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City 6 Roundup (Feb. 4): Drexel, 'Nova women, Penn men keep winning

02/04/2022, 11:30pm EST
By Joey Piatt

Joey Piatt (@joey_piatt)

It was a busy night for the City 6 women’s basketball programs, with five of the six teams in action. The lone men’s team in action was Steve Donahue’s Penn Quakers, who entered Friday night in the midst of a surge toward the top of the Ivy League. 

Here’s a recap of all the City 6 action from Friday night, which included several teams building on existing winning streaks and a few escaping with narrow victories. 

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Talya Brugler (above, in Nov.) had a big double-double as St. Joe's upset Davidson on the road. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

WBB: Saint Joseph’s 67, Davidson 66

Despite allowing 34 points in the paint and losing the turnover battle 17-11, Cindy Griffin’s Saint Joseph’s squad managed to escape a road trip to Davidson with a key A-10 victory. 

The Hawks (7-13, 3-5) jumped out to an early lead with a 24-point first quarter. But Davidson (12-9, 3-6) marched back and outscored SJU 37-26 over the next two quarters. Despite slowing in their scoring pace, the Hawks continued to shoot the ball well throughout the game: Saint Joseph’s finished 24-55 from the floor and 8-20 from beyond the arc. That consistent shooting proved crucial in the second half, when Davidson scored just 21 total points. 

Leading the Hawks’ offense was freshman Talya Brugler, who played a career-high 38 minutes. The Nazareth, Pa. native took advantage of her time on the court, recording a double-double with 18 points and 16 rebounds. Mackenzie Smith and Katie Jekot also both added 11 points for St. Joe’s.

Keeping the Hawks’ defense in check was the Davidson scoring tandem of Chloe Welch and Cassidy Gould. Welch’s 23 points were the most in the contest, and Gould’s 20 were not far behind. 

Friday’s win was important for a St. Joe’s team that arrived in Davidson on a three-game losing streak. Griffin’s unit will look to build on the victory on Sunday, when it hosts Davidson for a rematch of Friday night’s nail-biter. 

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WBB: Columbia 66, Penn 57

Mike McLaughlin’s Quakers continued their mid-season slide on Friday night, dropping their fourth-straight Ivy contest. The loss was Penn’s second defeat at the hands of the visiting Columbia Lions, and it dropped the Quakers (7-12, 2-5) to sixth in the Ancient Eight, ahead of a pair of teams in Brown and Dartmouth whose combined Ivy record is 0-14. 

The first-place Lions took control right from the start, winning the tip and converting a quick opening three-pointer. Penn pushed back, and both teams traded baskets back-and-forth throughout the first quarter. But, thanks to 12 points on perfect 4-4 three-point shooting from sophomore guard Abbey Hsu, the Lions left the first quarter holding a narrow 19-17 lead. 

Hsu and junior combo guard Kaitlyn Davis paced the Lions’ steady offensive attack with 17 points each. The pair powered an efficient Columbia shooting attack: the Lions were 26-64 on field goal attempts. 

McLaughlin’s squad struggled to keep pace with the Lions’ offensive attack, shooting just 19-68 from the floor and just 9-28 from beyond the arc. The lone bright spot in Penn’s attack was junior guard Sydnei Caldwell, whose 20 points were a season high. 

With time winding down until the Ivy Tournament, the Quakers will need to turn things around fast in order to secure a top in the conference’s top four. The team will get the chance to rebound on Saturday when they host Cornell (7-10, 2-4).

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WBB: VCU 62, La Salle 56

La Salle failed to separate itself from the middle of the pack in the Atlantic 10 conference, losing to visiting VCU at Tom Gola Arena on Friday night. The loss comes days after the Explorers secured a Big 5 victory over Saint Joseph’s, and it drops Mountain MacGillavray’s team to a 12-9 (5-4) record and a sixth-place spot in the A-10 conference standings. 

The Rams (10-8, 5-3) jumped out in front early, scoring the game’s first basket and exiting the first quarter with a 20-14 lead. La Salle made a second-quarter push to tie the game at 31 entering halftime, but a strong VCU third quarter kept the Explorers at an arm's reach until the clock hit zero.

VCU boasted a balanced offensive attack and a trio of double-digit scorers: Taya Robinson had 21, Sarah Te-Biasu 14, and Madison Hattix-Covington 12. La Salle, however, could not match the Rams, with senior Kayla Spruill finishing as the only Explorer in double figures with 18 points. The team’s second-leading scorer was junior Claire Jacobs with nine. 

