BY JEREMY GOODE

(PHOTOS BY GEANINE JAMISON FOR PSD)

VILLANOVA- College basketball is to Philadelphia as much as cheesesteaks, soft pretezels, water ice, and the Liberty Bell are to the City of Brotherly Love.  

On Fri., Dec. 6, Villanova University hosted the inaugural Toyota Women’s Big 5 Classic, a fun way to feature women’s collegiate basketball in and around the Philadelphia area in one place on one day. 

Game 1 featured the Penn Quakers and La Salle Explorers to determine fifth place for the Big 5 Classic. Game two that followed to determine third place was between Drexel University and Saint Joseph's University, while the championship game was settled by Temple University against Villanova University. 

With all of these games, the classic was a great exposure for women’s basketball in Philadelphia, and featured the high level of play that the Philadelphia schools have been able to develop and build over the years. 

Mike McLaughlin, coach of the Penn Quakers, had wanted his players to treat this as a regular game, as he reflected on the first quarter. The Quakers finished with 14 shots, five made baskets, and eight turnovers, averaging almost a turnover per minute. Still, their first 10 minutes of play was good enough to take a 11-9 lead against the La Salle Explorers. 

“We were trying a little too hard,” McLaughlin said. “We were not deliberate with what we were doing. We didn’t make simple plays… open court turnovers… but what I’m proud of is the second, third and fourth the way they came out and played. We’ve been a little bit up and down at times… and hopefully these gaps in the valley are not as deep.”

The Quakers certainly adjusted after the first 10 minutes, as the entire team contributed from the second quarter on. Sarah Miller, Katie Collins, and Mataya Gayle would have their own quarter to dominate the stat sheet and further help guide the Quakers past the Explorers, 74-63. 

It was not only the Quakers who started out slowly. After a mere 20-point combined score in the first quarter, it was clear both teams had needed the early part of the game to get acclimated. They would more than double the point total in the second quarter, thanks to seven 3-pointers. 

“I feel like it really did boost our energy,” Miller said. “We just maintained that energy throughout the rest of the game and really trusted each other, especially on defense to be at the right spots.”

Even with only a four-point lead heading into halftime, it felt as though Penn had the momentum. They quickly erased an eight-point lead for the Explorers with over five and a half minutes left in the first half, turning it into a 12-point swing in favor of Penn. Most of that would be due to Miller’s knock down shooting.

“I’m just happy that my coaches and team have the trust in me to keep executing,” Miller said. 

The Quakers used the third quarter to extend their lead, outscoring the Explorers 19-12, while also clamping down on defense to give Penn a 53-40 lead going into the final frame. Miller often deferred scoring responsibilities to Collins, who led the Quakers in points with nearly half of the team’s total in the third, recording four layups for eight points. 

Collins’ aggressive play around the rim gave Penn another way to score the basketball, making them more difficult to defend knowing that Miller was able and willing to take any shot beyond the arc, while Collins was pulling together baskets at will around the basket.

“She [Collins] is very consistent; she is consistent in her work ethic, the way she practices, the way she prepares. That’s really unusual for someone who just turned 18,” McLaughlin said. “Not only is she a freshman, she is a very young freshman. But she has great composure, she is very coachable. Honestly, she got her butt kicked the first half. But she responded in the second half.”

Since Penn’s theme became to change who would lead them each quarter after the first, the fourth quarter belonged to Gayle. She would take on most of the offensive responsibilities hitting several jumpers and scoring nine of her 11 points in the final ten minutes. 

With just under three minutes remaining, Penn would go up by the largest lead all night – 19 points. La Salle would cut it down to 11 to end the game, but the 11-point win for the Quakers could be broken down to out-rebounding the Explorers 48-34, and outshooting them from the floor by 15 percent.

 Oddly enough, the Explorers recorded 19 more shots (75) than the Quakers. But when you are more efficient with your shots from the field, beyond the arc, and at the free throw line, it ultimately does not matter. 

