Women's Hoops Guru

By Mel Greenberg

Before moving ahead, it’s time to look back at the year of 2008 that officially entered the history books at the stroke of midnight Thursday.

Things have a way of happening around here in the Philadelphia region that big local news is also major national news and so it was again this season.

A year ago Rutgers easily hit both categories to be the top story off the Scarlet Knights’; turnaround run to the NCAA title game and the Don Imus controversy that quickly followed

Rutgers is back on the list again, but not at the very top.

If judging here were viewed from an orbiting satellite, then Candace Parker’s outstanding play as a Tennessee senior and two-time NCAA champion, a WNBA rookie, and a United States Olympic gold medalist, would no doubt stand out.

And her award as the Associated Press female athlete of the year certainly reflects that.

Although the Guru does not want to go through a complete ranking, two stories dominated this blog in terms of readership traffic with many others close at hand in a year that helped set site records.

No. 1 on the list in a photo finish was Dawn Staley’s decision to leave Temple after eight years for a similar head coaching job at South Carolina. Included along the way was the Owls’ search for a successor that ultimately ended with the selection of former Connecticut assistant Tonya Cardoza.

As a package, Temple also goes into the mix at the top for setting a record with four straight 4-0 Big Five titles and an 18-game City Series win streak that was snapped by Villanova several weeks ago.

And because it became part of the Staley story, the move by Father Judge Graduate Joe McKeown to leave a longtime successful coaching stint at Atlantic Ten power George Washington for Big Ten cellar-dweller Northwestern is also included.

If Staley was big news in the collegiate world, a virtual tie at the top came from the high school sector when phenom Elena Delle Donne from Wilmington’s Ursuline Academy made a quick exit from Connecticut and then spent the summer deliberating before returning her scholarship to the Huskies. She then announced she would attend nearby Delaware, but to play volleyball, a sport she took up her senior year in high school,.

Former Immaculata coach Cathy Rush was a local/national story off her long-wished induction to the Naismith Basketball Hall of fame whiel Virginia coach Debbie Ryan, who grew up near Trenton, went into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville.
Former Penn State star Suzie McConnell Serio, currently the Duquesne coach, was also inducted into the women’s hall along with former Wayland Baptist-Tennessee star Jill Rankin-Schneider, referee Patty Broderick, Central Arizona coach Lin Laursen, and former Australian and WNBA star Michele Timms.
Ora Washington, who grew up in Germantown, is part of the next class to be inducted in June.

Also, Rush might soon return to the national limelight in the spring should Our Lady of Victory, the movie about Immaculata’s first national title, finally make its way to movie houses.

As for Rutgers, the Scarlet Knights were involved in the usual combination of fun and controversy.

On the bright side was the arrival of five McDonald’s all-Americans as freshmen, although that number has since been reduced by one. There was the upset of Connecticut at home.That put coach C;. Vivian Stringer’s team in position to become the first-ever to beat successive No. 1 teams.

It should have happened but Rutgers was deprived of a last-minute win over Tennessee in Knoxville when the clock froze for 1.13 seconds in the final moments enabling the Lady Vols to win on the foul line when officials refused to acknowledge the clock failure.

A month later, Rutgers was paired in the same NCAA tournament region with Big East power Connecticut, which beat the Scarlet Knights with a rally in the region title game and advanced to the Final Four for the first time since 2004.

Essence Carson and Matee Ajavon became first-round draft picks in the WNBA as did Maryland’s Crystal Langhorne (Willingboro High) and Laura Harper (Cheltenham).

Marianne Stanley left her assistant coaching job to return to the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks as an assistant. She was replaced by another Hall of Famer in former Texas star Clarissa Davis Wrightsil.

And because he was such an integral part of the women’s program along with the rest of the department, the year ended with the sudden and stunning firing of athletic director Bob Mulcahy III.

Another big story here was the predominately media-attended mock-bracket at NCAA headquarters in which participants in Indianapolis were given all the tools the selection committee uses and simulated the selection and pairing procedures. The Guru here took readers through the process step by step. Another mock session is set for February.

The upper group of top stories would include the United States powering its way to another gold medal at the Beijing games in China.

Meanwhile, in the WNBA, the Detroit Shock turned aside San Antonio to win its third title since 2003. A little set-to broke out between the Shock and Sparks near the end of a game just before the Olympic break that drew attention. The rookie class, headed by Parker, made a major impact. But another team became a casualty of the times – this one beng the charter Houston Comets, winner of the first four WNBA titles.

A continuing story has been the battle of Hall of Fame coach Kay Yow of N.C. State against cancer. Due to low energy levels she has missed her last three games, including the New Year’s victory by the Wolfpack over Georgetown in Raleigh.

We conclude here by saying that in the more important battles of wins and losses in life our New Year's prayers are with coach Yow to rally and make this fight her greatest victory.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

We'll wait until 24 hours from now for a year in review. And we'll wait until next week to preview what's ahead in the race to thje postseason.

And we'll wait for 1.13 seconds to pass before advancing Saturday's Rutgers-Tennessee matchup in Piscataway, N.J. That will even up the extra time we were given in Knoxville a year ago for coverage the last time the two national powers met.

But for now, last weekend's opportunity to pick the new Top 25 was going be easy until it came to filling one vacancy.

Arizona State's loss to Nebraska meant exit time for the Sun Devils. But as for finding a replacement - the landscape was similar to those years in which the chair of the NCAA tournament committee (pick any of them) informs how crowded the field was for picking the last two teams and how difficult was to separate them,

Ditto last week. At one point, Wisconsin would have been an overwhelming choice, given the record and strength of schedule. But, alas, a Big Ten loss to Iowa took them off the board.

As a for a replacement, the Guru went for DePaul, in part because a source close to the governor if Illinois said a seat in the United States senate might be a reward for going with the Blue Demons.

And then there's the possibility that with athletic director Jean Lenti Ponsetto's presumed ties to the new president of the United States, a perk or two might be available. After all, paybacks should be available for those years served as an outside counsel when Ponsetto chaired the committee.

But tongue-in-cheek comments aside, the Guru went with DePaul because even though they have yet to be observed in person, the Blue Demons seem to have a vibe as a top 25 team at the moment.

It is already a strange year when normal Top 10 powers past and present such as Maryland, Rutgers, Virginia, California (recently) and a few others are in the second group.

The problem for now has previously been stated here -- Most of the teams with superior records don't have schedule strengths to match, while many teams with better schedules have yet to excel.

And there is a belief that most of the nation seems to agree.

Here's the tell-tale sign based on a history of the Guru's association with the poll.

Usually, once unranked schools developed decemt records by now, the campaigning would begin by our friendly sports information contacts at the various schools.

But it is has been unusually quiet on the email front -- on that topic. The flood still arrives on information better suited for media types who can attend a promotional event on a quarter tank of gas.

However, with the growth of the internet, they now have the ability to see data that used to be privy to the Guru and a few others. In other words, as they look around in their own situation, they are seeing a mob with profiles just like them -- and few have a case tho distinguish one from the other.

And it seems the coaching community has also noticed the new dynamic. The two polls have never had as many differences as to where similar teams have been listed in recent weeks.

Now there was a time when an SID might call and whisper they themselves know their team isn't yet ready for a ranking but he or she was taking some heat from the coach to get some attention.

But the coaches are also viewing the same scene, thus also deciding one's case is as good as anyone's else. All of this could begin to sort out over the next month -- but maybe not.

And if it doesn't, this year's mock bracket get-together at NCAA headquarters in early February will be quite fun as well as to the real committee who will again be spectators to our deliberations.

Sudden thoughts and reactions:

Rutgers' win at home on Monday night means it's the first time George Washington has lost a matchup at Christmas time in central New Jersey.

GW had been 1-0 dating back to a win over a military team of British foreigners outside of Trenton in 1776.

If Temple wins at Duke Monday night, a new term called the Cardoza effect might develop.

On Sunday, Tonya Cardoza, the new coach of the Owls, returned to New Orleans -- the city of good times on visits during her years as a Connecticut assistant -- and guided her group to an impressive overtime win at Tulane.

She's also had a history of success with the Huskies contingent who have tangled with the Blue Devils in the Research Triangle.

And, yes, the Guru will be on the scene.

Delaware's revival from its worst season in a long time is good news for Blue Hens rookie volleyball player Elena Delle Donne.

With Tina Martin's group doing well, the fan base has less reason to mount a campaign and hope for the former Ursuline basketball star at Wilmington's Ursuline Academy to return to the sport of her previous acclaim.

On the other hand, as soon as perennial Colonial Athletic Association champion Old Dominion appears on the conference schedule horizon, there might be a few knocks on the dorm door from the fan base to lend a hand.

When does the stroke of the New Year arrive late and still on time for St. Joseph's.

The Hawks are heading West Wednesday for a one-stop road trip visit to Gonzaga, which lost to Tennessee on Tuesday night. It's a return for the Zags' visit to Hawk Hill a year in which they smoked the fieldhouse right after St. Joseph's had upset Auburn.

Cindy Griffin and her entourage will have a few extra hours to get settled, even when celebrating 2009 will be well under way in the East. What she doesn't need is the expected snow in the Northwest to strand her squad the way Baylor was in Oregon last week.

And now, Hall of Famer and assistant Leon Barmore was not on that trip. A source told us he doesn't make the snow trips, but he was down in the tropics earlier on Baylor's schedule.

-- Mel

(Guru's note: An AP story previewing the game)

Staley hopes to emulate Auriemma’s program
By PETE IACOBELLI
AP Sports Writer

COLUMBIA, S.C. — How good are Dawn Staley’s chances to turn South
Carolina into a women’s basketball powerhouse? About the same as Geno
Auriemma’s were 24 years ago of winning championships at Connecticut.

Auriemma didn’t have a shot at luring Staley to Storrs, Conn., a
quarter-century back. Five national titles later, Auriemma has his
choice of the country’s best recruits — a position Staley, the
first-year South Carolina coach, hopes her program reaches.

Staley will get the chance to watch Auriemma’s team up close when
the top-ranked Huskies (10-0) take on South Carolina (6-4) on Sunday.
Auriemma sees no reason why Staley, driven to succeed as a player, a
pro, an Olympian and a college coach, can’t bring that to Columbia.

“They either buy into what you represent or are trying to create or
there’s a tradition that already exists,” Auriemma said Saturday after
his team’s workout. “If you have both, then you’ve got it made.”

“I think with Dawn’s name, and her reputation and with the facility
here, I certainly think that it’s not only possible but highly
probable” that Staley will turn the Gamecocks into an elite team in the
Southeastern Conference, Auriemma said.

Just don’t count on seeing it Sunday.

Connecticut (10-0) brings its high-powered offense to the Colonial
Life Arena against a South Carolina team that frankly, according to
Staley, isn’t prepared to handle such an attack.

She cut practice short Saturday because she couldn’t take the
errors as the Gamecocks drilled for their first game in a week.

South Carolina already dropped a 78-47 decision to then
third-ranked Stanford earlier this month. When asked if her team was
closer to competing with elite teams than before, Staley shook her head
and replied, “No.”

Staley, who left Temple after eight seasons and took the job in May, has vowed this won’t last. She points to Auriemma’s business plan as a model for what South Carolina
can accomplish.

