Atlantic 10 Other (non Gw) sports:  This may draw a collective yawn, but St Joe's and UMass are in the NCAA Field Hockey Semifinals, on the strength on 1 - 0 wins over Princeton and Harvard respectively.  Friday match ups against #1 UNC and #2 Northwestern. Now, respectfully, back to Water Polo.

A10 teams went 3 - 3 on Tuesday with Richmond and George Mason remaining undefeated.  VCU and St Joe's put their prefect records on the line tonight,  Richmond already won again this afternoon to get to 4 - 0..

Spiders had a good win at Fairfield 62 - 39 while host George Mason beat Monmouth 89 - 66 with balanced scoring led by Kennedy Harris' 20 points.  St Louis beat Illinois State 78 - 71.  Homestanding Loyola lost to DePaul 75 - 66, with Naelle Bernard scoring 13.  Seton Hall beat visiting Fordham 67 - 44 and Youngstown State had no trouble with the Bonnies, 60 - 32.

All 3 A10 teams lost on Wednesday.  A10 tormentor Maine outscored URI BY 7 Iin the fourth quarter to beat the poor shooting Rams 57 - 53 in Kingston.  Rhode Island was 3 - 12 from the field and 1 - 5 from the line in the final 10 minutes. Drexel beat LaSalle, 73 - 40..  Explorers had 9 players scored between 2 and a high of 6.  Undefeated Cincinnati beat Davidson 66 - 50.  Candice Lienafa scored 18 for the Wildcats in a reserve role.  She's a first year out of Quebec City.

Dayton lost to #16 Duke last night 84 - 49.  Ivy Wolf was 14/7.  Ajok Madol (6'3", Minnesota) had 12 points in a reserve role.
 

A10 teams were 7-3 on opening night, followed by 2-0 records on Tues and Wed.  St Bonaventure opens on Saturday.

Most significant wins on Monday include Richmond 79-72 at Temple led by Rachel Ullstorm 32 points on 9 - 11 field goals (4-5 beyond the arc) and 10 - 10 FT.  St Louis won at South Dakota in overtime, 85-83, with 25 points from Peyton Kennedy,  Duquense rallied at home to beat Princeton 76-66 led by Megan McConnell with 24 points, although she missed 4 late FTs.  Other 4 winners, all at home, were Geogre Mason, URI, Loyola Chicago and. of course, GW.

LaSalle lost at Maine 65 - 51,  Explorers have 13 new players and 9 got significant minutes.  Maine was about. 5 - 1 against A10 teams last years.  Adelphi of the Northeast 10 beat host Fordham 58 - 50.  Host Harvard held off UMass 71-58 despite a 5 - 20 shooting from star Harmony Turner.  UMass jumped to a 7 - 0 including 2 pregame technical foul shots due to a clock LED light issue.  Second pregame "administrative technical" I've seen this season.  UMass this year has depth and health, so far, including 3 Bigs over 6" plus a first year who can play; and some backcourt depth including a starting first year point guard.   Rotation is 9 players when last year they opened season with about 8 healthy players.  Big difference when your coach doesn't leave several weeks into the off-season and there's a mass exit of players, and you have to scramble to fill a roster.  

On Tuesday, Davidson won at home 57 - 56 over Florida Gulf Coast led by Miller Prior's 18.  Elle Sutphin, who changed her mind about transferring,  is not on the Wildcats roster.  Dolly Cairns, EX URI starting guard, started for FGCU.  Dayton beat Southeast Missouri State at hone 75-70.

Last night, host VCU won 75- 60 over Maryland Eastern Shore, and St Joseph's beat Goldey-Beacon 102-30 in Philly.

Tenin Magassa, after 2 years at Rhode Island, was originally announced as transferring to Illinois and her former coach at Dayton.  Instead she has signed with Oklahoma State.

Magassa is from Morsang-Sun-Orge in France, which is also the home of Ayisse Magassa, who is leaving Clarendon College (TX) for LaSalle.  No mention of any relationship in their bios that I saw.  Ayisse is one of 3 juco/community college recruits for the Explorers.  Also joining LaSalle is Ashley Connor, RS FR, ;from St Louis who played 18 games, 3.6 minutes per game, and 1.8 ppg.  LaSalle now has 9 players in the transfer portal.  Notable is Emily Tahata, 6'1" Australian, joining Gabby Turco at Rider.  

