Owls, Hawks women renew their city rivalry

Temple visits St. Joseph's at the Hawks' Hagan Arena Wednesday night in the first of two annual home-and-home meetings, and, though there are ongoing NCAA and Atlantic Ten Conference implications for both teams, those elements will take a backseat to the rivalry itself.

For the most part, the 1980s and '90s saw St. Joseph's dominate after the Big Five for women was launched in 1979-80, with Villanova and La Salle having their moments along the way.

St. Joseph's coach Cindy Griffin was in the middle of that success when she played for the Hawks in the late 1980s.

Then, after Dawn Staley was hired at Temple in the spring of 2000, it took a few years, and the domination in the series with St. Joseph's swung in the Owls' direction big time and continued after Tonya Cardoza became the coach in the spring of 2008.

Temple (12-8, 5-1 A-10) has won 11 straight games against the Hawks and 17 of 18 dating back to the 2003-04 season. The exception was a buzzer beater in regulation by the Hawks for a 65-64 win at Hagan Arena during the 2005-06 season.

The games, with a few exceptions, have gone to the last minute, some in overtime, with St. Joseph's either missing foul shots or committing crucial turnovers or Temple coming up with a key shot.

The senior-heavy group at St. Joseph's (14-6, 4-2) is the third straight class still looking for a win over Temple.

But this is the best the Hawks have looked in several seasons.

"We're looking forward to Wednesday. I think it's going to be a challenge for us, but I think our seniors are ready to protect our home floor regardless of who we're playing, and Temple's the next one. So why not?" Griffin said after Saturday's impressive win over Duquesne.

Temple is trying to extend its string of eight straight NCAA appearances, and the Hawks are the last of a tough stretch before the schedule eases a bit.

"St. Joseph's is just a tough team to play against, no matter when, no matter what the stakes are," Cardoza said after Sunday's win over Charlotte.

"It's always physical. It's obviously Philly pride, and you don't ever want the other to beat you, and it's going to be a tough physical game. We know it's going to be a dogfight. But that's what we expect. We don't expect St. Joseph's to come out and play bad because they never do.

"We just hope we match their intensity level and do what we're supposed to do so we can come out on top."

Knapp is back. Though the Penn Quakers could only come up with a split in their Ivy home games with Columbia and Cornell last weekend, the bigger story occurred early in Friday night's game when senior Jess Knapp entered the contest at the Palestra one month after suffering an ACL injury during Penn's trip to San Diego State's tournament.

"It's been a wild ride," Knapp said. "As soon as we got the verdict I knew I was going to play again if I could. Basically the doctor gave one condition I couldn't play if there was meniscus damage. It turns out there wasn't, so he said, 'You're a senior. We'll brace it up. We'll cross our fingers.' But it feels better every day.

"I think the adrenaline helped during the game," she said Friday after the win over Columbia. "As a senior, you're running out of time. Anyone at this level would do it."

Penn coach Mike McLaughlin said Knapp played 11 minutes and had two rebounds.

"I'm just happy she's out here on the floor with a No. 4 and a Penn uniform," he said. "Just to see her jersey out there, it was great stuff.

"When she went in, it was emotional for everyone, and this is what it's all about. Her teammates have so much respect for her, for who she is and what she stands for."

Next up. Villanova, which has a strong RPI ranking, has a chance to pick up two Big East wins this week when Seton Hall, coached by Hall of Famer Anne Donovan, visits Tuesday night and Providence visits Saturday afternoon.