The Guru’s Local/National NCAAW Roundup: La Salle Rallies at Md.-Eastern Shore; Blitz Results See South Carolina Over Penn State and Texas Over Baylor; Arizona State (12-0) Nips Oregon State in Best Start

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

Locally, two teams emerged from finals hitting the road Sunday afternoon with La Salle (7-3) gaining a 63-58 victory by rallying from a 13-point deficit existing at the end of the first quarter at Md.-Eastern Shore (6-7) in Princess Anne while Penn State (6-4) took it on the chin fading in the second half in a 95-55 loss at No. 3 South Carolina (10-1) in Columbia.

The Explorers in the second quarter erupted getting 10 points erased by the half and then claimed each of the next two periods by narrow margins after the half.

Ivona Miljanic, a native of Belgrade, Serbia, was a huge contributor off the bench scoring 14 points with four rebounds and shooting 4-7 from deep while three starters scored in double figures: Ashleigh Connor also scored 14 points, Aryss Macktoon collected 13 points, and Kiara Williams scored 11 points with six rebounds.

La Salle stays on the road but on a short trip Wednesday visiting Delaware at 11 a.m. (ESPN+) at the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark.

At South Carolina, the shorthanded Gamecocks’ Joyce Edwards had a career-high 29 points off a roster with just eight available players missing starting center Madina Okot and reserve freshman Agot Makeer.

The Lady Lions were in competitive shape at the half and then Dawn Staley’s squad erupted on a 19-3 start to the third quarter.

Florida State transfer Ta’Niya Latson scored 18 points, while Raven Johnson and Tessa Johnson each scored 15 points.

Gracie Merkle, averaging over 22 points for Penn State, was limited to nine points with nine boards and played just nine minutes due to foul trouble while Rutgers transfer Kiyomi Miller scored 22 points.

Back in the day when Staley starred for Virginia and Penn State often played the Cavaliers, the Lady Lions, ranked five on a particular visit nipped UVA, ranked No. 1, in overtime and became the new No. 1 team in the next Associated Press women’s poll, the first time program reached the top.

Penn State is off until playing VCU Saturday in Richmond, Va., part of the four-team 4 The Culture Holiday Hoops Classic while South Carolina visits American Conference favorite South Florida Thursday night.

No locals are scheduled Monday while Tuesday’s card just has Drexel in the second game of a doubleheader with men’s team hosting area Division II Chestnut Hill at 3:30 p.m. (FloCollege) at the Liacouras Center.

The La Salle game at Delaware is the only Wednesday local action while the local card is dark Thursday.

The National Scene

At the midpoint of the two-week finals period across the country some notable games among ranked teams were played Sunday.

No. 2 Texas (12-0) stayed perfect, assuring to hold the Longhorns’ spot behind defending NCAA champion UConn when the new AP poll is released at noon Monday, by routing former Big 12 rival No. 13 Baylor 89-54 on a neutral court in Fort Worth, the game created by ESPN reuniting the two teams after Texas left last season for the SEC.

Madison Booker had 27 points and eight rebounds for the winners, following her first and the program’s sixth triple-double (28 pts., 10 rebs., 10 assists) in a 110-45 blowout earlier in the week at UT Rio Grande Valley.

The Longhorns hit the Bears (10-2) with a 16-0 run in the first period causing six turnovers and ultimately 30 miscues, Baylor’s most since Nov. 9, 2008, gaining Texas 42 points.

Jordan Lee added 19 points, while Rory Harmon had 12 points and 10 assists.

No Baylor player reached scoring double digits, but Darianna Littlepage-Buggs grabbed 14 rebounds.

Bears leading scorer Taliah Scott left the game in the second quarter after turning her right foot on a move to the basket.

Baylor hosts SWAC favorite Southern U. Thursday while Texas hosts Northwestern State Wednesday.

Though neither team was ranked, Arizona State (12-0), which won just 10 games last season, is off to its best start under new coach Molly Miller from nearby Grand Canyon, following a win earlier in the week at Penn State by winning 55-53 in overtime at Oregon State (6-5) with Last-Tear Poa scoring a 3-pointer with 16 seconds left in the overtime.

In another overtime in an ACC thriller No. 22 Louisville (10-3, 2-0) on the road in Chapel Hill forced No. 12 North Carolina (9-3, 0-1) into the extra period with a foul shot before the end of regulation and then shutout the Tar Heels 10-0 to spoil the home team’s conference opener with a 76-66 victory as Saint Joseph’s transfer Laura Ziegler scored 17 points.

Imari Berry hit the second of a two-shot foul after UNC’s Indya Nivar missed both free throw attempts with five seconds left.

Ziegler was 6-12 from the field, including three makes from deep, and grabbed eight boards.

On Wednesday Louisville hosts Eastern Kentucky and North Carolina hosts UNC Wilmington.

Amelia Hassett had 19 points fueled by five makes from distance and Clara Strack and Tonie Morgan each had 18 points to lead visiting No. 15 Kentucky (11-1) to a 77-69 win at Missouri Valley contender Belmont (4-6) in Nashville. Penn transfer Jordan Obi added 13 points.

The visiting Wildcats return home to Lexington to host Wright State Friday.

No. 10 Iowa State’s Audi Crooks, who’s had a string of 30-point games, was sidelined with a concussion but the Cyclones (12-0) at home in Ames still took an easy 81-53 win over Northern Iowa (4-6) as Addy Brown scored 28 points.

Coach Bill Fennelly’s team opens Big 12 play Sunday when Kansas visits.

Notre Dame transfer Olivia Miles had her second straight triple double with 15 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists to lead No. 8 TCU (11-0) to an 89-49 win over Jacksonville (7-2) at home in Fort Worth and awaits Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Tuesday.

Miles’ former school, the No. 19 Fighting Irish (8-2), won 78-65 at Sun Belt favorite James Madison (8-4) in Harrisonburg, Va., as Cassandre Prosper scored 24 points. Notre Dame hosts Bellarmine Sunday.

Elsewhere Seton Hall (6-3) at home picked up a 69-63 win over Auburn (8-3) and hosts Washington State Tuesday.

Afterwards both teams head to Philadelphia for Friday games, the Cougars of the Northwest are at Penn at 11 a.m. and the Pirates at night have a Big East tilt at Villanova.

On Monday No. 14 Vanderbilt hosts South Florida at 7:30 p.m. (SECN+) and No. 23 Oklahoma State hosts Tulsa (ESPN+).