The two coaches, among the most influential on the women’s game the
past two decades, haven’t coached against each other, or have much of a
relationship. Staley went to Virginia a couple of seasons after

Auriemma left for UConn. Auriemma was an assistant on the 2000 U.S.
women’s Olympic team that featured Staley at the point and won
America’s second straight gold medal. Auriemma was a late addition to
the team and the two had little interaction on the trip to Sydney,
Staley said.

Count Staley a Husky fan, though.

“They play at another level of basketball that we’re trying to get
to,” Staley said.

Connecticut is cruising this season. Led by Maya Moore, the Huskies
have opened with 10 wins in a row for the third straight season. They
came into the season ranked No. 1 and have done nothing to change
anyone’s opinion. Connecticut beat then-No. 4 Oklahoma 106-78 in
November.

Moore, who’s averaging 19.2 points to lead the Huskies, thinks she
and her teammates understand the challenges they’ll come up against in
every game as the country’s top team.

Auriemma said this group is mature enough to handle whatever they
take on, as long as they continue to work as hard as they have.

Staley’s trying to get that same commitment from her group. But
with just three of 12 roster members upperclassmen, Staley says it’s
hard to get those lessons to take root.

Staley will get all the inspiration she needs that even the biggest
building projects can succeed by watching Auriemma and the Huskies in
this one.

“When you’ve built you’re program up with that kind of tradition,
you have the pick of the litter,” she said. “You got to take your hat
off for what he’s done.”

by Jonathan Tannenwald
Philly.com

There are 342 teams competing at the Division I level of college basketball this season. Between them, there are a total of three Romanian players.

Naturally, two of them play at schools located four blocks apart.

Drexel junior forward Gabriela Marginean and Penn senior guard Anca Popovici play on opposite sides of Market Street in Philadelphia’s University City neighborhood, and their teams contest one of the better rivalries in the region.

It might not have the cachet of the Big 5, since the Dragons aren’t officially part of the City Series. But if you caught the nationally-televised game between the schools’ men's teams at the beginning of the season, you saw how seriously both programs take the matchup - and that it really does only take a few minutes to get from one school’s arena to the other on foot.

Mel wrote about this year’s women’s game after Drexel beat Penn, 62-52, last Friday. As that game was the last in which Marginean and Popovici faced each other while in college, it seemed an appropriate time to take a closer look at their connection.

Marginean grew up in Cluj and Popovici in Arad. The two cities are the third- and 15th-largest in Romania, respectively, and are about a four-hour drive apart.

Popvici said the two played against each other a few times in Romania; they also played together on the Under-20 national team. Marginean was the team’s top scorer, averaging 19.3 points per game; Popovici dished out a team-high 2.4 assists per game.

But their friendship truly blossomed when Popovici moved to the United States to attend Mount de Chantal Academy in Wheeling, W. Va., for high school, and Marginean joined her a year later.

“She has always been a tremendous player,” Popovici said of Marginean. “When I came to Mount de Chantal, we needed more players, so we asked her to come.”

Marginean added that the recruiting visit, as it were, came during Popovici’s junior year.

Once Marginean got to Mount de Chantal, she and Popovici were roomate. Originally had no idea they’d end up near each other in college. But it wasn’t totally random either.

“[Marginean] was also looking at Villanova, so we thought there was potential for her to be here and we got excited,” Popovici said. “But we always joke that she’s following me around.”

The other common thread in their travels is former NBA player and Villanova alumnus Doug West, who was the athletic director at Mount de Chantal from 2004 to 2006. Now back on the Main Line as an assistant coach with the Wildcats’ men’s team, it’s a fair bet that West helped steer Popovici and Marginean towards the Philadelphia area.

There they were last week, facing off one final time at Penn’s fabled Palestra before heading in different directions once again. The numbers are still striking: three players spread across 342 Division I teams, and two of them play four blocks from each other.

But this being the time of year many of us devote to reuniting with family and friends, the story seems a good one to tell.

Best wishes to all of you for a happy, healthy and peaceful holiday season.

Thanks to Drexel’s sports information department for helping with some of the background information and statistics.

(Guru's update note: Fixing total number of poll weeks to 563 in first reference)

By Mel Greenberg

As a way of welcoming South Dakota State to the neighborhood as well as providing the type of trivia that often become part of pre-game notes by our friendly sports information directors, here is some items from the Guru's database vault of 33 years of voting in the Associated Press women's poll.

First, as for those Jackrabbits who are full-fledged Division I rookies, South Dakota State became the 146th team to be ranked, although some of the group are no longer eligible in terms of classification to be ranked.

Aaron Johnston, who heads the Jackrabbits, is the 233rd coach to be listed including a few who are along for the ride as a resulted as having been listed as a co-head coach when their ranking occurred.

The ranking also brought South Daokota into the fold as the 46th state to have a team appear.

The misisng four: brrr -- Alaska, which has a failed vice presidential candidate but no team in the Division I group, North Dakota, Maine and New Hampshire.

In terms of conferences, the debut also made the Summitf League earn a first-ever ranking under its current name. As the Mid-Con, back in 1993, Northern Illinois, now in the Mid-American Conference earned a ranking.

Five current conferences have yet to be represented either by a member ranked with a previous group or by any current member.

The group of absentees include the Ivy League, Big South, MEAC, Northeast, and Patriot League.

And for the parityadvocates among you here are some traditionally longtime teams over the decades who are missing in action or have made only sporadic appearances in recent years and are missing in action:

Georgia
Penn State
North Carolina State
LSU (talk about plunge)
Piurdue (had appeared recently)
Old Dominion (same for them)
Texas Tech
Southern Cal
UCLA
Iowa
Louisiana Tech
Iowa

And now, in tribute to Connecticut's move to reclaim most No. 1s in the history of 563 weeks, including twice when ties occurred (Louisiana Tech-Tennessee, Texas-Old Dominion), here's the entire group:

Connecticut 113
Tennessee 1 12
Louisiana Tech 83
Texas 47
Duke 34
Old Dominion 34
Virginia 24
Southern Cal 16
LSU 15
Maryland 14
Auburn 11
Stanford 9
Wayland Baptist 9
Iowa 8
Penn St. 6
Vanderbilt 6
Delta St. 5
Georgia 5
North Caro. 5
Notre Dame 5
Purdue 4

And here are the total group as the last entry until the Christmas post:

Tennessee 549
La. Tecdh 447
Georgia 431
Texas 414
Stanford 348
Penn St. 344
N.C, State 325
Rutgers 324
LSU 320
Conn. 317
Maryland 308
Auburn 307
Purdue 304
Vanderbilt 302
Virginia 302
North Car.. 296
Old Dom. 294
Duke 276
Tex. Tech 265
Miss. 226
Long Bch 222
Ohio St. 222
Sothn Cal 200
S.F, Austn 198
Iowa 196
Kansas 176
W. Ky. 176
Notre Dam 166
Oklahoma 164
Colorado 158
Kan St. 147
Clemson 145
UCLA 137
Wash 136
Baylor 135
Alabama 133
South Car 130
Florida 120
UNLV 115
Geo. Was. 110
Arkansas 102
Cheyney 102
DePaul 100
Ariz St. 95
Iowa St. 95
Kentucky 95
Minnesota 93
Mich St. 88
Bost Coll 85
Wisconsin 85
Oregon 84
Tex A&M 73
Northwest 67
Arizona 65
Illinois 63
Missouri 61
Okla St. 57
St. Jos 57
UCSB 54
California 53
Mo. St. 53
Utah 52
Nebraska 47
Hawaii 46
Miss St. 46
Va. Tech 45
Delta St. 44
Villanova 44
Memphis 43
Way Bapt 43
Sn Dgo S. 40
JMU 39
Colo St. 36
Oregon St. 36
Tenn Tech 36
Mntclr St. 34
Tulane 34
Fla. Intl. 33
Houston 31
La.-Mon 31
TCU 29
Louisville 28
Miami 28
West Va 28
Sou Miss. 27
Valdos St. 27
New Mex 26
Queens 26
Temple 26
Providence 25
Wis.-GB 24
Montana 23
Seton Hall 21
Xavier 21
Bow Grn 20
Sou Conn. 20
BYU 18
Immac 18
Marquette 18
Detroit 17
No. Ill. 17
Pittsburgh 17
Sou Ill. 17
Florida St. 15
Mercer 14
Michigan 13
San Fran 13
Vermont 13
Wyoming 13
CS Fullton 11
Drake 11
Boise St. 10
Cincinnati 10
Mid Tenn. 10
Miss Coll. 10
La Salle 9
St. John's 9
Ga. Tech 8
Illinois St. 8
Lamar 7
N Mex St. 6
UTEP 6
Wm Penn 6
CP Pom 5
East Car 5
St. Peter's 5
Syracuse 5
Wake For 5
Jacksn St. 4
Marist 4
Tenn-Chtt 4
Toledo 4
Cent Mo. 3
Creighton 3
Indiana St. 3
Sant Clara 3
SE La. 3
Gonzaga 2
Idaho 2
Ark St. 1
Fordham 1
Georgetn 1
Ga. St. 1
Indiana 1
Oral Rbts 1
S Dak St. 1

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

It had been called to our attention that UCLA is off to its best start since 1980-81 at 9-1 under new coach Nikki Caldwell, the former Tennessee assistant.

The first move in any rebuilding effort is to win against those opponernts that have been problems in the past. Then proceed from there to get back on the national stage.

However, since we are at the break -- and the Guru is beginning to think that maybe the season should start after finals and the traditional Christmas layoff -- the Guru, having seen a lot of impressive records, decided to go to the CollegeRPI site not so much for rankings, but to get a comparison of records against strength of schedule.

Folks, it's an eye opener.

A year ago in the nonconference phase, high-powered teams were colliding into each other to the point that by the first week in January, the schools destined for Top Eight seeds in the NCAA tournament had already separated themselves from the pack.

It isn't happening this year, other than the Connecticut bunch, who should tour WNBA-populated teams in Europe for two months to get ready for March and make things exciting for the crush trying to be No. 2.

Come take a peek at why many have records to have arguments for rankings but no supporting evidence as of now.

Since we're going to go down the list, there are a few other things to note.

For example, Stanford is ranked No. 1 RPI with No. 1 strength of schedule. Maybe Connecticut got dressed as the Cardinal for Halloween and is still running around in costume.

Wisconsin is ranked 11th with an SOS of 14. Those are nonconference ratings that will be very kind to the Badgers if they can occupy some space in the top of the Big 10 conference.

You do remember the Big 10, don't you.

South Dakota State, the newbie (we'll have more to say in the blog above this post) also has the right dynamic at 12 RPI and 32 SOS.

The rest speaks for itself, so here goes with record and SOS.