Jermany Mapp has entered the transfer portal from UMass.  Originally from Hampton.  She was effective at the guard spot until she got hurt.  UMass has almost no experience at guard. 

Tenin Magassa is heading to Illinois from Rhode Island.  The Illini are coached by her former Dayton coach Shaunna Green.  Magassa and Green left the Flyers in the same off-season, after two years together..  

A10 has its Player of the Year and 2 All Rookie team members in transfer portal.  The below list is not complete and includes some non A10 teams.

Sara Te-Bisau VCU, A10 POY has entered the transfer portal.

Grace Townsend of Richmond is heading to North Carolina.  Several guards last year had success leaving the A10 for Power conference schools.  Not least of which was Anna DeWolfe starting for Norte Dame after her career at Fordham,  Sydney Taylor saw action in the NCAA tournament at Louisville, from UMass.  Another ex-Minutewoman, Ber'nyah Mayo retrurned the postseason with St John's.  And Chloe Welch left Davidson for WBIT team St Joe's.  In other Richmond news, Siobhan Ryan left the Spiders for Georgetown.  

George Mason picked up SO to be  6'1" Louis Volker from Missouri State.  She's from Purcellville, VA and Paul IV high school.

Two of the LaSalle eight have new schools.  Nicole Meliioius, All Rookie team, is heading to Seton Hall.  Gabby Turco, who started at St Anselm, is transferring to Rider.

Mallory Ramage left Loyola Chicago for D2 Lewis.

Kristen Williams is leaving UMass for Coastal Carolina.  Worse for the Minutewomen long-term is that Lilly Taulelei has entered the Transfer Portal., joining Alexsia Rose.  Taulelei was All Rookie team.

Dayton lost Anyassa Jones to Ohio and Taisya Koslova to Seattle.  She started her career at Maryland.  

Ali Brigham, after three good years at Penn State after leaving GW, is going closer to home finish her career at Bryant.  She started all 35 games for the WBIT semi finalist and was 8.8 ppg and 4.9 rpb.  Bryant was 15 - 15 under first year coach Lynne-Ann Kokoski who had been an assistant at UMass.  Bullogs also got 6'3" Maranda Nyborg from Fordham, and Mimi Rubino from a terrific Fairfield team, although I'm not sure she played last season.  

Northwesten struggled last year at 9 - 21, but already has help from the transfer portal - All Ivy First Team Kyla Jones, 5'8" GR from Bown, and Gra

St Louis advances to the WNIT final to play Minnesota on Saturday., behind a strong second half.

St Louis (21-8) 57, Vermont (25-12) 54.  Billikens struggled offensively in the first half, especially in the second quarter when they went scoreless until 2 late field goals.  Catamounts led 24 - 17 at the half.  St Louis scored 24 in the 3rd quarter and shot 16 - 24 for the second half.  St Louis switched defenses often in the second half using a press and a zone effectviely.

Peyton Kennedy led St Louis with 23 points, 10-13 FG, and 3-6 from beyond the arc.  Brooklyn Gray scored 13 while Kennedy Calhoun had 8.  Kyla McMakin was scoreless in the first half but had 6 points in the second half.  Julia Martinez was scoreless in the first half and finished a fairly typical 2 - 7 FG.  But she had 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals.  Had 3 nice passes that led to layups in the second half.  

In two seasons under Rebecca Tillett, St Louis is 10 - 2 in postseason play, having won the A10 tourney last year, losing in the NCAA, going 2 - 1 in the A10 this year.  They've won 10 of 11 the only loss to Rhode Island in the A10 semis.  Billikens are 5-0 in the WNIT, four games on the road.  This is their 3rd season with 20 wins and second with 2 wins over Power 5 teams, Missouri early in the season and Wisconsin in their last game.  I know it's only the WNIT, but it's still nice to have an A10 team still playing.

Minnesota, 17 -15, beat host Troy, 19-12, by 74-67.  Who gets to host the final?

In the WBIT championship game, Illinois beat Villanova 71 - 57.  I believe the Illini are coached by Dayton's last coach, Shaun Green.  It's possible that a Big 10 team could win all 3 tournaments.

