the AEC followed its 7-2 start Thursday and Friday by going 7-2 on Sunday for a lopsided 14-4 outcome.

Defending Metro champion Fairfield was the one bright spot completing a two-game sweep after winning 74-50 at home over AEC contender Vermont.

South Carolina and Kentucky Win the Ally Tipoff; Juju Powers USC

In the Ally Tipoff in Charlotte, N.C., No. 1 South Carolina got a second ranked win on opening week defeating No. 12 North Carolina 84-39, the Tar Heels coming to The Palestra Saturday to face Penn; while No. 14 Kentucky won 93-78 over No. 25 NC State.

In the triumph by Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks (2-0) Chloe Kitts had 17 points and 10 boards, while Joyce Edwards had 15 points.

UNC was led by Nyla Brooks with 13 points.

In her 3rd collegiate game, Ajsa Sivka had 32 points for Kentucky in the Wildcats win matching a program record with eight 3-pointers while Clara Strack added 24 points with eight boards.

Khamil Pierre scored 34 for the Wolfpack.

Out west, Juju Watkins, looking good as new after missing a season due to a knee injury at the end of her season in 2025 that saw her named national player of the year poured 32 points with 16 rebounds as No. 3 Southern Cal at home thumped Utah State 118-40.

Bouncing back from an off game in No. 2 UConn’s loss at No. 5 Michigan, reigning national player of the year Sarah Strong got 26 of her career-high 39 to lead the host Huskies to a 91-79 win over No. 10 Iowa at the campus Gampel Pavilion in Storrs.

Blanca Quinonez added 21 points for UConn, which retired Azzi Fudd’s jersey.

All the other ranked teams that played Sunday against unranked teams stayed perfect in those games enabling the season outcome in those matchups also equivalent.