UCLA 9-1 81
Oregon St. 8-1 78
Florida (nat'l ranked) 11-1 92 but the SEC will be the equalizer in either direction as will the Big East and ACC to some of their teams.
Georgia Tech 10-2 60
Virginia 9-2 59
Towson 7-1 84
New Mexico 11-1 105
Auburn (ranked) 12-0 172
VCU 80-2 58
Rutgers 7-2 61 -- SOS top five a year ago.
Richmond 10-1 150
South Florida 11-1 179
Indiana 8-2 100
Marist 9-1 173
DePaul 11-2 136
Kansas State (ranked) 10-0 247
Seton Hall 8-1 167
Oklahoma State (ranked) 8-2 106
Kent St. 8-1 178
BYU 8-2 121
Wake Forest 10-0 278
Georgetown 9-2 171
St. John's 11-1 254 (5th Big East team in this exercise)
Kansas 7-2 163 (Big 12 not gaining glory, either)
Syracuse 9-1 261 (make that the 6th Big East team).
Mississippi St. 10-0 313
Georgia 9-3 175
Cincinnati 9-3 206 (oops, seven Big Easts)
West Virginia 8-2 253 (half the Big East at eight)
South Alabama 10-2 315
Miami 8-3 292 (ahem, nine Big East?)

Feel free to chew the Christmas Eve fat on that data.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

PHILADELPHIA _-This is another one of those time to time Guru reports from a day in the life when everything goes wrong but comes out right in the end.

Unlike our good friend Mechelle Voepel who gives you a piece of her life with basketball, we sometimes give you a piece of basketball to go with our life.

We begin by oversleeping Monday morning from our late-night desk shift the previous day and so hurried to jump in the car and head to The Palestra where St. Joseph's at one time had been scheduled to host Seton Hall at 1 p.m.

Underway, we notified Hawk spokesman Jack Jumper we would be arriving soon to which he responded, "The game doesn't start until 5 p.m." Apparently it had been moved to be part of a doubleheader with the men's game against Cornell.

Not to worry, the Guru decided he could detour over to neartby Drexel, which had a 1 p.m. start against Richmond.

You should know that an unwritten tradition has developed in the city that when the Guru arrives late, no matter how much time is remaining, the score will be tied or near enough upon his arrival to have not missed a thing.

Sometimes the score is high, sometimes it is low, and in the case of Villanova, sometimes there is nearly no score at all.

And so it was that a tie was on the scoreboard late in the game at Drexel before Richmond pulled away at the finish.

Meanwhile, a check on the Guru's blackberry revealed that Villanova rode the momentum of its upset of Temple Saturday by promptly losing to visitng Delaware in a narrow upset.

There's no truth to the rumor that an agreement was made ahead of that game that the loser would get the rights to former top basketball propsect Elena Delle Donne, who had the Wildcats among her final basketball choices, but then decided to forego Connecticut and play volleyball at nearby Delaware.

That part of the day expired the Guru shot over to The Palestra where he planned to update his Associated Press women's poll database and companion index files as he does every Monday after the poll is released on the wire.

For the last several weeks, the Guru had alerted AP national women's writer Doug Feinberg in New York that UConn was closing in on Tennessee to re-take the total number of all time No. 1 rankings.

Based on the index file, which get updated manually, this was going to be the week that the two would be tied. And so as the Guru read the poll and story, he saw the mention that the two teams were tied 113 to 113.

So the Guru then went to work -- but as the Hawks were going at the Pirates in solid control of the action at that moment, he did a quick readout count of the Tennessee-Connecticut No. 1 situation on the main file.

The output revealed that Connecticut actually had taken over this week 113-112. The Guru did a quick doublecheck and the result quickly stood.

Knowing Doug was covering the N.C. State-Columbia game and potentially unreachable, the Guru quickly alerted AP headquarters in New York to adjust Doug's story.

He also left word for UConn spokesman Randy Press, whose team was believed still in transit from the weekend trip south of the border, knowing the Guru's vast friends in the UConn media contingent would jump on that development.

Meanwhile with St. Joe's still comfortably ahead, the Guru noted to Jumper that as long as the Guru was still doing damage control and normal updates on the poll files, the Hawks would stay ahead.

"Just hope I don't finish until the final buzzer," the Guru quipped to the Hawks spokesman.

The Guru also had to deal with which way to enter South Dakota State in the database as a brand new entry to the files.

The good news was that since Jackrabbits coach Aaron Johnston was a male, he would not have to be researched for playing on as well as coaching an AP ranked women's team.

An aside for our Summit League friends. -- Formerly known as the Mid-Con, the last member to be ranked was Northern Illinois, now in the Mid-American, which last appeared in the final poll of the 1993 season. Oral Roberts, a current Summit member, was ranked once when it was an independing in 1983 when it was then coached by Debbie Yow, sister of Kay Yow, the legendary N.C. State coach and now the overall athletic director of Maryland.

That made her the first to have three different teams ranked, including Kentucky and Florida, a statistic believe it or not she still uses in her resume.

Anyhow, as the Guru finished processing all the files he turned his attention to the contest at hand just in time to see -- Seton Hall take the lead. Ultimately, it went into overtime and the Pirates pulled a Disney Captain Jack Sparrow escape at the finish.

The Guru then ran over to get reactions on the game from both coaches for an account he had planned to write for the blog.

Seton Hall's Phyllis Mangina talked about not wanting to go into the Christmas break with a four-day case of blahs from a loss.

St. Joseph's coach Cindy Griffin talked about it being a learning experience for her team which had a lead on a quality opponent whereas previously they were playing catchup in similar situations.

Meanwhile, as the Guru sat to begin writing the account, he thought it would be nice to get in touch with Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma to let him know of the milestone involving the poll.

Within a second of the thought, Jonathan, in the arena to cover the game for Philly.com, buzzed the Guru to say Geno was in the house.

Now the Guru knows what you're thinking.

It's nice for Geno to jet straight from the tropics to meet the Guru and in the process get a chance to watch his own son Michael Auriemma, a freshman walk-on at St. Joe's under Auriemma's good friend Phil Martelli.

It was actually the other way around.

But the day was saved in that the Guru got his wish. Geno was pleased to get the word but said he still had concern over the lack of another post player on the roster.

"We can't afford to get into foul trouble," said Auriemma, who grew up in Norristown and was once a St. Joe's women's assistant when Jim Foster, now at Ohio State was in charge of the Hawks.

Of course if a certain post player at Delaware ---

Geno told many of the Hawk faithful in quick chit-chats how much Michael loves the school, his coach, and his teammates.

The Guru then noted that he had covered the St. Joe men a week ago and told Geno that he and Michael had one thing in common -- they both get to clear the bench in blowouts, although Geno usually does so six minutes into the game.

Geno was heard to mention he told Michael he would be in a 20-20-20 situation as a freshman -- "You'll play in the last 20 seconds and your team will be either up 20 or down 20."

The Guru could not cite himself as a source of the previous quote since he did not have authority to speak on Auriemma's behalf because the Huskies coach had yet to tell the quip to the UConn media.

But the entire day was not over.

The Guru stopped by his late night diner to see if Valeria -- the young cashier from Moldava he mentioned in a previous blog -- had tried on the souvenir shirt of the state of North Carolina he brought back from his recent trip to Duke.

Before he could ask, Valeria decided to greet him with six paragraphs of Spanish.

The Guru made a one sentence response in French -- no not that line.

Valeria then adjusted her comments in French and switched again to Roumanian.

Unfortunately, because of the economy, the Guru has been unable to borrow translators from the United Nations when Valeria loves scrambling the Guru's mind with the eggs he orders.

And so with sunrise fast approaching, the Guru headed home to finish this report and get some quick shuteye.

We'll be back in the next 24 with some serious commentary.

-- Mel

(Guru's note: This is the raw copy sent to the office for print coverage and potentially will be sliced for space considerations. This version adds the permutations of the Big Five race for the rest of the season.)

By Mel Greenberg
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Months ago Villanova’s Laura Kurz had her team’s Big Five game against Temple at the Pavilion circled on her calendar.

Saturday the Wildcat senior keyed a direct hit on the target with 21 points on the way to a 65-56 victory that snapped a record 18-game win streak by the Owls in City Series competition.

Kurz’s effort was the 13th performance with 20 or more points by the former Germantown Academy star since transferring from Duke two seasons ago.

“It’s disappointing that we lost two Big Five games this year,” Kurz said. “But it’s great to beat Temple. Obviously, they’re a great team and any Big Five win is a great win for us.

“It almost went down to the wire at the end so being able to come out on top – we’ve had a lot of close games this year and they haven’t all gone well for us so it’s nice to come home with a win.”

Villanova (6-4, 2-2 Big Five) finished the round-robin at .500. Had the Wildcats not lost to La Salle in overtime in the season opener and to St. Joseph’s in triple overtime, they would be celebrating a title.

Instead, the race becomes wide open among the Owls (5-4, 0-1), St. Joseph’s, and La Salle.

Temple could still add to their record string of four straight outright Big Five titles at 4-0 could win a fifth straight outright at 3-1 if La Salle loses to Penn and Temple, while St. Joseph's most lose to Temple and La Salle.

Either La Salle or St. Joseph's as of now could go unbeaten to claim a title. It could be that their will be a tie involved by the time the competition ends next month.

Saturday's loss ruined the Big Five debut of Temple coach Tonya Cardoza and was perhaps her most painful setback to date.

“Definitely,” Cardoza agreed. “The fact there was an 18-game win streak on the line and we let it get away from us was disappointing.”

Ironically, back in December of 2000, Villanova also ruined the Big Five debut of Cardoza’s friend and Temple predecessor Dawn Staley on a day Wildcats coach Harry Perretta gained his 400th career victory.

In Saturday’s game, Villanova’s Heather Scanlon, a graduate of Cardinal O’Hara, tied a career-high with 10 points. Wildcats senior Siobhan O’Connor also scored 10 points.

Temple’s Shaqwedia Wallace had a game-high 26 points, while Shenita Landry grabbed 10 rebounds.

Villanova opened with a surge of three-pointers, spurring the Wildcats to a 22-12 lead with 8 minutes, 19 seconds left in the first half. But the Owls rallied with an 8-0 run to move within a basket at 22-20 before the home team went into the halftime break ahead, 30-24.

The Wildcats built a 14-point lead nearly midway through the second half before the Owls again shaved the deficit.

But a combination of missed layups and a game total of 20 turnovers was costly for Temple.

“We kept giving ourselves chances to get back in the game,” Cardoza said. “We couldn’t get on the offensive boards. We missed 31 shots and came away with only eight offensive rebounds.”

Perretta summed up his team’s efforts, saying, “We like to make these games exciting. We got a little lucky but we needed some luck so I guess it evens out.”

Villanova will host Delaware Monday while Temple travels to Ball State.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

PHILADELPHIA - The fates have been kind and unkind to first-year Temple coach Tonya Cardoza in terms of her first City Series game as the Owls open defense of their string of four-straight Big Five titles at Villanova Saturday afternoon (1 p.m.).

"Dawn told me, `You just don't want to lose any of those,'" Cardoza replied was asked last June at her introductory press conference what Dawn Staley had told her about Big Five competition.

Temple is on a record 18-game win streak in the local round-robin that includes four straight 4-0 performances.

Cardoza also knows of Big Five men's and women's lore from her former boss at Conecticut when the former Huskies assistant coach worked with Geno Auriemma, who grew up in Norristown.

But in Temple's first opponent, the former Virginia star has much familiarity in Villanova, which is the good news.