And then there was one.  St Louis stayed alive in the WNIT last night.  St Joe's and Duquense  both lost on Thursday night.

WBIT:

Villanova (H, 21-12) 67, St Joseph's (28-6) 57.  Tayla Brugler led the Hawks with 20 points although she had no rebounds.  Mackenzie Smithe was 13/7.  Laura Ziegler had 6 points with 1 - 14 FG but 9 rebounds and 5 assists.  FR Gabby Casey scored 11 off the bench.  The remaining 4 teams in the tournament are from Power  conferences: Illinois, Washington State, Penn State, besides Villanova.

WNIT

Purdue (H, 15-18) 71, Duquense (21-13) 50.  Dukes remained consistently inconsistent for their season.  Jerni Kiaku scored 19 off the bench.  Megan McConnell led the starter with 12 points (4-12 FG) and 10 rebounds.  The other 4 starters were a combined 5 - 22.  

St Louis (19-18, that's what their record is listed as now) 82, Purdue Fort Wayne (H, 23-13) 78,  Peyton Kennedy remained hot with 31 points and 9 rebounds.  Kyla McMakin scored 17.  Tierra Simon as 12/11.  Julia Martinez only had 4 points off the bench (and 2 missed FTs in the last minute) but had 6 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 steals.  Kennedy Calhoun added 6 steals.

Billikens travel to Wisconsin (15-16) for the quarterfinals (the Great Eight)  Besides the Badgers and Boilermakers, Minnesota is still alive.  As is Vermont.

Two wins by A10 teams in the other tournaments.

WBIT

St Joseph's (28-5) 63, California (H, 19-15) 61.  Hawks survived a late 9 - 0 run by the Bears and a last second three point attempt. Laura Ziegler scored 19 points and had 8 rebounds.  Chloe Welch also had 19.  Talya Burgler was 11/9 and Mackenzie Smith added 10 points.  The fifth starter Julia Nystrom had the other 4 points.  Emma Boslett had 6 rebounds off the bench.

Next for the Hawks is a rematch of their Dec 9 win over Villanova on Thursday.  Smith had 21 points to lead the Hawks, while Brugler and Ziegler each had 16.  I believe the Wildcats are 20 - 12.  Lucy Olsen had 32. points against the Hawks.

WNIT

St Louis (H, 18 - 18) 68, Northern Iowa (16-16) 64.  Billikens had a strong second half after trailing by 1 at the break.  Peyton Kennedy had a 19 points and 8 rebounds, including a FG with 1:01 to go.  Tierra Simon had a 12/8 line.  Julia Martinez scored 9 including 2 FTs for St Louis' final points.  She had 6 rebounds and 4 assists.  

I don't know what's next in the WNIT bracket.  Duquense plays Monmouth tomorrow.  Same round as St Louis I believe.  

After a 26 point first quarter , Richmond (24-6) came down to earth and lost to Duke (21-11) 72-61 I n their opening round (and first ever) NCAA game..  Spiders had a half time lead but looked out of sorts in the second half.  Grace Townsend had 18 points and 8 assists for Richmond.  Addie Budnick had 17 and Maggie Doogan was 17/7.

I missed Thursday WBIT and WNIT games.  A10 teams split, with 2 road losses and a home win and road win.

WBIT

St Joseph's (H, 27-5) 54, Seton Hall (17-15) 47.  Mackensie Smith led the Hawks with a 15/8 line.  Tayla Brugler scored 11 and Close Welch had 10.  Laura Ziegler had an 8/8 line.  

Penn Statte (H, 20-12) 84, George Mason (23-8) 80.  OT.  Paula Suarez and Zahira Walton, off the bench, each scored 24 for the Patriots.  

Villanova (H, 19-12) 73, VCXU (26-6) 60.  Sarah Te-Bisau scoed 21 for the Rams and Tiffany Lewis-Eutsey had 16.

WNIT

St Louis (17-18) 66, Central Arkansas (H,  21-12) 61.  Peyton Kennedy had 28 for the Billikens.  Kyla McMakin scored 14.  Julia Martinez, off the bench as usual, had 8 points and 11 assists.