Only 1 home team won on Sunday, and there was a mild upset in Kingston as URI continues to not live up to expectations.

Richmond (H, 11-1) 83, GW (2-10) 61,

George Mason (10-2) 74, Dayton (H, 4-9) 50.  Reserve Zahirah Walton scored 19 points with 8 rebounds.  Sonia Smith added 13.  Destiny Bohannon led the Flyer with 15.  Mariah Perez was 12/10.

Davidson (7-5) 48, Loyola Chicago (H, 6-7) 45.  Those pesky second quarters.  Wildcats won second quarter by
14 - 4.  Maddie Plank led with 12 points and 6 rebounds,  Elle Sutphin returned from another absence and had 7 points and 4 rebounds in 24 minutes off the bench.  Charlise Dunn started but only played 4 minutes.  Don't know. if she was hurt, which would be another blow to the injury plagued Wildcats.   Review of the Play by Play shows the Dunn was substituted out midway through the first quarter at the same time Davidson recevied 2 Bench Technical Fouls.  Not othr details given.
 Sam Galanapoulos scored 18 for the Ramblers.

St Louis (5-9) 76, Rhode Island (H, 7-6) 73.  Rams led by 13 into the second quarter and by 35-28 at the half.  St Louis didn't  take its first lead until the last 1:28 of the game.  Peyton Kennedy scored 31 for the Billikens on 10-17 FG (4-8 three pointers) and 7-7 FT.  Kyla McMakin added 17.  Rhode Island shot  57.1 % FG while St Louis was 48.1%.  Rams won the rebound battle. , 30-23.   URI had 25 turnovers to 17 for St Louis.  Billikens has 12 steals to 7 for the Rams.  Maye Toure was 16/9 for URI including 7-10 FG while the other big Tenin Megassa was 14/6 off the bench, 4-5 FG

Last edited by WMC (2/12/2024 5:25 pm)

A lot to unpack from the 7 game weekend.  St Joe's and Richmond remain tied at 13 - 1.  Just a reminder, since I needed one:  Richmond beat St Joe's  on the road. in their only match up,. Richmond lost at Duquense.  Dukes still have to visit Richmond.  Duquense still sits in 3rd at 12 -3, with a 17-9 overall record.  George Mason became the 4th conference team with 20 overall wins.  Rhode Island moved into 6th place with its win over Davidson.  Fordham won its third in a row to reach  5 wins.  Dayton and LaSalle are a game ahead of GW.

Sunday's games

St Joseph's (13-1) 60, LaSalle (H, 4-10) 29.  LaSalle led 6-4 after 1st quarter.  Hawks won second half 41-9.  Explorers were 0-12 FG in a 3 point 4th.  Makayla Miller (13 points) had 3 FT for all their points in the 4th.  For St Joes', Tayla Brugler had 16, Chloe Welch 13, and Mackenzie Smith 9.  Laura  Ziegler had 10 rebounds with her 8 points.  

Fordham (5-9) 70, St Bonaventure (1-13) 48.  Reserve Taya Davis scored 25 points for the Rams on 9-13 FG.  Taylor Donaldson and Emy Hayford had 12 points apiece.  Peyton Fields and Isabellah Middleton each scored 15 for the Bonnies, who shot 3 -30 from beyond the arc.  Middleton had 10 rebounds.

Saturday:

George Mason (h, 11-3) 60, GW (3-11) 57

Duquense (12-3) 82. St Louis (H, 6-8) 65.  There were 5 double figure scorers for the Dukes and the next 3 scored at least 6. in a balanced attack.   Naelie Bernard led the way with 13 (8 rebounds), followed by 12 each by Tess Myers, Precious Johnson and Ayanna Townsend.  Kyla McMakin had 24 for the Billikens.  

Richmond (H, 13-1) 75, Loyola Chicago (6-9) 71.  Maggie Doogan, off the bench, had a 20/8 night in 31 minutes.  It was Senior Night and Kylee Lewandowski made her first start and had 6 points, 2-2 from beyond the arc,  in 14 minutes.  Grace Townsnd had 17 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists.  For the Ramblers, Sam Galanapoulous had 21 and Alyssa Fuller scored 14.

URI (H, 9-6) 61, Davidson (8-6) 49.  Sophie Phillips and Dee Dee Davis each scored 17 for the Rams with Davis adding 12 rebounds.  Maye Toure had a 16/9 game.  Ines Dubroise had 10 assists.  Katie Donovan led the Wlldcats with 16 and Elle Sutphin had 11.  Millie Prior had 11 rebounds.  Charlese Dunn did not play.