However, that familiarity brings dread from the longtime battles between the Wildcats, under coach Harry Perretta's patient offense, and the Huskies in the Big East wars.

The highlight, of course, from 'Nova's side occurred in 2003 when the Wildcats ended Connecticut's NCAA-record 70-game win streak to grab the Big East tournament title.

The Huskies, however, recovered to win the NCAA crown.

"I hate playing Villanova," Cardoza said after Temple's last game 10 days ago at home against Toledo. "I think anyone does.

"Because Harry runs their offense and all that running around -- they're just a very difficult team to play against," Cardoza explained. "We have 10 days off from playing, but it will be exciting to start the Big Five. I've heard a lot about it. I know there's a great reputation with Temple winning so I'm excited about that first game."

Apparently, some of Auriemma's wry humor has rubbed off on Cardoza.

When Shanea Cotton set a career scoring record for a game against Toledo, Cardoza quickly added, "She also set a career record for turnovers."

Meanwhile, Perretta is sure of one facet in the game against the Owls based on the Wildcats' local performance to date.

"I guess you can say it's going to go down to the wire," he quipped. "We lost one game in overtime (La Salle), one in triple overtime (St. Joseph's), and won one in the final seconds (Penn)."

As for comparing Temple's style from the past, Perretta observed, "They still play real hard. If there's any difference, they are playing a more wide open offense and seem to be shooting more three-pointers."

Stringer and Chaney Still Helping The Cause

Next month former Temple men's coach John Chaney and Owls head team doctor Ray Moyer are going to be inducted into the school's hall of fame.

One stipulation Chaney has made through the invitations being sent to alumni and others in the community in terms of fundraising that a contribution be marked to benefit women's athletics at Temple.

Rutgers' C. Vivian Stringer used to coach with Chaney at Cheyney back in the day in the suburban Philadelphia.

As her success continues, she has not forgotten some of the greats she has encountered along the way.

When asked why schedule Prairie View, which recently almost upset the Scarlet Knights, Stringer said the idea was to bring visiting coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke, a former WNBA and Olympic star, into the spotlight.

It's the same reason she hired former Texas star Clarissa Davis-Wrightsil as an assistant last summer.

Stringer said she was also looking for ways to get former Georgia sensation Katrina McClain to become more involved with today's game.

Davis-Wrightsil, McClain, and Stringer are Women's Basketball Hall of Famers, while Cooper-Dyke will be inducted in June.

Homecoming Revisited

In the Guru's previous post, he mentioned that when Rider visits La Salle on Sunday it will mean a return to the area for coach Lynn Milligan, a former St. Joseph's assistant.

Taking it a step further, however, Rider assistant Pam Durkin was an assistant at Drexel for seven years, including one with Milligan. Another staff member is former Penn State star Rashana Barnes, a native of Philadelphia who also served time as a St. Joseph's assistant.

Rider, incidentally, is a co-host of the Trenton Regional in the NCAA tournament and a source informed the Guru he needs to refer to the women's team as the Broncs instead of the Broncos.

Almost Silent Knapp

When Penn drew one of the Quakers' all-time crowds of more than 2,000 for Friday afternoon's game at Drexel, the turnout made it for a quieter day in the Palestra where Penn coach Pat Knapp patrols the sidelines.

Oh, he wasn't any less vocal. It's just that with the noise level increased from a the massive numbers of school children in the crowd, it was nearly impossible to hear him in the stands unless one was seated near the Penn bench.

That's probably the first time the crowd had eclipsed Knapp since he coached Georgetown on trips to Connecticut in the Big East Conference.

Speaking of UConn, barring some shocking upset to the Huskies, Tennessee will suffer another indignity following the Vols' dip out of the Top 10 last Monday for the first time in ages.

If Connecticut is still at the top of the AP Poll, as expected, the Huskies will have caught Tennessee again in total No. 1 appearances since the poll began in 1976-77.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

The Guru/'s visit to Durham, N.C., earlier in the week for the Duke-Stanford game included the usual visit to his favorite steakhouse where he often dines with his good friend Lindy Brown, the Blue Devils women's media contact.

Since we promised to give the Angus tradition the headline that is why it leads and also to whet the appetite of our Temple friends since we will return with the Owl delegation after the New Year.

Lindy brought along a graduate intern from his staff which created a reunion of sorts in that one Kate Burkholder, who helped bring the Guru's blog to new dimensions as a Rutgers student, is now handling several Duke sports and is the No. 2 contact for women's basketball.

Of course, with Lindy in charge, that is like being vice president of the United States.

However, all of the Guru's friends in Durham give her work to date glowing reviews.

The Guru also presented some Phillies memorabilia since the one thing wrong she did as a life-long fan is pick this particular season to stray far from home at the close of the baseball season.

But the Guru noted the Phillies did not become a postseason participant again after a long absence until she visited spring training two seasons ago.

On the trip, two gentlemen revealed themselves as the culprits who have posted a link from the Duke fan board to the Guru's blog.

And the Guru spent a little time in the afternoon with Duke senior associate athletic director Jacki Silar, who is now the chair of the women's basketball committee.

Part of the chat included looking ahead to this year's mock bracket in February, which will include four active coaches in, what unintentially is a Big 12 vs. Big East showdown -- Notre Dame's Muffet McGraw and DePaul's Doug Bruno from the Big East schools and Oklahoma's Sherri Coale and Texas A&M's Gary Blair from the Big 12.

Coale is also the president of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.

The Guru pointed out something called to his attention by colleague Doug Feinberg of the Associated Press -- Last year we all played the role of someone on the actual committee.

The three persons with coaching experience but not active were Joe Ciampi (Auburn), Marsha Sharp (Texas Tech), and Theresa Grentz (Illinois).

The question becomes what happens in terms of leaving the room when we start talking about the schools for selection and bracketing since all four are expected to be in the mix with the Big 12 duo right now looming among the higher seeds.

Also, during a flight delay on the return trip, the Guru learned he was sharing the plane with Nora Lynn Finch, the new associate commissioner for women's basketball for the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The two have a long association dating back to her previous role as North Carolina State senior associate athletic director and also as the first chair of the NCAA committee.

The Local Schedule

Drexel is at Penn at The Palestra at noon for the annual neighborhood showdown on Friday, while new Temple coach Tonya Cardoza gets her first taste of Big Five action Saturday when the Owls visit Villanova at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Temple is carrying an 18-game win streak, including four straight perfect 4-0 titles into the City Series. Villanova could easily be 3-0 but is 1-2 after losing in overtime to La Salle and St. Joseph's.

The Hawks will be hosting Seton Hall at the Palestra at 1 p.m. on Monday, the same time Drexel hosts Richmond.

On Monday, Delaware visits Villanova at noon in a game in which one Elena Delle Donne will be an invisible force.

Why?

Had she chosen Villanova for basketball from her original final four choices, she would either bei in uniform as a Wildcat or on the bench as a redshirt (with Harry Perretta anything is possible and he is usually proven right).

Had she chosen to also play basketball this season along with volleyball when she rejected Connecticut, she would be in uniform for the Blue Hens and the Pavilion would have a sizeable crowd over the visit.

On Sunday, Rider is at La Salle at 1 p.m. making it a pseudo homecoming to the immediate area for Broncos coach Lynn Milligan, who was formerly an assistant at St. Joseph's.

Unitl further notice, like 24 hours from now when the Guru sets up the Temple-Villanova game, that is all, expect a quick hello to the Wildcats' Laura Kurz from all her friends with the Blue Devils at Duke, which she originally attended before transferring to the Main Lne.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

DURHAM, N.C. - In one sense Tuesday night's 56-52 upset of No. 8 Duke over No. 3 Stanford at Cameron Indoor Stadium was simply one of those early season games in which two national powers gets to test themselves against each other.

Learn something and move on to the next battle to get ready for conference play.

While the rugged physicality of the contest was not to the likes of Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer, Bue Devils coach Joanne P. McCallie said the style of play was helpful with an eye to the NCAA tournament.

"I like it because that is what March and April is," she said. "That was a March-April game in December. That's the road of it. There are less calls and more attempts to have players determine the game. And I felt this was very similar to that."

It also is a game that will be mentioned much later not because of anything classic, though McCallie referred to it as a "heavyweight fight," that Duke tried to transform into more of a "lightweight" encounter.

But come deliberation time in terms of the pecking order for the NCAA tournament field, this was one both teams needed in their resume, especially Duke.

"No question, this is a big game," Duke senior associate athletic director Jacki Silar said earlier in the day.

She should know because she has been promoted to chair this year's NCAA Women's Basketball Committee.

In Stanford's situation, a win, if obtained against Duke (7-1) Tuesday night, and a win at Tennessee on Sunday would have pretty much put the Cardinal (7-2) well on the way to a No. 1 seed barring some unforeseen disruption in the Pac-10 conference.

But the Blue Devils win brings Stanford back to the pack of a large number of candidates of which, for now, Duke becomes part of the mix.

The Blue Devils will have opportunities to gain more notoriety in the Atlantic Coast Conference next month but just ahead is a weekend trip to the West Coast to meet Southern Cal.

Incidentally, McCallie now becomes a part of trivia in having a perfect 3-0 record against the Cardinal while employed at three different schools. Her Maine team upset Stanford in the 1999 tournament, 60-58, and her Michigan State team also pulled an upset, beating the Cardinal 76-69 in an NCAA regional semifinal on the way to the meeting Baylor in the 2005 championship contest.

As for Tuesday's action, the momentum swung in spurts throughout until the Blue Devils were able to make a few big plays down the stretch to win.

"We didn't really give ourselves a chance," VanDerveer said. "If you can't make layups and free throws, I think you're going to be in for a long night. So compliments to Duke and I'm really disappointed in what we did."

Stanford shot 12-for-27 from the line and 38.3 percent from the field. Duke was 17-of-22 on foul shot opportunities and shot 30.5 percent.

For the second time in less than a week a player with the last night Christmas figured appropriate for this time of year in their respective team's upset.

Back in Philadelphia last weekend Dionte Christmas starred in the Temple men's upset of Tennessee.

Down here, Duke sophomore Karima Christmas -- no relation -- had a career night with 14 points and nine rebounds. She also made her first three-pointers, shooting 2-for-2 from beyond the arc.

Chante Black also scored 14 points with 10 occurring in the second half.

Stanford's Jayne Appel scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while Jeanette Pohlen scored 13 points, including connecting on 4-of-8 three point attempts.

But Kayla Pedersen was 2-for-10 from the field, although Duke senior Abby Waner struggled on a 3-for-12 effort with all six points occuring in the first half.

Incidentally, Temple will visit down here on January 5 before the Owls begin play in the Atlantic Ten.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Former WNBA star Cytnhia Cooper-Dyke is making new memories in the world of the NCAA such as a near upset of No. 14 Rutgers by her Prairie View A&M team that rallied from a 29-14 first-half deficit Thursday before losing 58-56 at the finish at the Louis A. Brown Athletic Center.

Knowing the drill by now when things don't go well with the Scarlet Knights, an extended locker room session usually occurs with Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer and her team before emerging for the postgame press conference.

Thursday night's session lasted 50 minutes according to the local media member who also filed Associated Press copy on the game.