To put itself in a strong position entering conference tournament play, MacGillavray’s team will need to string together some wins and move its A-10 record further from .500. La Salle will have its hands full doing that right away. On Sunday, the Explorers host a Rhode Island team riding a 10-game winning streak. After that Feb. 6 matchup with URI, La Salle’s schedule gets easier, with four of its final five games coming against teams with sub-.500 records. 

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Lior Garzon (above) had 17 points as VIllanova won for the 10th time in 11 games. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

WBB: Villanova 82, St. John’s 58

Denise Dillion’s program is heating up at the right time. 

The Wildcats’ convincing road victory over the Red Storm extended their winning streak to six games and pushed them up to fifth in the Big East standings. 

Villanova (14-6, 8-3) used a big first quarter to establish an early double-digit lead over St. John’s (7-15, 3-9). The only bright spot in the game for the Red Storm was the second quarter, in which they outscored the Wildcats 20-19 and closed the gap down to single-digits. But thanks to a 34-point effort by former Big 5 Player of the Year — and likely favorite for this year’s award — Maddy Siegrist, Villanova won the second half scoring battle 42-27 en route to the 24-point victory. 

Friday night’s matchup was a clean game, with both teams combining for just 22 turnovers, and like it is in many City 6 matchups, scoring was the deciding factor. Outside of Siegrist, the Wildcats also saw contributions from Lior Garzon, whose 17 points were second on the team, and Anahi Lee-Cauley and Lucy Olsen, who scored nine and seven points, respectively.

For St. John’s, the top performer was senior guard Kadaja Bailey, who scored 18 points on 7-16 shooting. Bailey’s efforts were supplemented by Camreé Clegg, who scored 11, and Leilani Correa, who finished with 9. But while both teams proved able to score on Friday, the Wildcats’ shooting simply outpaced that of the Red Storm: Villanova finished 32-63 and St. John’s 23-52. 

Villanova will look to keep its winning ways going on Sunday, when it hosts Georgetown (7-11, 2-8). 

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WBB: Drexel 72, UNCW 39

The red-hot Drexel Dragons extended their winning streak to 14 games with a commanding 33-point victory over the Seahawks. Drexel (17-2, 9-0) continues to control the first-place spot in the Colonial Athletic Association, while its Friday night opponent maintained its spot as the conference’s cellar dweller. 

The Dragons outscored the Seahawks in each of the game’s four quarters and were fueled by four different double-digit scorers. Hannah Nihill led the way with 19 points, and Keishana Washington, Tessa Brugler, and Mariah Leonard also added 15, 13, and 10 points, respectively. UNCW struggled to keep up on offense, with graduate guard Sierra DaCosta’s 12 points serving as the team’s only foray into double figures. 

In addition to controlling the offensive pacing of the game, Drexel won the turnover battle. Amy Mallon’s squad handed the ball over just six times while UNCW totaled 20 turnovers. The Dragons capitalized on those UNCW mistakes with 20 points off of turnovers. 

Drexel will look to continue its march toward securing the CAA Tournament’s top seed on Sunday, when it hosts the College of Charleston (11-9, 3-6). 

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MBB: Penn 81, Columbia 66

In the lone men’s City 6 matchup of Friday, Penn men’s basketball continued its midseason Ivy surge with a road victory over Columbia. 

The Quakers (9-12, 6-2) have overcome a tough non-conference schedule to make a push toward the Ivy League Tournament. Friday night’s win moves Steve Donahue’s squad up to second in the Ancient Eight and puts it in a firm position to secure a spot in the top four. 

Crucial in Penn’s recent success has been the efforts of sophomore guard Jordan Dingle, whose 19.6 points per game are nearly 10 points ahead of second-leading scorer Clark Slajchert’s 9.8. Dingle continued his midseason breakout with a 23-point effort at Columbia. The Quakers also received contributions from Max Martz, who scored 16 despite shooting just 1-6 from three, and sophomore Andrew Laczkowski, whose 12 points were a season high. 

Columbia relied on a two-man scoring team of Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa (21 points) and Cameron Shockley-Okene (20 points). But the efforts of Rubio De La Rosa and Shockley-Okene were offset by the battle for points in the paint. The Lions scored just 20 points in the paint, while Penn scored 56. 

Penn has just six games left on its 2021-2022 regular season schedule, and a Saturday date with Cornell (12-6, 4-3) will be the team’s next chance to continue its march toward Lavietes Pavilion for the Ivy Tournament.


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