“It’s tough to win a basketball game when you don’t make a lot of shots.” La Salle head coach Mountain MacGillivary said. “Really pleased with the fact that we forced turnovers, took care of the ball, and especially early on got really good looks. The ball did not find its way into the basket… that’s a really talented offensive team… we needed to be a little more effective field goal percentage wise, and we weren’t tonight.”

With the game and inaugural Big 5 Classic hosted by Villanova, McLaughlin praised the efforts it took to establish and host the classic, expressing how important it was to grow the women’s game and how this type of exposure helps. 

“This is just a great event, I am glad the Big 5 put this together,” McLaughlin said. “To bring all six schools together, particularly on the women’s side, to connect groups, to connect the city I think has been awesome.”

While Penn is in the Ivy League and La Salle in the Atlantic 10, both schools understand the local bragging rights that come with matchups like these. They do not take wins for granted, especially with La Salle having led for the entire game until Miller went off midway through the second quarter. 

“I was just happy we found a way to win,” McLaughlin said. “At times it was a struggle, but I thought we found a way to grit and grind to make plays when we needed to.”

Penn will have two weeks off until they host Delaware State on Dec.20, ultimately ending the year at Arizona State. 

If you want to compete with St. Joe’s basketball, you’re going to need to step outside. 

No, really. 

Because the Hawks take a lot of deep shots from three-point range. And they make them. 

“If you look at the stats, it came down to shooting,” Drexel head coach Amy Mallon said. “If you look at the percentages, and the percentages of St. Joseph’s of what they shot today, they were outstanding from outside.”

From the field? The Hawks shot 53 percent from the field. From beyond the arc? They shot 47 percent. 

The eight three-pointers the Hawks cashed in on helped put the Drexel Dragons away 69-47, to claim third place in the Big 5 Classic. 

“A lot of my offense comes from my teammates,” Smith said. “Every season, I try to add something new to my bag simply because there is film on me and all of us, so, working with Coach Prim a lot on developing those area so I could showcase them in these moments.”                                                                     

Smith’s comments are accurate. While she used the first half to score with the three-ball, she only took one three-pointer in the second half. Yet she still scored another 10 points. It’s not just shooting threes that gives the Hawks an advantage. 

Instead of shooting, Smith several times cut across to the basket where she converted easy layups in the third quarter. These were back breakers for the Dragons and a strong reason why the Hawks were able to extend their lead to nine going into the final ten minutes. 

After three quarters of play, the Hawks had -amassed a few more points than the Dragons every quarter, leading by 9 going into the fourth, 51-42. What may have been a close game up to that point was opened up by the Hawks in the final frame, as they outscored the Dragons by nearly four times, 18-5, while Drexel shot 2-12 from the field. 

“We ran out of steam in the fourth quarter,” Mallon said. “Maybe we had a lot of kids play a lot of minutes. Realistically, we played Wednesday, we played Friday. That’s what we are going to see in conference. So, we know we need to prep for that grind when the conference starts in January.

Of the Hawks’ 34 rebounds on the night, 11 of them came in the final 10 minutes. Drexel missed shots, St. Joseph’s helped through defense in them miss shots, and the Hawks made sure the Dragons would not get any second chances by securing the rebounds.

The St. Joe's team does not take the importance of the classic lightly. While they may not have learned it during the recruitment process, they have by now certainly learned about the history of Philadelphia college basketball and the importance it plays in the city for alumni, students, and fans. 

“I’m Canadian, so I didn’t really know what the Philly sports life was like,” Smith said. “I learned quickly. Every Big 5 game is a battle. These types of games are going to make that comparison in conference play.”

Griffin was pleased with how the first women’s Big 5 Classic went, noting how important it was to mirror what the men’s Big 5 Classic did last year at the Wells Fargo Center to make the event the best it could be.  

“The atmosphere is a great opportunity to play in front of a lot of people and I think Villanova did a nice job hosting,” Griffin said. “I don’t know where it will be next year, hopefully St. Joe’s, but we would be willing to host, I’m sure of that.”

Mallon echoes on Drexel’s side that they would love to host this event in the future as well. 