Aware there would be no reason to rush through Cooper-Dyke's briefing, she gracefully held court in the interview room discussing the game, praising Rutgers, but just as important she recalled the glory days of the former Houston Comets which won the first four WNBA titles with Cooper as one of the centerpieces.

Last week, the WNBA, which had taken over operation of the team, announced its suspension and on Monday dispersed the eligible players on the Comets' roster to the rest of the league. Several others, such as Tina Thompson, are free agents and able to make their own deals.

"I was just devastated to hear the Comets were folding," Cooper-Dyke said. "With the history that Houston had, it's just incredible that woild happen to a franchise that had won the first four championships of the WNBA.

"I was sad. I looked at a lot of old articles, and pictures, and highlight tapes -- I was good, geesh -- I just reminisced," she continued.

"My mom and Kim (Perrot) were alive for our first two championships and I just know that they must be in heaven sad, right now, because we no longer have the Houston Comets," Cooper-Dyke said.

Perrot was a walk-on of sorts who became a sparkplug in the backcourt in 1997 and 1998 before it was revealed she had cancer.

Asked her best memory, Cooper-Dyke responded, "I'ts always special to be the first and we were the first WNBA champion. But I think my mother's smile -- my mom was sitting on the podium after our second championship -- she was undergoing chemotherapy at the time. She couldn't really jump around like she wanted to.

"She was sitting on the podium and she had this huge sign that said: Super Cooper MVP. I was like -- look at my mom -- she's a groupie. And it was just a special moment for me.

"Because I no longer have her, I hang on to those moments very, very tight."

Asked about how she felt about being named the league's first MVP, Cooper-Dyke noted, "You have to remember I played in Italy for 10 years, I played in Spain one year before that -- Yeah, I'm old you guys. So for me to come back to America and be the first MVP, it was amazing.

"I was living the dream because I was able to show my family, my friends, old college buddies what I had been doing overseas for such a long time. And so I was able to come out and play really well in front of them.

"And of course my mom was ill, I was able to show her `Your little girl is succuessful. You did a great job, mom.' I cherish every moment and the fact we no longer I have that franchise, it's almost like you're taking away those moments and those memories. So it's a little sad."

Cooper-Dyke said the league will hold all the memorabilia for the next owner if the franchise resurfaces.

In Praise of Stringer and Prince

Cooper-Dyke, who starred on several NCAA champions at Southern Cal, discussed her thoughts several years ago when she took the coaching job agt Prairie View in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

"When I took the job at Prairie View, I definitely thought about Coach Stringer. She is such a role model to me. I just love her to death," Cooper-Dyke said.

"It's just the best. She's always helped me in everything I wanted to do. And so I definitely thought about her and the success she had at Cheyney and where she went from there. And I want to bring Prairie View to that same level -- we're not there yet, we're far from there. That is my goal -- to follow in the footsteps of C. Vivian Stringer."

Soon after Cooper-Dyke entered the room, she praised Rutgers junior Epiphanny Prince.

"I had a nightmare about her. I love her game. I told `Coach' earlier, I really love how Epiphanny plays. She is just a winner. She wants to win. I love it about her -- not tonight -- I didn't love it about her. She wants to win and she finds a way to get it done. I love it about her."

-- Mel

(Guru's note: Due to the nature of how the events flowed involving Thursday night's narrow 58-56 victory by Rutgers over Prairie View A&M, the Guru is splitting the post-game comments into separate stories.)

By Mel Greenberg

PISCATAWAY, N.J. _ As it evolved, Thursday night's game between the Rutgers women's basketball team and Prairie View A&M presented the first opportunity to get Scarlet Knights' coach C. Vivian Stringer's reaction to Wednesday's firing of athletic director Robert E. Mulcahy III effective Dec. 31.

Mulcahy was at the game and given a nice applause by the crowd at the Louis A. Brown Athletic Center prior to the tipoff when he and Stringer presented junior guard Epiphanny Prince a ball commenorating her reaching her 1,000th career point on Monday night during the win over Georgia.

Soon after the game ended, many of the Rutgers faithful were observed approaching Mulcahy to give him well wishes.

"I feel bad, really bad, and sad," Stringer said "Bob is a good man. He really is. I've always known it. I was really shocked.

"He's an honorable man and he respects the kids. He treats them as he does his own," Stringer contined.

"Today, you have so many people who are just business people, They just operate as a machine and they don't care," she said.

"I want people to love my girls. I felt that they felt that he cared. And that he loved them. And I think the football players -- all the athletes did.

"And today, you hear this all time -- I'm angry about the game in that respect -- but at the end, I love the girls. I think that when you have an adminstrator that can somehow pull it off and young people think they care, they're special. I think he saw them as his own daughters and sons," Stringer added.

"I'm just personally hurt and disappointed that it happened."

-- Mel

(Guru's note: Fixing amanda butler item to add Georgia Tech's MaChelle Joseph name to file)

By Mel Greenberg

PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- The dateline so appears because this is being written from the media room following the Rutgers-Georgia game or so it was billed.

Not much to say about a 45-34 win by the No. 14 Scarlet Knights so for more elaboration go to the other usual places. But we'll return to some tidbits of the night in a bit.

While here, Stephen Lee wherever you are in the bogs of the South on Monday night, you get a Guru hero's award.

The since-graduated Rutgers correspondent for Guru central late last winter gave the Guru an alternative way to get on the athletic department wireless system and after the Guru's aircard lost its signal, this transmission is possible because the Guru had a non-senior moment in which he actually remembered the web address and so here we are well connected at super high speed.

Making History

Since many of you have been attracted to Guru-land because of the headline, here's the deal.

The home office called with an emergency draft dispatching the Guru to Towson in Maryland Tuesday night to cover the St. Joseph's men's nonconference matchup.

Now as many of you know, a certain freshman named Michael Auriemma is a member of the Hawks. So for the first time in over two decades, the Guru will be covering a basketball game involving an Auriemma whose first name is not Geno.

But the DNA will be active since he is the son of the famed UConn women's coach.

Incidentally the ride to Towson down I-95 makes a pass quite close to the Delaware campus.

So for a few seconds, it can be accurately stated that Blue Hens volleyball freshman Elena Delle Donne and an Auriemma were the closest they have been in proximity since that fateful night in early June when the former basketball sensation decided to return to her Wilmington home from the Storrs campus.

The Butler Does It

Florida's return to the Associated Press rankings Monday put second-year coach Amanda Butler in an exclusive group. She becomes the 24th person to coach and also play for an AP-ranked team.

She is also the sixth person to play and coach for the same school that earned the ranking. Here is the updated chart.

AP PLAYER-COACH HISTORY

(Played for and coached Ranked Teams)
NAME SCHOOL COACH SCHOOL PLAYED
1. Katie Abrahamson-Henderson Missouri St. Georgia/Iowa
2. Cheryl Burnett Missouri St. Kansas
3. Amanda Butler% Florida Florida
4. Pokey Chatman% LSU LSU
5. June Daugherty Boise St./Washington Ohio St.
6. Nell Fortner Purdue/Auburn Texas
7. Susie Gardner Arkansas Georgia
8. MaChelle Joseph Georgia Tech, Purdue
9. Wendy Larry% Old Dominion Old Dominion
10. JoAnne P. McCallie Michigan St./Duke Northwestern
11. Kathy McConnell-Miller Colorado Virginia
12. Muffet McGraw Notre Dame St. Joseph’s
13. Cheryl Miller% Southern Cal Southern Cal
14. Kim Mulkey Baylor Louisiana Tech
15. Mary Murphy Wisconsin Northwestern
16. Kathy Olivier UCLA UNLV
17. Carolyn Peck Purdue/Florida Vanderbilt
18. Laurie Pirtle Cincinnati Ohio St.
19. Carol Ross% Florida/Mississippi Mississippi
20. Bev Smith% Oregon Oregon
21. Dawn Staley Temple Virginia
22. Jan Ternyik San Francisco Montclair St.
23. Charli Turner Thorne Arizona St. Stanford
24. Amy Tucker* Stanford Ohio St.
*-Filled in for Tara VanDerveer in 1995-96
%-Four played and coached at same ranked school.

Other Poll Notables

Tennessee earned its 500th Top 10 appearance this week. Virginia with coach Debbie Ryan and Vanderbilt reached their 300th poll appearance. Ohio State's Jim Foster is at 299 off of three different programs.

The four-spot in the Top 10 last week and this week by Big 12 teams were the first for the conference since Dec. 31, 2001 when the quartet consisted of Oklahoma (3), Iowa State (4), Baylor (7) and Texas Tech (i9).

The two-spot in the Top 5 are the first for the Big 12 sincxe Baylor (3) and Texas (4) on Dec. 27, 2004.

When the Guru entered this week's poll into the overall data file, Duke occupied the 13,000th berth.

Rutgers Fab Five Becomes Fab Four

It has already been posted by other writers covering the game, but to go on the record here, during the postgame session with Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer, the Hall of Fame coach was asked about the absence of freshman Jasmine Dixon from the bench.

The response was terse, Stringer saying the "fit" wasn't there for the McDonald's all-American guard-forward from Long Beach, Calif., and said to "leave it at that."

She also thought former Rutgers star Matee Ajavon will do well in her new WNBA home with the Washington Mystics who picked her up with the second selection in the dispersal draft Monday of the former Houston Comets roster.

A former Comet who was a WNBA sensation during the league's formative years will be in the house here Thursday when coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke brings her Prairie View A&M team to the Rutgers Athletic Center.

Also, Epiphanny Prince scored her 1,000th point for Rutgers during the Georgia game.

If Georgia coach Andy Landers looked a little ill it wasn't necessarily because of the offense scoring less than half his dinner tab from the previous night.

But somewhere in that mix he contracted a stomach flu and didn't arrive at the arena until 25 minutes before the opening tip.

Incidentally, the Georgia total was the third lowest, eclipsed by two previous droughts in the program's first season.

The Guru asked Stringer to compare the current group's struggles with the squad of two years ago at the same time before the ship was reversed and sailed straight to the NCAA title game.

Stringer noted that there was more leadership, particularly from Ajavon and Essence Carson. But the mere mention of those names brought a smile because Camp Viv will be getting under way during the holiday break and the Rutgers notables of the past in the WNBA fold, including Cappie Pondexter, are expected to be on hand to provide advise and consent.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

The rookie volleyball season of Elena Delle Donne, the former top women's basketball prospect, came to an end Friday night when Delaware fell to Oregon in three straight sets at American University in Washington.

The Wilmington native, fighting former Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, the vice-president elect of the United States, for local and national headlines, revoked her basketball scholarship from top-ranked Connecticut at the end of the summer, declaring her decision to enroll at Delaware and then to play volleyball. She took up the sport her senior season at Ursuline Academy.

Ironically, Delle Donne's former Fencor AAU teammate Caroline Doty, who starred at Germantown Academy and would have been her roommate in Connecticut, has become the new sensation with the Huskies, connecting currently on 10 straight three-point attempts, including an eye-catching 6-for-6 against Oklahoma.

And so with time on her hands when not working on classroom projects and homework, the real Delle Donne watch begins.

A close-knit community, Delaware athletes support each other at games in large numbers.