VCU (11-3) 63, UMass (H, 1 - 14) 49.  Minuutewomen only had 8 players available, and 1 was a walk on who played the last minute.  Stefanie Kulesza and Kristen Williams played the full 40 minutes.  As seems to happen often to UMass, even in Verdi's time. an unexpected  player hurts them from beyond the  arc.  Reserve Grace Hutson (2.9 peg) had a career high of 16 points, inducing 4 - 8 from beyond the arc.  Sarah Te-Bisau and Mary-Anna Ansara each scored 10.    

With usual starter Bre Bellamy injured and Alexsia Rose also not playing, UMass started both FR bigs and Tori Hyduke, who all acquitted themselves well.  Some of the best rebounding  of the season.  Stefanie Kulesza had 13 points and 4 steals -  3 in a 45 second sequence, all in the midcourt.  (She had 8 steals against Fordham last Saturday.)  For the bigs, Chineye Odenigbo scored 10 points and had 4 rebounds, while Lilly Tauleulei  was 7/10.  Hyduke had 9 points,  including 7 in the first half.  Kristen Williams had 10 points on 3-17 FG, 1 - 10 from beyond the arc.  She was again scoreless in the first half.  
It was Senior Night in Amherst.  Bellamy was one of the two celebrated.  She has a degree from William and Mary and is earning a Foundations of Management certificate, which is apparently a graduate level on-line course, transferable to other graduate level programs.  Tori Hyduke had a BS in Design and Merchandising  Drexel and is also earning a Foundations of Management certificate.    This may seem off topic but I've often wondered about the courses/programs that GR players get involved in.

It was mentioned that Hyduke has scored over 500 points in her career.  I believe she had 270 in her RS FR year ar GW,  Then 187 at Drexel, if my math is correct.  And currently 115 at UMass. making it 572 and counting.  Getting deep in the weeds here.  Good night.

On Saturday, St Joes won and Richmond lost.  The leaders are now tied at 14 - 2 in conference play.

Davidson forfeited again to fall to 8-8, while Fordham got the win for a 7-9 record.

GW (H, 4-10) 59, UMass (1-16) 55

St Joseph's (H, 14-2) 72,  Rhode Island (9-7) 67. Paula Maurina led the Hawks with 19 points.  Laura Ziegler did not play.  Talya Brugler was 17/7.  Chloe Welch had 14.  Mackenzie Smith scored 13 off the bench.  Dee Dee Davis scored 19 for the Rams.  Anaelle Dutat was 11/7.  Maye Toure only had 6 points on 3 -14 FG.

George Mason (H,15-3 )82,  Richmond (14-2) 76.  OT. Attendance was 2,457 in Fairfax.  Sonia Smith scored 21 for the Patriots,.  Reserve Zahirah Walton had 18 points and 14 rebounds.  Taylor Jameson had 18 points and 14 rebounds.  Ti'Vyanna Habib scored 13.  Maggie Doogan scored 20 points for the Spiders with 11 rebounds.  Grace Townsend scored 16, with 9 assists,

VCU (13-3) 75, LaSalle (H, 4-12) 50.  Sarah Te-Bisau scored 17 fro the Rams while Timaya Lewis-Eutsey had 14.  SR Molly Masciantonio led the Explorers with 12 points and 4 assists.  Fellow Senior  Makayla Miller  had 11, as did Tiara Bolden.  
 

Richmond is alone in first place at 15-2 going into the final regular season games on Saturday.  St Joe's buckled to upstart Fordham and fell to 14-3, tied with George Mason and VCU.  Duquense is 5th at 13-4.  Ti'Viyanna Habib and Zhirah Walton from George Mason won the Player and Rookie of the Week awards respectively.  Laura Ziegler and Tayla Brugler were added to  the Ann Meyers Drysdale award and All- American watch lists, just in time for the Hawks' loss.

St Bomaventure will be the 11 am game next Wednesday with the opponent to be determined from a pack of currently 8-9 teams.  UMass stands at 14th and will play Dayton (who they have beaten) or GW.  The Revs are on track to play LaSalle in the late game.  I hope I got that right.  

Wednesday games:

Richmond (H, 15-2) 90, Duquense (13-4) 74.  Grace Townsend had 19 points, 3 rebounds and 6 assists for the Spiders.  Maggie Doogan was 14/6 with 6 assists and 2 blocks.  Addie Budnick was 11/5 with 4 assists and 2 blocks.  Spiders had 31 bench points led by Laren VanArsdale with 15 and reliable scorer Rachel Ullstrom with 12.  Naelle Bernard scored 20 for the Dukes and Megan McConnell was 19/7 with 3 assists.

GW (5-12) 45, Davidson (H, 8-9) 40

VCU 69 (14-3), Rhode Island (H, 9-8) 59 .  Sarah Te-Bisau and Timaya Lewis-Eutsey each scored 17 for VCU, which led 57-39 after 3 quarters.  DeeDee Davis had 23 points for URI.