The loss puts Drexel at 3-4 in the early season. While it was not the result the Dragons wanted, they are pleased with the state of the program and the evolution of women’s basketball in recent years to gain the support it has. 

“When you look at the games across the board, they have been great games,” Mallon said. “That’s Philadelphia basketball, and I think we competed with every team and proved that in our first year that we can compete with every team in the city and we will continue to do so.”

While the event and enhanced media attention on the women’s side was nice, it also was good prep for the Hawks, according to Smith. 

When American author and newspaper editor Horace Greeley said the phrase, “Go West, young man,” he clearly never met Tiarra East. Of course, there is a timeline issue here, but if their lives had overlapped, Mr. Greeley may have viewed the merits of west and East a bit differently. 

That’s because East helped the Temple Owls win the inaugural Toyoto Big 5 Classic Championship, scoring 23 points to lead the Owls over the Villanova Wildcats, 76-62. 

“Villanova has always been a battle for us the past four years I have been here,” East said. “We really wanted this win. We dug deep and stuck together and came out with a win… a team win.”

The rivalry title game did not start smoothly for the Owls. In fact, there were at least nine reasons for concern within the first few minutes from the tipoff, as the Wildcats raced out to a 9-0 lead to begin the contest. 

After an early timeout by Temple head coach Diane Richardson, the Owls stopped the bleeding and went on their own run, scoring the next eight points. 

“I’m a stickler for stopping momentum,” Richardson said. “We did not get down on ourselves and we kept playing."

“We talked about that at halftime that we had to take care of the ball,” Richardson said. “Not have unforced turnovers where we are throwing the ball away.”

Even after the Wildcats ended their three-point drought with Bronagh Power-Cassidy drilling one beyond the arc to give Villanova a seven-point lead to open up the second half, the Owls would go on a more substantial run, outscoring the Wildcats 25-16 and leading by five points going into the fourth quarter. 

The close-out quarter belonged to East. Of her 26 points, 12 of them were scored in the final 10 minutes, including two massive three-point shots well beyond the line to extend Temple’s lead to 14 with just under four and a half minutes to play. 

While East punched her name into the Big 5 history books and was honored as the Mel Greenberg Big 5 Classic MVP, sophomore guard Kaylah Turner also provided a spark off the bench to begin the final frame, drilling three deep jumpers to give the Owls a double-digit lead with just over seven minutes to play. 

They would not look back. 

“I was in the gym practicing every day this week, and they [her teammates] are like, ‘T, why are you not shooting the three? You can really shoot it,’ so I believed in myself, they believed in me, and told me to let it go.”

East’s performance inspired some full circle reflection. East was already at Temple before the university brought in Richardson to coach the program. In this day and age, with the transfer portal and the ability for student athletes to easily move on to other schools, East still stayed on board. 

It is also notable that the Owls brought in seven new players this season through the transfer portal. While the Owls took the first month of the season to figure out their lineups, they are hoping to tally wins going forward with solid depth, including the leadership of East, Tarriyonna Gary, who finished with 14 points on just under 50 percent shooting and two three-pointers, and Tristen Taylor, who scored 15 and had three assists and three rebounds.

As for East, it is clear that the ball stops with her, literally and figuratively. 

“She is a very important part of our team,” Richardson said. “We praised her for sticking around and helped her with her game. We encouraged her to continue to work and she works really hard. And I think we will see her at the next level.”

It was not just Richardson who acknowledged East’s impact. Denise Dillon, Villanova’s head coach, also mentioned the difficulty of containing East and how strong a player she is for the Owls and for opponents to defend. 

“She knows the game and plays the game at a different level,” Dillon said. “She dictated what she wanted tonight. She is smart off the dribble and she took advantage. We tried throwing a couple people at her, but she was definitely ready to go tonight and is playing some really good basketball.”

The win improves Temple to 5-3 on the early season. They will have more than a week before their next bout against the No. 15 team in the country, the West Virginia Mountaineers at the Liacouras Center.