So if the Blue Hen women are struggling, as they did a year ago, will Delle Donne suddenly decide to give aid and comfort to coach Tina Martin, who has maintained a self-declared "hands off" policy, not wanting to create any pressure for Delle Donne to join the cause to restore Delaware as a power in the Colonial Athletic Association.

In a few weeks, Delaware travels to nearby Villanova, one of the finalists to Connecticut when Delle Donne was making her basketball decision.

Will she visit the game.

As the Wildcats have been struggling, the Guru has jested to Villanova fans: "You're looking at the same team that would exist if Delle Donne came here because (coach) Harry (Perretta) would have red-shirted her to give her a chance to adjust to collegiate life."

Better yet, will she turn up at some UConn game to watch Doty in action and risk being gobbled up by that media contingent known as The Horde?

As Jonathan alluded, whatever she does, it will be welcomed here where Delle Donne's name has been one of the top magnets attracting internet visits to the Guru's blog.

Stay tuned.

Penn Finally Wins a Game

The Quakers finally landed on the left column in scoreboard results on Friday when Penn edged Navy at The Palestra.

Jonathan was on the scene and filed a comment from coach Pat Knapp -- the Guru was up the street at Drexel -- which did not make the print story in Saturday's paper.

"It's a big weight off our shoulders," said Knapp, whose team suffered tough losses against St. Joseph's, Villanova, and at Lehigh. "These kids have been working hard, they never quit -- all the cliches. They play together.

"We've got to work hard to score, that's our thing. But boy did we have to rebound against this team -- a very, very physical team."

Foreign Affairs I and II

When Drexel rallied against Army before losing Friday, Black Knights coach Dave Magarity, who celebrated a homecoming, noted the number of foreign players on the Dragons roster.

"When I coached at Marist (the men), I had a little bit of a history recruiting foreigners -- Rick Smits and that crew -- and now here I am in a situation where I can't recruit foreign kids (to West Point). But these kids are great, they work hard, they certainly aren't the most talented group."

Margarity's daughter Maureen, also an Army assistant coach, once was an AAU teammate of Inquirer rookie 76er writer Kate Fagan, who was hired hired here at the home office last spring.

Meanwhile after Temple hosts Florida State Sunday afternoon (the Guru will be at the game for extended coverage here), the Owls on Wednesday will host Toledo, which features a talented freshman guard from Israel, originally destined for Boston College before Cathy Inglese's sudden resignation.

Guru's Two Sense on Parity

The number of upsets early in the same is causing the annual cry of the arrival of parity in the women's game, but it is merely parity for the moment -- in other words the jury is out.

Though one could not predict when upsets would occur, one could foresee a number happening early in the season.

Why?

Mosf of the major teams suffered key roster losses through graduation -- defending NCAA champion Tennessee with five starters, Candice Parker among them, for example. Knee injuries have also added to reducing experience levels on rosters.

The question is once the star-studded rookies, as in Rutgers, get the hang of what coaches are trying to teach, would the same results occur if the same games were played later in the season?

Another sign to watch if equality has arrived is the first half of the conference schedule. If the same powers are on top of the standings at the end of January, then November and December will have been nothing more than proving grounds for the the usual national combatants.

But if these races for regular season honors are close -- and they have been in more conferences in recent seasons in both won-loss records and final scores -- then, yes, perhaps it is occurring.

Also, because of the lack of clarity among the "usual suspects" going into November's opening tip, along with the perhaps temporary decline of some previous longtime poll residents -- Penn State lost at home Saturday to a rebuilding Dayton team -- most of the top 25 are not your grandmother's, aunt's, or older sister's nationally-ranked group.

So the upset label has been waiting to happen in this instance.

And with that, it's time to beat the sunrise out of the home office.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

PHILADELPHIA - Not all that long ago when the 25th anniversary of the Women's Big Five city series competition was celebrated, your Guru was asked to compile a list of the all-time 25 players out of the five schools.

The deliberation occurred the same year the Big Five men celebrated their 50th anniversary, allowing much more flexibility with the larger number allotted for their all-star team.

In the women's selections, many picks were easy but the last choices were extremely tough.

In recent weeks it has been noted with not much fanfare that this is now the 30th season.

So as the Guru glanced at the page with his name on it in the Big Five guide for this season, he realized that the next edition should include the top 30 players to reflect the three decades of local warfare.

Being democratic as he is, the Guru allows your input, but here are the candidates he has already thrown on the list for consideration. None of the previous honorees need be erased, though some who just missed the cut will prehaps have to wait for the 35th anniversary.

The first four players listed below seem to be a cinch and then it becomes interesting for that fifth pick.

The one school shutout in this exercise is St. Joseph's - in part because nearly all the Hawk who's who made the 25 and were reflective of the domination into the early part of this decade.

The other reason is there has not been that year-to-year consistent player since Sue Moran, now an assistant coach graduated, though several might emerge when the 35th anniversary choices are made.

But here's the frontrunners from the Guru's viewpoint and then it becomes wide open.

Crista Ricketts -- La Salle -- Made four first-team honors and was a rookie of the year.

Jewel Clark -- Penn -- This should make Jonathan happy since he took issue with the Guru last time on her omission. She made three first-team honors, was a player of the year, and was associated with Ivy League glory.

Kamesha Hairston -- Temple -- She and Candice Dupree, who as a senior was the only active player to be named to the 25 group, got the Owls' current 18-game streak in the Big Five rolling. She earned two first-team awards, a second-team award, and one player of the year honor that arguably could have been two.

Carlene Hightower -- La Salle -- A late bloomer who continued to improve, she earned two first-team awards. a second-team honor, as was a player of the year last season as a senior.

Now, here are the others.

Courtney Mix -- Villanova -- Currently on the coaching staff of her alma mater, she earned a first team and two second team awards and was part of one of the great eras under Harry Perretta that included the only Big Five team to advance to the elite eight.

Stacey Smalls -- Temple -- Helped the Owls get rolling in the Dawn Staley coaching era, the current La Salle assistant and Cheltenham graduate was named to three first-teams.

Jen Zenszer -- La Salle -- She earned four postseason honors: three second teams and a first-team.

Liad Suez -- Villanova -- In her three seasons, this Israeli native earned two first team and one second team honors.

Denise Dillon -- Villanova -- Currently, Drexel's head coach, she was under consideration for the 25 group with two first team awards and a place in the Big Five Hall of Fame.

Linda Hester -- La Salle -- Just missed the last cut and former coach John Miller lobbied strongly on her behalf. She earned two first team awards.

Mary Greybush, Suzy McCaffrey -- La Salle. There were some lobbying on their behalf from the populace last time around.

Just so there's no confusion, here are the people who made the 25th anniversary team grouped by their alma mater.

La Salle -- Jennifer Cole, Chrissie Donahue, Tracey Sneed

Penn -- Kirsten Brendel, Diana Caramanico

Temple -- Pam Balough, Candice Dupree, Marilyn Stephens (currently Cheyney's head coach)

Villanova -- Lisa Angelotti, Nancy Bernhardt, Kathleen Beisel, Trish Juhline, Helen Koskinen (also Mrs. Perretta), Lisa Ortlip, Shelly Pennefather.

St. Joseph's -- Debbie Black, Teresa Carmichael, Megan Compain, Maureen Costello, Katie Curry, Renie Dunne, Kim Foley, Dale Hodges, Susan Moran, Angela Zampella.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

PHILADELPHIA – For most St. Joseph’s and Villanova women’s basketball players, the game between them that actually counts each season is a reunion from the number of times they go against each other either in local pickup games or in the summertime action of the Department of Recreation’s NCAA league at Northeast High.

But to some who do not have local roots, it may take a while to learn the expectations associated with Big Five competition, especially in the long history of the series between the Wildcats and the Hawks.

Apparently, St. newcomer Mariame Djourna is one who came absorb information quickly.

“`Coach’ and the team have been talking about it for the last week,” the junior college transfer who was born in Africa’s Ivory Coast said after scoring 32 points in the historic 66-57 triple overtime win by the Hawks Thursday night at Philadelphia University’s Gallagher Center. “Jenna and `Mick’ have been here for the longest time.

“I know it (the Big Five) is interesting, but not as in the conference the same thing,” Djourara said about the differences beween the round-robin and the Atlantic Ten. It’s fun and I’m happy we won.”

“She was crying – tears of joy,” Hawks senior guard Mary Kate McDade, a graduate of Nazareth Academy, said.

For McDade and senior Jenna Loschiavo, a graduate of Plymouth Whitemarsh, the game was one last chance to add another win against the Wildcats (3-4, 1-2 Big Five) to their collegiate resume.

Loschiavo put the Hawks (4-3, 2-0 Big Five) ahead to stay, 60-57, with a three-pointer, only the second in the game fror St. Joseph’s, with 3 minutes, 9 seconds left in the third overtime.

“For me and ‘Mick,’ it was our last time playing Villanova,” Loschiavo said. “You see that Mariame and `Brit’ (Brittany Ford’s 24 points), had all the points. But, defensively, for everything to click everyone had to play team basketball.”

Djouara, who was 13-for-30 from the field, was 4-for-6 in the final overtime to help the Hawks prevail.

The resident of Owing Mills, Md., near Baltimore, was asked if her heroics helped overcome a foul on Villanova’s Lisa Karcic with 0.01 left in the second overtime.

The game was extended when Karcic made only one of two free throws to tie the score at 57-57.

“Who can remember?” Griffin laughed about the marathon encounter, the longest in Big Five women’s history and for either team in its overall history.

“I remember,” Djouara smiled. “Yes.”

Griffin, who played Villanova as a member of the Hawks in her collegiate days, first learned of Djoara by getting an email.

“We looked at her and we beat out Georgia to get her,” Griffin said. “How does that happen?

“But she’s something else. She just wants to win. But she’s more than that. “She’s `Jameer’ special.”

Griffin’s reference was to former Hawks men’s star Jameer Nelson, now in the NBA, who as a senior was part of the 27-0 run before the team’s first loss, in the Atlantic Ten tournament, in 2003-04.

“My team has been helping me a lot with the transition and I am happy and thankful for my teammates because I couldn’t do what I did tonight without them.” Said Djouara. “All I want to do is be there when we they me the most.”

Her performance comes at the right time because the Hawks have been struck with adversity again. Sophomore center Sarah Acker, the Big Five’s top freshman last season, is sidelined, suffering with bursitis in her hip.

“I don’t expect her back this season,” Griffin said. “Hopefully, she might be able to help us at practice in the second semester.”

Djouara played 51 minutes of the 55 it took to complete the game. Loschiavo played in all 55 and McDade played in 54. Amy Gillespie played in 50 minutes and Ford played 43.

Grffin only used two players off the bench.

“This was not a game for certain players to be involved,” Griffin said. “But when we go to Hartford Saturday we’ll definitely need them. That will be different.”

On Villanova’s side, senior Laura Kurz played in 52 minutes, scoring 28 points and grabbing a career-high 14 rebounds. She also made 11 turnovers for a inordinate triple double. Heather Scanlon also had a career high, matching Kurz’s total on the backboards.

In 1986, the final game of the Big Five season for both school, a power failure on Villanova’s campus caused the game to be cancelled after play got under way.

