By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru
NEWARK, N.J. – In his 11 seasons in charge of the Penn women’s program, coach Mike McLaughlin has produced a collection of new arrivals who went on to become rookies of the year in both the Ivy League and Big Five.
Once again his recruiting prowess appears to have another in the mix, though the competition will be a bit steeper.
Freshman guard Kayla Padilla of Torrance, Calif., poured down 25 points to lead the Quakers to a second-straight rout, this one an 85-51 victory in non-conference play over NJIT (0-3) here at the Highlanders’ Wellness and Events Center.
The triumph followed up Saturday’s 92-44 win over Siena in the season opener in which Padilla scored 14 points in her collegiate debut in 20 minutes of action.
It took less time for Penn to take control in this one than to get through the tollbooth on the nearby New Jersey Turnpike exit here to Newark.
Padilla played just under 10 more minutes in this one and her line showed 9-for-15 from the field, including 5-of-9 from beyond the arc while also dealing four assists.
Junior center Eleah Parker, a selectee again on national preseason watch lists, scored 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds while also blocking a pair of NJIT shots.
Padilla is the first Penn rookie to score 25 since Parker did likewise against Villanova while she also is the first newcomer in the McLaughlin era to reach that total that quick and is also the first to score that many combined points in her first two games.
Senior reserve center Emily Anderson came off the bench added a career-high 11 points to the Quakers’ attack while Senior guard Kendall Grasela dealt nine assists.
In winning its fifth straight game against NJIT in the last six seasons to go 5-2 overall in the series between the two, Penn dominated the boards 43-23.
The home team, which is now a member of the Atlantic Sun or ASun Conference, got 13 points from Maria Fux.
Penn is back in the Palestra Sunday hosting Iona of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in a final tuneup before traveling to Saint Joseph’s next Wednesday in the Quakers’ first Big Five game of the year.
The Hawks, who will play Seton Hall, Sunday, at Fordham in a doubleheader with Villanova meeting the host Rams, won their Big Five opener Monday edging Temple at home.
The McLaughlin Coaching Tree
In a side note, former longtime assistant Bernadette Laukaitis, a former D-2 Holy Family player for McLaughlin in Northeast Philadelphia, made her career head coaching debut at her alma mater Wednesday as the Tigers rallied to beat Kutztown 73-68 in their season-opener.
Mia Ehling scored 21 points as Holy Family rallied from an end-of-third-quarter 49-43 deficit to power its way to a 30-18 fourth quarter over Kutztown (0-3).
Last summer the Tigers, who are allowed to play as a unit under NCAA rules, surprised by winning the local Philadelphia/Suburban women’s league upsetting rivals Jefferson and USciences of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference.
Holy Family, now 10-1 against the Golden Bears, next hosts Mercy College Saturday at 1 p.m.
Meanwhile, the other two of the Guru’s local 11 teams in action Wednesday, Penn State and Rutgers, also won comfortably at the finish.
Penn State 72, Fordham 58 — The Lady Lions bounced back from Sunday’s home upset loss to Rider, topping the Atlantic 10 champions for the program’s 950th win, the 20th women’s team to reach that total.
Siyeh Frazier had a career high 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Kamaria McDaniel scored 18 points, Anna Camden scored 14, and Lauren Ebo scored 11 at home in the Bryce Jordan Center in State College.
The Rams, who have lost to Notre Dame narrowly at home, at local rival Columbia, and now at Penn State, got 19 points from Kendell Heremaia.
Penn State shot 65.2 percent from the field in the second half.
“I thought our team really responded tonight from an energy perspective,” said new Lady Lions coach Carolyn Kieger, who previously coached at Marquette. “We talked about that for the last two days about celebrating, being great teammates, and bringing the juice as we call it, and I thought they did a really great job responding to the adversity we hit against Rider.”
Penn State next hosts La Salle Sunday at 2 p.m.
Fordham on Sunday will host Villanova as Rams veteran coach Stephanie Gaitley, a former Wildcats star, goes against her coach, Harry Perretta, who will retire at the end of the season, his 42nd, all on the Main Line.
Rutgers 87, Niagara 37 — Live long enough and you get to see some amazing things, like Hall of Fame coach C. Vivian Stringers teams offering explosive output on offense to go with their respected work on the defensive end.
In extending their undefeated season-opening run (3-0),topping the Purple Eagles (0-3) at home in the Rutgers Athletic Center, the Scarlet Knights in their last two games have outscored the opposition by 124 points, though admire the stat but withhold judgement till the schedule ramps up a bit in a few games.
Arella Guirantes, who on Monday became the program’s first Big Ten player of the week since 2015, scored 24 points, shooting 9-for-16 from the field and tying a career mark with four three-pointers.
Takia Mack scored 15 points and Mael Gilles grabbed 16 rebounds to tie a career high while scoring 10 points.
The win, coming a year after she became the most recent member of the 1,000-win club, places Stringer, who also coached at Cheyney and Iowa, within one of tying former North Carolina Sylvia Hatchell for fifth all-time in the women’s game.
Rutgers will complete its three-game home stand, Sunday, hosting host Harvard at 2 p.m.
Nationally Noted: James Madison knew it had its work cut out next game after winning at Villanova Saturday.
Despite the challenge, the Dukes (2-1) almost pulled off a shocker at home until No. 8 Maryland rallied from Sunday’s home loss to South Carolina by taking control in the fourth quarter for a narrow 70-68 win in Harrisonburg, Va., with Shakira Austin scoring 13 of her 21 points in the final period.
Lehigh, off to a 3-0 start, celebrated the Mountain Hawks’ annual morning-played Education Day game up in Bethlehem, upsetting George Washington 59-53, forcing 28 turnovers. The Colonials (1-2) after opening with a win at Villanova, lost Sunday at home to Princeton, and then to Lehigh.
Connecticut, which comes to Temple’s Liacouras Center, not McGonigle Hall, Sunday, at 1, defeated Vanderbilt 64-51.
Why so early in The American, where the Huskies are in the final year before returning to the Big East?
The Huskies have a loaded non-conference slate after January so they needed a conference game on the front end. The Owls had a window and complied with the league request.
The Ivies must be on a neighborhood revenge mission.
After Columbia had beaten Fordham, Sunday, then on Wednesday Yale topped traditional MAAC power Quinnipiac 63-59.
In a game between two nationally-prominent mid-majors, South Dakota topped Drake at home 102-94 in overtime.
Looking Ahead: On Thursday among the locals, Villanova (0-2), still looking for its first win, will visit American in the nation’s capital while Temple will host Xavier at 7 in the larger Liacouras Center.
The Owls and Musketeers used to be Atlantic 10 rivals before the Owls went to the American and Xavier went to the Big East.
There are two ranked teams matchups: Michigan State visits Notre Dame and the Irish, after the home upset loss Monday to Tennessee, could be in danger of sliding out of the rankings with a loss.
DePaul, after its Monday home win over Drexel, heads to Oregon State for a Preseason WNIT semifinal game.
On Friday, La Salle will host Harvard at 7 before traveling to Penn State on Sunday.
There are now two games on Saturday’s slate, Xavier, after visitingTemple, visits Rider as originally scheduled.
Drexel, however, gets a home game at 2 in the Daskalakis Athletic Center in a consolation round of the Preseason WNIT.
We’ll talk about Sunday in the next 24 hours.
And that’s the report.
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