Temple Earns A Share of the Big Five Championship With Villanova, Drexel Winning Streak Reached 6 Games and Moves Into 1st Place in CAA, La Salle Gets First Big Five In in MacGillivray Era
Games of January 20 – 26, 2020
Drexel (13 – 6, 6 – 1) – The Dragons won their sixth straight game, all in conference, to move into first place in the CAA. Drexel swept road games at Elon in overtime and at William & Mary. The Dragons came back to tie, then win at Elon shutting down the Phoenix in overtime. A 10 – 0 run sealed the game against the Pride. Bailey Greenberg had 25 points and 14 rebounds over the weekend. Nikki Metzel scored a season-high 16 points against W&M. Aubree Brown filled the stat sheet with 10 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals.
Won 55 – 53 at Elon, Won 61 – 54 at William & Mary
La Salle (8 – 12, 2 – 5, 1 – 3 Big Five) – The Explorers won their first Big Five game under the direction of coach Mountain MacGillivray defeating the Hawks of Saint Joe’s. Kayla Spruill had a career-mark in both points with 24 and rebounds at 12. It was the 8th consecutive games that Spruill posted double-figures in scoring. Claire Jacobs added 21 points. Shalina Miller set the all-time program record with blocked shots at Richmond, then added to her total (158) with a career-high tying 6 blocks of Hawks shots. The win followed a tough loss at Richmond where La Salle erased 13 points of a 14-point deficit with 19 seconds remaining. Spruill had a team-high 18 points in the contest.
Lost 63 – 61 at Richmond, Won 67 – 59 vs. Saint Joseph’s
Penn (10 – 4, 0 – 1 Ivy League, 2 – 2 Big Five) – The University of Pennsylvania was playing for a share of the Big Five Championship, but a 60 – 47 lead going into the final 10 minutes was erased. Temple outscored Penn 29 – 12 in the fourth quarter. Eleah Parker led the way for the Red and Blue with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Kendall Grasela had a career-high 15 points and 7 assists. Kayla Padilla was limited to 8 points.
Lost 76 – 72 at Temple
Saint Joseph’s (8 – 11, 2 – 5 Atlantic 10, 1 – 3 Big Five) – The Hawks broke a four-game losing streak via a win in Olean, NY. Katie Mayock snared an offensive rebound then converted a put-back as time expired to get the win. Coming to 20th and Olney, Saint Joe’s started slow and never led in the loss. Katie Jekot had a team-high 16 points and Gabby Smalls added 11 to give her 21 points over the week.
Won 61 – 60 at St. Bonaventure, Lost 67 – 59 at La Salle
Temple (12 – 8, 4 – 3 American, 3 – 1 Big Five) – The Owls came back from a 13-point deficit after three quarters, and outscored Penn 29 – 12 in the final 10 minutes to earn a share of the city title with Villanova. Mia Davis had another double-double with 20 points and 14 rebounds. Ashley Jones who ignited the fourth quarter surge scored 17 points, 10 in the fourth. Lena Niang had 7 crucial points, all in the final stanza. The Owls could not keep the momentum going dropping a road game at Cincinnati, who shot 51.7% from the floor. Davis recorded a double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Niang reached the same level with 11 points and 10 boards. Jones hit for 13 points while adding 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Marissa Mackins added 19 points after getting 14 in the Penn game.
Won 76 – 72 vs. Penn, Lost 86 – 81 at Cincinnati
Villanova (11 – 9, 5 – 4, 3 – 1 Big Five) – The Wildcats had a rugged road trip and lost games at nationally ranked and league leading DePaul, then were defeated at Marquette, another team in the upper echelon of the Big East standings. Villanova stayed competitive, but did not have enough. Mary Gedaka had two 20-point games and moved into 11th place in the all-time scoring list with 1,356 career points. Maddy Siegrist posted double figures in 19 of her last 20 games getting 19 and 25 counters over the weekend.
Lost 89 – 65 at #11 DePaul, Lost 57 – 52 at Marquette
Upcoming Games – All of the city teams are home for their next game(s). Drexel has a critical slate of CAA games over the weekend as third-place Towson and second-place James Madison come to the DAC. Villanova has the NY/NJ visitors when St. John’s and Seton Hall visit the Finn. Temple has a key conference game Wednesday hosting UCF. Penn gets into the Ivy League portion of the schedule when Harvard and Dartmouth will come to the Palestra. Saint Joseph’s and La Salle have Atlantic 10 games at home on Wednesday hosting the George’s. The Hawks play George Washington while the Explorers meet George Mason.
PhillyCollegeSports.com Players of the Week
Mia Davis, Temple who recorded her 14th double-double this season getting 20 points and 14 rebounds in the Penn game where Temple became co-champions of the Big Five. Davis continued her streak getting 23 points and pulling down 11 rebounds at Cincinnati. Davis averaged 21.5 points and 12.5 boards over the week. She leads the team in scoring getting 19.8 points per game and rebounds at 11.1. Davis has the most offensive rebounds snaring 89. She leads the team in minutes with an average of 35 per game.
Kayla Spruill, La Salle who had two double figures scoring games over the week getting 18 points at Richmond. She followed that scoring a career-high 24 points and set a collegiate-best with 12 rebounds in the Saint Joe’s game. This was the eighth consecutive game where Spruill scored in double figures. Against the Hawks she recorded her first double-double. She second on the team in scoring at 10.7 points per game and in rebounds pulling down 5.8 in each contest. Spruill leads the Explorers in steals with 22 and minutes played.
Honor Roll
Bailey Greenberg, Nikki Metzel – Drexel
Shalina Miller, Claire Jacobs – La Salle
Eleah Parker, Kendall Grasela – Penn
Katie Jekot – Saint Joseph’s
Lena Niang, Ashley Jones – Temple
Mary Gedaka, Maddy Siegrist – Villanova
Player of the Week and Honor Roll selections are made by Glenn Papazian, PhillyCollegeSports.com, Mel Greenberg, Women’s Hoop Guru, and Matt Leon, KYW Newsradio.
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