Temple had already clinched the title with a 4-0 record.

St. Joseph’s and Villanova made up for those lost minutes Thursday night.

Prior to this season, the only overtime games in Big Five history were a 62-61 victory by Temple over the Hawks on Jan. 25, 2004, at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse, currently under renovation, and a 66-64 win by Temple at La Salle on January 8, 2006.

That win has contributed to Temple’s current record 18-game win streak in the City Series.

Villanova lost an overtime game to La Salle last month in the season opener for both teams and then beat Penn with a three-pointer just before the end of the game.

The loss knocks the Wildcats out of the Big Five race – Temple visits on Jan. 20 – and leaves the outcome open until Temple, St. Joseph’s and La Salle meet each other in January as part of the Atlantic Ten competition among them.

Thursday night’s game was typical of most close encounters in the Big Five and also typical of the low-scoring affairs that occur when Villanova is involved.

Points were so hard to come by, that it might have been possible to run down the street in East Falls to buy a cheesesteak from a well-known neighborhood establishment and return without missing any field goals.

“I thought it was a great atmosphere,” Villanova coach Harry Perretta said of the use of St. Joseph’s temporary home this season. “For a fan, it had to be great.”

The Hawks lead the all-time series, 26-12, between the two schools and lead the Wildcats, 86-84, in total Big Five wins since the round-robin began in 1979-80.

This is the 30th anniversary season for the women’s competition.

Kurz took personal responsibility for the loss.

“We are still making the same mistakes we have made all year,” said Kurz, a former Germantown Academy star who transferred from Duke prior to last season. “I continue to turn the ball over and I have offensive fouls at crucial times. It’s something I have been doing all year and I have been doing my whole career. At some point it has to register.

“It’s tough. I mean, I thought we were a mature team and a more experienced team. We should be better.”

Perretta lauded Kurz was accepting blame “as a fifth-year senior,” but also said the loss couldn’t totally be blamed on her mistakes.

“The bottom line is Maria Getty is 1-for-10 and Siobhan O’Connor was 1-for-7.”

He also bemoaned Villanova’s inability to make wide-open shots, especially for a team that set records for three-point shooting a year but has struggled from the outside this year as in Thursday night’s 5-for-31 effort from the field.

The Wildcats next stay home to host Lehigh Sunday.

-- Mel

(Guru’s note: There was no print story per se beyond a blurb on the Temple-Dartmouth game for the roundup in the Thursday paper, but information on the Owls’ 65-29 romp Wednesday night at the Liacouras Center is contained in the following report.)

By Mel Greenberg

PHILADELPHIA – Now that another former member of the Connecticut family has become a head coach, it looks like the Huskies and Temple could be meeting as soon as next year or as quick as a spot appears on each other’s schedule.

Depending on your perception, the potential home-and-home meeting has been set in motion either because the Guru and our colleague to the north – John Altavilla of the Hartford Courant – are negotiating through through UConn coach Geno Auriemma and new Temple coach Tonya Cardoza OR the two coaches are negotiating through the two media members.

Here’s the sequence of events with some background.

Altavilla and the Guru exchange tidbits from time to time on each other’s blogs because of the interest in Temple from Connecticut fans since former Huskies assistant Tonya Cardoza became the new Owls coach last spring.

And so it was that many in UConn territory watched the national telecast of Temple challenging No. 15 Rutgers at the Liacouras Center Monday night in a nonconference game won in the final minutes by the Scarlet Knights.

Auriemma was asked about his reaction to the game and Altavilla posted the following on his blog. He sent the details for the Guru to use and inform those who may not regularly check in on UConn coverage, although with Germantown Academy’s Caroline Doty off to a sensational freshman debut with the Huskies, it would seem there would be considerable interest down here in her exploits, which we’ll get to in a little bit.

But first, here’s Auriemma talking to Altavilla (we don’t know if it was exclusive or in the usual crowd) about Cardoza,

"Temple had a chance to win that game for a long time, until it got away in the final five minutes," Geno said. "Tonya has put together a good staff with experienced people. There's always excitement with a new coach around and they almost played a perfect game against Rutgers. I wartched Tonya on the sideline and she's young and aggressive, animated. It was fun."

"I haven't talked to Tonya about it," Geno said. "It would be completely up to them. They know our number and that we will always say yes. But I don't pursue it. We'll go down there, they can come here, at a time when its good, like it is now with Jen Rizzotti [and Hartford]. Those games are tough for us. They are no win games for us. You just win, you can't ever look good or come out feeling that we played well. It's just picking on some team."

Incidentally, during the game the Guru imparted Geno’s comments to the Temple athletic brass, who immediately became enthused.

Since both the Guru and Altavilla were interested in Cardoza’s reaction, the Guru did the honors at the end of the postgame press conference by making her aware of her former boss’s comments.

“When (former coach) Dawn (Staley) was here, she always wanted to play us,” Cardoza said with a sly grin. “Our excuse was always, `We already go to Philadelphia to play Villanova (in the Big East wars). But of course, anytime you can play Connecticut, you’re going to want to play them.

“And I hear he’s (Auriemma) looking to do a home-and-home and I think the fans of Philadelphia would love for them to come here, so, of course, I will make a phone call and try to set that up.”

As for the game, Temple (4-2) started sluggishly against the Big Green (1-5), falling behind, 10-4, in part, perhaps, for having a hangover from the tough loss 48 hours earlier to Rutgers.

Then the Owls put the hammer down with a 32-8 dash to halftime and a 38-18 lead. In the second half, the Owls did it offensively and defensively, outscoring Dartmouth 29-11.

Sophomore Shaqwedia Wallace had a career-high 18 points for Temple, while Shenita Landry added 14 points, and Shanea Cotton scored 11. Dartmouth’s Koren Schram had 15 points, and Brittney Smith grabbed 10 rebounds.

Prior to the game, veteran Dartmouth coach Chris Wieglus praised the Liacouras Center and said her group was thrilled to be in the house. She was less elated by the time the clock expired because of the play of her squad, which will return to town later in the schedule to play Penn in the Ivy League.

But Temple had a lot to do with the inability of the Big Green.

“We talked about trying to put (Rutgers) behind us,” Cardoza said of the slow start. “The only way we would really put it behind us is if we came out here and played well for 40 minutes.

“I think the adrenalin was probably going, but once they were able to get things done, I think everything went out there, but it was hard to get it started.”

Temple’s outside shooting was somewhat better with a 6-for-18 effort on three-pointers.

“For the most part, I am happy, but we can always get better at it. Six-for-18 is still not a good percentage,” Cardoza said. “But at least it wasn’t 27 jack-ups. Those guys (in the post) Shenita and Shanea were able to shoot 22 shots so that’s something we need to continue to do.

“Those guys need to get double-figure shots every single night and when those guys get (defensively) collapsed, they need to be able to quick it out and find the open guy.”

Temple only committed 11 turnovers while Dartmouth had 21 miscues.

Point guard LaKeisha Eaddy suffered a groin injury near the end of Monday night’s game and was sick Tuesday.

“I wasn’t going to play her but she wanted to play. She played a couple of minutes but I didn’t want to leave her out there long,” Cardoza said. “Getting (freshman) BJ (Williams) minutes was more important than Keisha hobbling around.”

Cardoza said she apologized to the newcomer for not getting her involved in the Rutgers game.

Temple hosts Florida State on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.

“It’s another opportunity to play a team that’s really good,” Cardoza said. “We get them at home again. It’s another opportunity to play against a team that’s good and see where we stand against top competition.”

Meanwhile, to pick up a loose end from earlier in this report, Connecticut freshman Doty was mentioned, in part because of the way she blitzed Oklahoma with a 6-for-6 effort on three-pointers.

Starting against Holy Cross, Wednesday night, Doty was 3-for-3 from behind the arc in 20 minutes of action, scoring 11 points in the 96-37 rout by the top-ranked Huskies.

Auriemma talked of Doty’s effort in the Oklahoma game prior to the contest against Holy Cross.

Again, here’s the discussion as it appeared in Altavilla’s blog.

Well, the bubble wrap is off Caroline Doty now and it's clear the kid has IT. You know what IT is, right? You'd know it if you saw IT. You'd realize it if you didn't see IT.
"It's personality driven with Caroline," Geno Auriemma said. "That's why, as much as you can, you try and recruit personality types. Her personality type allows her to play the way she's been playing after missing a year [because of her ACL injury in high school].

And now, here comes Holy Cross and all we can say right now about Doty is Holy Cow.
"She's the kind of kid who doesn't care what just happened. She'll just make the next one, the next play. She has a short memory, which all great players have."

- Mel, with an assistant from John Altavilla

By Mel Greenberg

PHILADELPHIA - Greetings on this Wednesday.

First the Guru needs to clear the record concerning the background of young Valeria, the cashier on duty several nights at one of the Guru's late-nite diners.

After showing the shoutout on his blackberry in the previous blog, the Guru was told he was a little mis-informed.

Valeria is not from Romania. She is from Moldova, which is somewhere over there, but she speaks Romanian.

The Guru needed to do this quickly because she has requested his URL to monitor future comments on days she is not awake in the same weird hours to most of this readership.

The Guru offered Valeria a chance to tell the world a little of her impressions since arriving her and of her home country, but she gave her trademark response: "We'll see."

However, do not think she is too laid back.

When the Guru mentioned she could be useful as a translator when it comes time to interview Drexel's Gabriela Marginean, a native of Romania, for extensive story about the current No. 2 scorer in the country, Valeria quickly showed her grasp of the American economy by responding, "Ten dollars an hour."

The Guru wanted to negotiate rates based on paragraphs and word responses.

However, that could be dangerous once the two of them start talking.

Incidentially, can someone at Rutgers explain why when the Guru went searching for more information about Moldova at several sites, links to Scarlet Knights pages popped up.

Is someone on the coaching staff working on a secret pipeline?

Speaking of Rutgers, moving on to the story behind the headline, former Rutgers-Illinois-St. Joseph's coach and Immaculata star Theresa Grentz was the guest speaker at West Windsor, N.J., on Tuesday to help promote the NCAA regional at Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton next March.

The Guru got a brief scare on his arrival when some local bankers on the organizing committee approached him about a bailout.

It turns out, Grentz was a few minutes late making the long across the turnpike haul from Chester County where she is now a vice president of her alma mater.

"I don't know how it happened, I certainly didn't ask for it," Grentz said of her new position that was a quick promotion after her hire last year.

The native of Upper Darby entertained the audience, and said the movie about Immaculata "Our Lady of Victory," is still targeted to be released at Easter, also the time of the Final Four in St. Louis.

Much of what else Grentz had to say has been reported her before about her life-after-coaching.

She also offered a few inspirational thoughts.

Following the speech, Grentz emceed a fashion show of which most of the models were members of the Mercer County business community.

One, however, was Rider assistant coach Rashana Barnes, the former Penn State star from Philadelphia's West Catholic High, who was a member of the Nittany Lions 2000 Final Four contingent.

Barnes, known as a "quiet" individual in her day, showed she might have another career the way she appeared on stage twice in different sports apparel.

When she appeared quickly after modeling the first outfit, Grentz qupped, "Gee it usually took you longer to come out of the locker room at Penn State," recalling the former Big Ten wars between the Illini and PSU.

