Women’s City Six Notebook: La Salle’s Spruill starting to shine in game action

It wouldn’t be a City Six notebook without a buzzer-beater, an overtime game (yep, Drexel again), and a record being shattered.

Well, actually, it would, but all of those things happened last week.

In this notebook, we’ll look at the biggest performances and recap the week of each of the City 6 schools.

It finally happened. Shalina Miller broke the school’s all-time blocks record with her 152nd career rejection, against Richmond.

Coach Mountain MacGillivray believed that chasing the record and the pressure of it affected Miller’s play. She had one block total in her previous three games. Once the record was shredded, Miller responded with a season-high six blocks against St. Joseph’s.

“The weight had been lifted off her back,” MacGillivray said. “Anytime you get to be honored in front of your family and friends ... she felt pretty good about that and you can tell by the way she played.”

La Salle (8-12, 2-5 Atlantic 10) finished the week 1-1, with a loss to Richmond and a win against St. Joe’s. In the Richmond loss, the Explorers entered the fourth quarter down by 11 points, but got within one point and had a chance to win it in the closing moments. The end of that game carried over to the 67-59 win against St. Joe’s.

Kayla Spruill and Claire Jacobs scored 24 and 21 points, respectively. It was a big week for Spruill, who was named the co-Big 5 Player of the Week. The sophomore forward averaged 21 points and 10.5 rebounds last week.

“Kayla has been our best player since we started practice,” MacGillivray said. “Everything about her has been really good, but when we started the season, she didn’t have that immediate success. Now her game performance is starting to match her practice performance. She deserves it.”

The Hawks (8-11, 2-4 A-10) ended the weekend with a loss to La Salle, but their week had a thrilling start against St. Bonaventure. Trailing, 60-59, Kaliah Henderson drove to the basket and missed a turnaround shot over two defenders. Katie Mayock was under the goal waiting, got the put-back as time expired and was immediately mobbed by her teammates. Gabby Smalls and Lula Roig each scored 10 points in the win.

Katie Jekot led the Hawks with 16 points in the loss vs. the Explorers. The Hawks entered the fourth quarter trailing by 16 and were able to get within six with 1:28 to play. They finished 1-of-6 from the field.

Temple (12-8, 4-3 American Athletic Conference) started the week with a 76-72 Big 5 win against Penn. It was a roller-coaster game in which the Owls trailed by 13 entering the fourth quarter. The Owls had an 18-3 run in the fourth to take their first lead and outscored Penn 29-12 overall.

A big reason for the comeback was a 47-32 advantage on the glass. Mia Davis and Alexa Williamson each finished with double-doubles.

The Owls lost, 86-81, to Cincinnati on Sunday. Davis was dominant and recorded another double-double. She was named co-Big 5 Player of the Week with Spruill after averaging 21.5 points and 12.5 rebounds.

After three consecutive home wins, the Wildcats found out that life isn’t as glamorous on the other side. Villanova (11-9, 5-4 Big East) dropped games to DePaul and Marquette on the road. Mary Gedaka, Madison Siegrist, and Bridget Herlihy each scored double figures and it still wasn’t enough. The Blue Demons jumped out to a 26-12 advantage in the first quarter, and that was all they needed. The 85 points are the most the Wildcats have allowed this season.

The defense returned against Marquette, but a late scoring drought was the difference. The Golden Eagles had a 6-0 run early in the fourth and never trailed again.

Siegrist’s play has been consistent. The redshirt freshman has 10 20-point games this season, which leads the Big East.

Drexel (13-6, 6-1 Colonial Athletic Association) continued its winning ways with a 55-53 overtime victory over Elon and a 61-54 win against William and Mary.

The Dragons have won six straight. Three of those games have been in overtime. This team has the makings of one that thrives in pressure moments.

Bailey Greenberg led the Dragons, averaging 12.5 points last week, but other scorers stepped up in each win. Keishana Washington scored 13 and made three three-pointers against Elon, and Niki Metzel led the Dragons with 16 vs. William and Mary.

Head coach Denise Dillon speaks highly of Mariah Leonard, and the senior forward made the team’s biggest basket of the week. Trailing 53-51 with under a minute remaining, Leonard converted an and-one layup to give Drexel the lead for good.

The Quakers (10-4, 0-1 Ivy League) dropped their lone game of the week, 76-72 against Temple. Freshman Kayla Padilla was held to a season-low eight points. It was the first time she failed to reach double figures.

Eleah Parker battled with Davis in the post and finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds. It was her first double-double this season. Parker started the season by scoring 21, 19 and 14. If she can consistently get back to around 14 points per game, Penn will be able to challenge Princeton for the top spot.