St Louis (8-9) 78, LaSalle (8-9 4-13) 37.  Peyton Kennedy scored 17 for the Billikens while Kyla McMakin and Tierra Simons each had 16,  Tiara Bolden was 13/8 for the Explorers.

Fordham (7-9) 62,St Joseph's (14-3) 57.   Taylor Donaldson had 18 for the Rams.  Emy Hayford scored 11.   Mackenzie Smith led the Hawks with 24 points and 6 rebounds.  Brugler scored 11,  

George Mason (H, 14-3) 78, Dayton (4-13) 53.  Reserve Kennedy Harris led the Patriots with 27 points and 8 rebounds.  POW Habib was 11/7.  ROW Walton had 10.  Ivy Wolf was the only Flyer in double figures with 18 points.  Double double machine Ariana Smith was close with 8 points and 7 rebounds.

UMass (H, 2-16) 58, St Bonaventure (1-16) 45.  Minutewomen ended their regular season, breaking their 15 game losing streak while extending the Bonnies' streak.  UMass had almost comfortable leads a couple of times but still had a couple of their scoring drought hiccups.  Kristen Williams had a career high 21 points including 3 long three pointers in the third periods all but 2 of UMass's 11.  Bonnies outrebounded UMass by 12 in the third although they only won quarter 13-11.  Alexis Rose had 12 points.  Stefanie Kulesza was 8/9.  FR big Chineye Odenigbo continues to improve: 8 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 blocks.  Tori Hyduke played a good floor game with 3 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal; converting the latter to a long pass to Williams for a key 4th quarter lay-up.  She only scored one FT but her miss was converted to an offensive rebound and put back, another key point in the 4th,  Isabellah Middleton score 16 for the Bonnies.  Peyton Field had 14.  Dani Haskell was out with an injury,

 

Thank you WMC

Early Thursday games.  Loyola Chicago wins its first A!0 tournament game. in a barnburner with Fordham

#8 Loyola Chicago (15-15) 53, #9 Fordham (12-17) 52.  Kika Hodge-Carr Thoranna (7 points) hit a jumper and a foul shot with under half a minute left for the fwinning points.  Alyssa Fisher hit a three pointer with about a minute left for the last of her 14 points.  Sam Galanopoulous scored 10 points and had 5 assists.  Ali Berg had 8 points and 10 rebounds,  Taylor Donaldson had a 15/8 game for the Rams.  Emy Hayford and reserve Rose Nelson each scored 12 points.  Aminatta Ly had a 9/9 line.

#5 Duquense (19-11) 81,#13  UMass (5-27) 57.  Megan McConnell had 21 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals.  Reserve Precious Johnson scored 13 points to go over one thousand for her career.  And added 8 rebounds.  Tess Myers had 11.  The balanced , and deep, Dukes got 8 points each from Amaya Hamilton
(8 rebounds), Naeklle Bernard  and Jenni Kiakau.  Stefanie Kulesza and Kristen Williams led the Minutewomen with 11 points each, right around their average.  Avery Childers, a preferred walk-on, scored her first college points on a steal and drive in the last minute.    Tori Hyduke ended her career with a 7 point effort  on 3-6 FG, 1-2 beyond the arc.  She added 2 rebounds and 2 assists.  If my math is correct, she finished with 613 points with 21 in the tournament.  

 

Last edited by WMC (3/07/2024 4:04 pm)

The upsets on Friday night led to ## 6 and 7 facing off today.  I thought today's CBSSN announcers were pretty good,

Friday:

#& St Louis 66, #2 VCU (26-5) 63.  Peyton Kennedy led the Billikens with 22 points.  Kyla McMakon had 16.  POY Sarah Te-Bisau had 22 for the Rams.  Mary=Anna Asare scored 16.

#6 Rhode Island 57, St Joseph's (26-5) 47.  Dee Dee Davis continued  her hot tournament with 22 points.  Laura Ziegler led the Hawks with 12.  St Joe's only scored 10 points in each of 3 quarters.

Saturday:

#1 Richmond (28-5) 80, #5 Duquesne (20-12) 66.  Addie Budnick started hot from beyond the arc and finsidhes with 22 points, along with 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks.  Grace Townsend scored 19 the 7 rebounds and 8 assists.  Spiders got 13 points each from Maggie Doogan, Siobhan Ryan and super-sub Rachel Ullstrom.  Ayanna Townsend led the Dukes with 13 points and 7 rebounds.

#6 Rhode Island (21-13) 68, St Louis (16-18) 62.  Preseason favorite Rams won despite being only 11-22 FT.  Dee Dee Davis scored 16 with 9 rebounds and 4 assists.  Maye Toure had a strong 14-10 game.  Teisha Hyman had 12 points and 5 rebounds off the bench,.  Peyton Kennedy scored 16 for the Billikens and Kyla McMakin had 13..  