Looking ahead, the Guru will be at Temple late Wednesday afternoon for the Owls' matchup with Dartmouth on the front end of a doubleheader with the men.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

As Jonathan alluded, the Guru was covering the Rutgers-Temple game for print the story is over at Philly.com, so it is only now in the wee hours prior to sunrise that we're catching up with the news of the end of the Houston Comets.

Also, we're in a bit of a rush while offering some quick notes here and downloading some Phillies post-season games via iTunes. The reason is the Guru promised young Valeria, the cashier at the Guru's late-nite diner, he would bring a paper.

No, she's not gasping to read the Guru's work. Though her height would indicate otherwise, she has no association with the sport of our focus here when we're not discussing Elena DelleDonne and volleyball.

But newly arrived from Romania, Valeria has discovered the American female fondness of shopping and so she delights in yanking the advertising sales in the front sections of the paper from the Guru's hands.

. She is also upset at the Guru's continuous refusal to reject her daily suggestions to try the almond pastry from the bakery section.

Also, the Guru is heading up to suburban Trenton Tuesday morning for another NCAA regional promotional event -- this one at which Theresa Grentz, the former Rutgers-Illinois-St. Joseph's coach and Immaculata star center will speak.

So diversions aside, the first thing the Guru did when catching up to the news off of Jonathan's flash to the blackberry during the Temple game, is look at the Houston roster of available bodies when the dispersal draft is held Dec. 8.

Incidentally, the Guru will try to catch up with Van Chancellor, the former longtime Comets coach now at LSU, for some reaction. By the time a connection is made, the Guru is certain he won't be at the front of the line.

Atlanta has the first pick, so the guess is since Tina Thompson is a free agent, with the ability to make her own deal, the Dream will go for Michelle Snow. Washington has the second pick -- what a holiday present for our friends over D.C. Basketcases, if the the Mystics go for former Rutgers star Matee Ajavon..

But if not, then Chicago is on the clock.

Ajavon, who had a sensational debut last summer, if available could be taken by Phoenix, which has either the fourth or fifth pick. If that occurs, she would then reunite with her former Rutgers teammate Cappie Pondexter.

The other thought was could Matee and Essence Carson reunite again in New York, fulfilling an original wish to land both players when Liberty coach Patty Coyle was scouting Rutgers talent for the draft.

It looks as if Ajavon would be gone by the time New York gets a choice, but maybe she will land with a team that the Liberty might be able to discuss trade.

Unfortunately, one person out of a job is coach Karleen Thompson, but she can be expected to land somewhere off the work she did with the Los Angeles Sparks, as well as using mirrors at times to keep Houston competitive.

Stay tuned.

Temple-Rutgers Aftermath

In case the Guru's friends to the north are wondering why no quotes from C. Vivian Stringer in the print story, well, it was taking a while to wait for the Hall of Fame coach to say a thing or two to her team, or maybe three or four, and with deadline approaching and Temple being the emphasis because of location, it became time to hit the keyboard.

Temple now has an opportunity to go on a run straight to the Duke game, which would make Florida State and Villanova on the victims list if achieved. That would actually put the Owls in better shape in terms of the long range when January arrives than has been the case in the past when the team had more to show in computer points than wins before the Atlantic Ten portion of the schedule began.

Some AP Poll Trivia

Having just finished updating the all-time database with the latest AP poll rankings, here are some worthy notes for those of you who take an interest or those of you in SID-land find them useful for your own game notes.

In terms of all-time ranking appearances, Stanford has moved ahead of Penn State into fifth place with 345 appearances. The first four are: Tennessee (546 -- missing only 14 weeks), Louisiana Tech (447), Georgia (431) and Texas (411).

Connecticut can move ahead of Tennessee for most No. 1 appearances, a statistic the Huskies have taken in the past from the Vols, by remaining at the top for the next four weeks.

Texas A&M reached its first-ever Top Five appearance, moving to No. 5.

Rutgers moved past LSU into eighth place with 321 appearances and are only five appearances from moving past North Carolina State, which doesn't seem likely to return to the list in the next month.

Tennessee now has 499 appearances in the Top 10 to be the industry leader.

North Carolina's Sylvia Hatchell has moved into a 15th place tie with retired coach Marsha Sharp, who was at Texas Tech, with 264 appearances. Rutgers' C. Vivian Stringer, collecting numbers at three different schools, has reached 380 appearances, third on the active list and fourth on the all-time list. Retired Texas coach Jody Conradt, just in front, has 395.

North Carolina has tied for 10th with Long Beach State for most Top 10 appearances at 166.

Virginia coach Debbie Ryan has 299 appearances and Ohio State's Jim Foster has 298.

Connecticut's Geno Auriemma moved into a tie for sixth with former Penn State coach Rene Portland for most appearances at the same school -- 314.

Vanderbilt and Virginia have reached 299 appearances.

Ok. Time to go. We'll be back more Tuesday night.

-- Mel

By Jonathan Tannenwald
Philly.com

I'm sure Mel will have more to say about this story later on...

HOUSTON - The WNBA president says the franchise that won the league's first four championships is disbanding. Donna Orender told Houston television station KRIV on Monday that the league-owned Houston Comets would be shut down because new owners couldn't be found.

By Jonathan Tannenwald
Philly.com

Greetings all,

Mel is at the Rutgers-Temple game this evening, so while he's on press row I've got a few things to post from the desk.

We were both at the Big 5's Media Day this morning at the Palestra, which for the second year in a row was held on the eve of the first men's City Series game of the season.

The local women's coaches were also represented, and many gave remarks during the podium-based part of the program. In attendance were St. Joseph's coach Cindy Griffin, La Salle coach Tom Lochner, Penn coach Pat Knapp and Temple assistant coach Dan Durkin.

Durkin was standing in for Owls head coach Tonya Cardoza, who spent the morning preparing for the arrival of the No. 15 Scarlet Knights. Villanova coach Harry Peretta called in absent as his team re-adjusted to northern climes after playing in the Paradise Jam. Drexel coach Denise Dillon also was not present, because the Dragons are not a part of the formal Big 5.

I posted audio of the speeches over at my blog, Soft Pretzel Logic. You can listen to them by clicking on the first track in the media player at the bottom of the post.

By Mel Greenberg

PHILADELPHIA – When Temple meets No. 13 Rutgers (that number may change in a few hours) Monday night at the Liacouras Center two members of the Owls contingent will be at a different vantage point than in previous seasons when it comes to dealing with the Scarlet Knights.

Both new Temple head coach Tonya Cardoza and assistant Brittany Hunter were previously usually on the winning side at Connecticut in the Big East wars.

Hunter graduated after last season, having played for the Huskies three years after transferring from Duke.

Cardoza served 14 seasons as an assistant to Geno Auriemma. For that matter, a third Owl with Huskies DNA is grad assistant Stacey Nasser, who was a manager for four seasons.

But it will be up to the players to do most of the heavy lifting in an attempt to pull an upset that would get some quick national attention.

Until last weekend, Temple might have been in a good spot to catch its former Atlantic Ten rival asleep.

However, the youthful but extremely talented Scarlet Knights suffered a West Coast wipeout at California and Stanford that might have accelerated the learning curve legendary coach C. Vivian Stringer is needing to instill her newcomers.

Temple’s makeup will be a bit different than the Scarlet Knights faced previously when defensive-minded Dawn Staley was at the helm.

Cardoza has turned the team into an offensive force in the early going, most recently Saturday when Temple (3-1) romped over Hampton 79-50 in a nonconference home game.

Shanea Cotton posted a double double on the inside with 12 points and 13 rebounds, while LaKeisha Eaddy’s continuing transition to point guard stayed effective with 14 points and six assists. Shenita Landry had a game-high 16 points.

The other two wins occurred against Bowling Green and Illinois, two games considered tossups, at best, prior to the opener. The setback was a 95-76 romp at nationally-ranked Auburn when the Owls faded in the second half.

“I never doubted we would get it rolling,”:Cardoza said of the uneven start to Saturday’s game before Temple got a firm handle on the competition. “For the most part, we’ve been careless with the ball. But we’ve been shooting a great percentage with the ball.

“They didn’t have any real threats to guard us in the post.”

Cardoza got her first technical near the end of the first half when Temple was ahead by 11.

“Yeah, I wasn’t expecting that,” she said.

As for the team’s progress to date, the Virginia graduate said, “I’d say we’re off a pretty good start. Of course, I would have liked to play better in the Auburn game to have given us a chance.”

When Temple starts to get on a roll in games like they have recently, Cotton said it takes a while to get a sense of what’s happening.

“I don’t really feel it until my coaches are smiling and the players are applauding and saying I’m doing good. I like doing well.”

If Temple can get a wide open high-powered style against Rutgers, it’s possible the night might have some intrigue.

“It’s a big test, but so was Auburn,” Cardoza said. “We’re going into every game like we’re trying to win, so they’re just another opponent in the way of the great things we’re trying to do this year.

“Our style is we want to get out and run and score as many points as we can in transition. So that’s what we’re going to try to do,” Cardoza said. “We need to take care of the ball. They’re a pretty good defensive team but if we take care of the ball and do a good job on the backboards we should be fine.”

Here Comes the Military

Coincidental to the Army-Navy football game this weekend in town, both schools will invade West Philadelphia Saturday within a few blocks of each other at two different sites in what might have been a neat doubleheader.

Navy visits Penn at 3 p.m. at The Palestra before Army visits Drexel, which is coming off of a neat upset of host Colorado in the Buff’s tournament. Gabriela Marginean scored 26 of her 32 points in the second half to lead the Dragons to a third-place finish.

Army’s visit marks to return of Philadelphia native Dave Magarity, coach of the Knights.

Delaware and DelleDonne to Face Oregon

The 64-team NCAA volleyball field, heading by unbeaten and defending champion Penn State, was announced, and the question now is will Vice President-elect Joe Biden stop by in the neighborhood Friday to cheer fellow Wilmington resident Elena DelleDonne and her Blue Hens teammates when Delaware meets Oregon in the first round at American University in Washington.

The CAA champions drew Oregon. If Delaware wins, the Blue Hens stay in the nation’s capital for a Sunday game against either American or North Carolina.

While DelleDonne was learning her volleyball postseason fate Sunday night, her good friend and would-be roommate Carolyn Doty of Germantown Academy lit up Oklahoma for 18 points as the freshman shot 6-for-6 from three-point land in Connecticut’s romp over the Sooners..

DelleDonne was the nation’s top basketball recruit last season, but later gave up her scholarship from Connecticut to stay near home and play volleyball at Delaware.

With the Blue Hens women’s basketball team on a three-game losing streak after winning the first two, maybe DelleDonne will catch the spirit of the Washington scene and consider a bailout by joining Tina Martin’s group after the volleyball competition concludes.

Big Five Showdown Thursday

In one of the key contests in the City Series, Villanova travels to St. Joseph’s home away from home at 8 p.m. Thursday night at Philadelphia University’s Gallagher Center.
Both teams have had some early season struggles but the Wildcats, with a loss to La Salle, need a win to stay alive in the hunt. It will be the Hawks’ first local tangle.

--Mel