By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru
PHILADELPHIA — The night and day of the opening of the 2019-20 women’s basketball season has arrived and locally at least many of the initial contests have events attached that sometimes are better served for marketing departments to build toward several weeks for now.
But they are here so let’s take a quick look and since the Guru was busy getting his administrative involvements back to snuff in the short three-week period since Washington beat Connecticut to take the WNBA Finals in a thrilling Game 5 he will make up for lack of team previews by drilling into them during the roundup of early action.
And action a plenty is what we have.
Temple gets started at home in McGonigle Hall at six against Fairfield of the MAAC a little older and much healthier.
While not yet this time, look for the Owls to be a title contender in the American Athletic Conference by next season after powerhouse Connecticut moves to the Big East.
Two new coaches make official debuts Tuesday night in the Guru’s local 11 with Princeton hosting Rider in a central New Jersey neighborhood war at Jadwin Gym.
Courtney Banghart has moved on to North Carolina in the Atlantic Coast Conference after having built Princeton into a dominant team in the Ivies.
Replacing her is former UConn star Carla Berube, who made Tufts into a Division III national threat.
The Tigers still look to be a heavyweight with senior Bella Alarie, two-time player of the year in the league, back for one more go-round.
Rider, located thirty minutes south of Jadwin, meanwhile, is picked third in the MAAC behind Marist and Quinnipiac and Stella Johnson is preseason player of the year and joins Alarie on various watch lists.
Two years ago the Broncs on the way to a record season opened in Jadwin with a surprising rout.
Meanwhile, Penn State begins a new era under former Marquette coach Carolyn Kieger, who built that program into a Big East contender and now has moved to Happy Valley, succeeding Coquese Washington trying to revive PSU into a threat in the Big Ten.
The Lady Lions open today at Towson, the surprise conference tournament champion in the CAA last spring, edging Drexel in the final moments of the title game at Delaware.
Both squads were helped when favorite JMU, this year’s pick, suffered injuries early in the tournament.
Speaking of Drexel, the Dragons are at Quinnipiac, which had been the dominant team in the MAAC but picked second off graduation losses.
Drexel has most everyone back of note so an opening day win would be a good sign after losing in the DAC in a close game early last season to the Bobcats.
La Salle is at Howard in the nation’s capital in the second year under Mountain MacGillivray and while the Explorers are picked last in the Atlantic 10, gaining some nice recruiting pickups leads one to believe that forecast will not hold up.
One of the landmark games is happening in South Alabama where Rutgers scheduled the game as a homecoming visit to the state for several Scarlet Knights.
Hall of Fame coach C. Vivian Stringer is back on the sidelines after being told by doctors to rest and take time off near the end of last season.
Fully refreshed and following her 1000th win early last season, a triumph tonight becomes her 500th at Rutgers.
Her squad finally became relevant last season in the Big Ten after joining the conference early in this decade.
Quasi nationally/locally up in the Bronx defending A-10 champion Fordham, coached by former Villanova star Stephanie Gaitley, hosts Notre Dame, which fell way down to 16th in the preseason AP poll after the graduation of five starters.
The Irish are coached by former Saint Joseph’s star Muffet McGraw.
On Wednesday, and the only local D-1 on the slate, Villanova hosts George Washington as longtime Wildcats mentor Harry Perretta, in the wake of last week’s announcement, begins his 42nd and final season on the Main Line, the only place he has called his second home.
The Colonials are coached by former UConn coach Jennifer Rizzotti, who is also one of the assistants to South Carolina’s Dawn Staley on the USA Women’s National Team staff.
On Thursday Saint Joseph’s is up at Columbia looking to be much better as do the Lions who are now a veteran team in the Ivies.
The Hawks were picked 10th in the A-10 but longtime coach Cindy Griffin is not too upset over the forecast given some things in the game plan still need a little seasoning.
Friday Temple is still at home hosting Duquesne of the Atlantic 10 while Delaware opens its season hosting America East Favorite Maine.
There’s a lot going on this Saturday but we will wait till Wednesday’s game story to add all that into the mix.
WHERE THE GURU WILL BE
The plan is to get everything into the daily roundup with others comprising the Guru joining the team along with a few veteran members but here is where you will find the Guru this week:
Tuesday – at Temple
Wednesday-at Villanova
Thursday-at the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame Induction at Sugarhouse on the first anniversary of the Guru being honored
Friday-back at Temple
Saturday-at Penn, at Drexel, at Villanova. The first two are a few blocks apart with noon and 2 p.m. tips while the Wildcats are home at night.
-Guru
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