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
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