City of Basketball Love

By Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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At the beginning of the new year with conference play either already underway or about to begin for the Big 5 women’s teams, it felt like a good time to catch up on how each team’s season has gone so far: 

Saint Joseph's
The Hawks are in the midst of the second best start in program history, finishing the 2023 part of their schedule with a 12-1 mark. After the team picked up its lone loss to nationally ranked Utah on Dec. 7, St. Joe’s followed by knocking off Villanova to snap a seven-game losing streak to their Big 5 rival. The Hawks started Atlantic 10 play with a 76-49 win at Fordham on Dec. 30 to make it for straight wins since the loss to the Utes. They follow with two home games this week, including a big one Saturday against Richmond.

Junior forward Talya Brugler (16.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg) and sophomore forward Laura Ziegler (13.5 ppg, 9.6 rpg) are a terrific forward duo, and junior guard Mackenzie Smith (12.2 ppg) is averaging double figures once again. Graduate guard Chloe Welch (11.6 ppg, 5.6 rpg), a transfer from Davidson, has fit in right away with the group. Junior guard Julia Nyström (4.5 ppg) has started all 13 games with that group.

ESPN bracketologist Charlie Creme currently projects Davidson as the only Atlantic 10 team in the at-large picture. The games against Utah (No. 4) and Villanova (No. 49) marked the toughest tests thus far for the Hawks, according to the NET rankings. Wins against Temple (No. 122), UAB (No. 143) and Drexel (No. 163) are the other matchups against Top 200 teams thus far. The A-10 has six teams, including St. Joe’s in the top 82, so the competition will stiffen up over the next couple months.

Villanova
After a 5-1 start to the season, the Wildcats dropped three of four in December to fall to 6-4 after opening Big East play with a loss to St. John’s on Dec. 16. Wins over La Salle and Xavier improved Villanova to 8-5 (1-1 Big East) at the end of the new year. 

In the post-Maddy Siegrist era at Villanova, junior guard Lucy Olsen has stepped up averaging 24.0 ppg and 3.5 apg, while shooting 44.4 percent from the floor. Junior forward Christina Dalce (10.5 ppg, 10.8 rpg) is a double-double machine and the only other consistent offensive threat along with Olsen thus far with seven double-digit outings in her last nine games. Senior guard Bella Runyan (6.5 ppg, 5.7 rpg), senior guard Maddie Burke (6.4 ppg) and junior guard Zanai Jones (5.3 ppg) have held down the rest of the starting lineup and freshman guard Maddie Webber (7.9 ppg, 3.0 rpg) has been a boost off the bench. 

The Wildcats haven’t had any bad losses as undefeated Oregon State (No. 28), Princeton (No. 51), St. Joe’s (No. 56), Columbia (No. 66) and St. John’s (No. 88) all rank in the Top 100 of NET, but Richmond (No. 53) and Portland (No. 99) mark the only quality wins for the squad thus far. They’ve got some work to do to get back to the NCAA Tournament after last season’s Sweet 16 run.

Drexel
Drexel finished its nonconference slate with a 5-6 record. The Dragons had a rough stretch against three 2023 NCAA Tournament teams  in late December, losing a home game to nationally ranked Florida State before falling to Florida Gulf Coast and Cleveland State during a trip to Estero, Fla. A victory over Division III Arcadia broke the skid.

While the Dragons have a defense that ranks in the Top 25 (53.6 ppg) their offense ranks 305th (56.7 ppg). Graduate guard Brooke Mullin (12.3 ppg) has broken out as the team’s top scorer after transferring from Villanova. She has a pair of 20-point outings in her last five games. Senior forward Chloe Hodges (8.2 ppg, 4.6 rpg) and junior guard Amaris Baker (8.1 ppg) are the other top scorers. Sophomore guard Grace O’Neill (5.4 ppg) and graduate forward Hetta Saatman are the other two starters. Freshman guard Laine McGurk (7.6 ppg) has slowed after four straight double-digit outings to start her career but she’s still fourth on the team in scoring. 

Stony Brook is out to a 10-1 start, looking like the early CAA favorite after being picked second in the league’s preseason poll. While the Dragons haven’t looked like the team from season

Temple
Temple began its season 6-6 in nonconference slate, which was just a one-game improvement from the 5-7 mark Diane Richardson’s squad put together in Year 1. The Owls finished 2023 with a 7-7 record, splitting their first two American Athletic Conference games against new league rivals UT-San Antonio and North Texas. 

Junior guard Tiarra East (12.6 ppg, 3.9 rpg), fifth-year guard Aleah Nelson (11.9 ppg) and redshirt-senior forward Rayne Tucker (9.8 ppg, 7.4 rpg) lead a group with seven players averaging six-or-more points per game. Senior forward Ines Piper (7.8 ppg, 5.6 rpg) and graduate guard Demi Washington (6.1 ppg) are the other starters. Senior guard Tarriyonna Gary (8.2 ppg) has been a spark off the bench and freshman guard Tristen Taylor (6.8 ppg) has carved out a role in her first season. 

The AAC has six new teams this season, so it will be interesting to see how things shake out and whether the Owls can improve on last season’s 6-10 mark in the league.

Penn
The Quakers followed a three-week break with wins over Maine and D-III Gwynedd Mercy to conclude the year with an 8-5 nonconference record. It’s been a pretty consistent season thus far with Penn not winning or losing more than two games in a row. 

Junior guard/wing Stina Almqvist (15.8 ppg, 5.9 rpg) is having a breakout junior campaign, while freshman guard Mataya Gayle (15.5 pg) is having a terrific debut season, going off for 14-or-more points in seven straight games. Senior forward Jordan Obi (15.2 ppg, 7.2 rpg) and junior guard Lizzy Groetsch (6.2 ppg, 4.9 rpg) have been the other stalwarts in the starting lineup, while the fifth spot has gone through a few different players. Freshmen guards Abby Sharpe and Ese Ogbevire also look like they’ll have significant roles moving forward.

The Quakers finished 9-5 for fourth place in the Ivy a season ago, getting bounced by Princeton in the Ivy semifinals. Reigning champion Princeton will be tough to knock off in the Ivy League, while Columbia is strong again. 

La Salle
La Salle has lost eight straight after starting 3-2 to drop to 3-10 on the season, including lopsided losses to Davidson and George Mason to begin A-10 play. Struggles have persisted on both sides of the ball.

Already very inexperienced, the Explorers were hurt by the injury bug with freshman guard Arys Macktoon and junior forward Emilee Tahata both missing time early in the season. Tahata is back in the lineup, but Macktoon hasn’t played since Nov. 15 after averaging 10.8 ppg in her first four college games. Freshman guard Nicole Melious (9.9 ppg) is leading the team in scoring with graduate guard Molly Masciantonio (8.7 ppg) doing the most scoring she’s done in her career. Graduate guard Makayla Miller (8.4 ppg) and junior guard Gabby Turco (7.1 ppg) have been welcome additions. 

Upcoming home games against Fordham and UMass and a road trip to St. Bonaventure provide an opportunity to break the skid as it appears La Salle is likely to keep going through some growing pains in A-10 play.