There are 6 A10 teams with 20 or more wins,  Five should get WNIT bids.  League is considered 8th best in the NCAA, according to the announcers.  And all that will get them is a double digit seed for the tourney champion.  

South Carolina beat Tennessee by a point on an uncontested 3 pointier by Cardosa  on a half court throw in with 1.1 seconds left.  Vols coach screwed up twice, by not guiding the throw in and by not appealing token pressure on Cardosa.  How can your defense  be so casual when you have a 2 point lead on the undefeated, #1 team?

Last edited by WMC (3/09/2024 7:35 pm)

The days of GW getting an invite to the NCAA are long gone, given the current college landscape.  I'm not sure any of those GW teams could get an at large bid now, with the Power conference domination, the influence of the ESPN and the weakness of the NCAA.  It was fun all those years, wasn't it?

Right now, the only projected at-large invitee mid-major is Gonzaga (30-3) which lost to Portland in the title game.  If Columbia  (or Harvard/Penn) upsets Princeton
(25-4) in the Ivy tournament, the Tigers would probably get an at large bid.  Columbia deserves a bid but won't get one unless they win the tourney.

To close the A10 tourney narrative with the title game.

#1 Richmond 65, Rhode Island (21-14) 51.  Maggie Doogan scored 18 points and had 7 rebounds.  The Spiders were out rebounded by the Rams.  Addie Budnick and Siobhan Ryan had 14 points each.  Grace Townsend,had 13 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.  Reserve Teisha Hyman was the only Ram in double figures, with 13 points.  

Richmond is projected as an 11 or 12 seed, one of the higher mid-major seeds.  I still think the other 5 twenty win teams get a WNIT bid.  Davidson would have been a 6th if not for their late season forfeits.  

Speaking of Davidson, Elle Sutphin has withdrawn her name from the transfer portal and will finish her career at Davidson, having played 3 years there after her first year at NC State.  I had read that Davidson didn't have graduate programs so I'm not sure how that's going to work.  

Someone will start an off season/transfer portal thread soon.  So far, 6'3" Maranda Nyborg,  4.3 ppg. 2.9 reg. had entered the portal from Fordham.  And, in a bit of a surprise to me, Alexsia Rose from UMass has reentered the portal after one season..  She had her best season 11.4 ppg, 33% FG after never shooting above 28 % in 3 years at East Carolina.  Rose brought energy and speed, and some offense, but she didn't always make the best decisions.  With Tori Hyduke leaving too, UMass will need help at PG.  With a 5 win season, I guess they need help at more than point guard.  And they better hope for no more defections.

 

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.

Last edited by WMC (3/22/2024 7:49 pm)

Last night, Duquense rallied to beat  a game Monmouth team to extend its inconsistent season.

Duquense (H, 21-12) 69, Monmouth (22-10, 14-4 CAA) 65,, OT.  Megan McConnell led the Dukes with 16 points and 10 rebounds although she only shot 7-17 and 2-6 FT.  Amaya Hamilton was 8/6 with a key offensive rebound of her own miss and put back in OT.  The other 3 starters were 1 - 15 from the field: Naelle Bernard (2 points, 1-6), Ayanna Townsend (0-5, 3-4 FT) and Tess Myers (0-4, 2 rebounds.).  
Off the bench, Precious Johnson had 15 points and 7 rebounds and SO Jerni Kiaku scored 12.  The key late performance was by Lauren Wasylson, who has played an important bench role for the Dukes but was averaging less than 5 ppg and was 4-5 FT on the season.  With the Dukes down 59-51, Wasylson scored 9 points in 16 seconds starting at the 0:45 second mark, a 3 pointer, followed by 3 - 3 FT twice.  She also had 2 FT in overtime. I was trying. to watch the game while focusing on UConn/Syracuse.  Besides some bad fouls, Monmouth was just 6 - 12 FT in the fourth quarter.  

-----------------------------

The A10 has 3 teams still playing.  In the WBIT, the conference is 2 - 2, with St Jospeh's (28-5) visiting Villanova (20-12) in their rematch on Thursday.

The A-10 is 3 - 0 in the WNIT, as Duquense had a first round bye.

The Dukes visit Purdue (14-18, 5-13 Big 10) on Thursday.   Boilermakers beat Butler (15-17) at Hiinkle Fieldhouse after their first round bye.  Purdue has wins over Texas A&M and at Dayton.  They have 6 FR on their roster including Mary Ashley Stevenson (6'2", 9'8 ppg, 4.8 rpg) Big 10 Freshman of the Year in the media vote.  A Nebraska player won the coaches' vote.

On Friday, St Louis visits Purdue Fort Wayne (23-12, 13-7 Horizo .). Billikens record is now being listed as 19-18, counting the win over Knox College.  In the WNIT, the Mastodons have beaten Eastern Kentucky (22-12) of the ASUN at home and then dominated the Bearcats (14-18) in Cincinnati 84-58.