By Mel Greenberg

  Unless its already out there, the Guru has learned a little while ago the Maloof family will be giving up the Sacramento Monarchs, making it the third ownership change since the end of the season following the change in Atlanta and the move of the Detroit Shock to Tulsa.

The league was expected to announce the move shortly.

There'sx a possibility of another group somewhere in the Bay Area taking over. Discussions are going on, although the group is not identified at this time.

More to comde later.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – In a game that could be considered Rutgers’ best gauge of things in the early stage of the season, the Scarlet Knights rallied from a 12-point deficit midway through the first half Thursday night to beat Boston College, 59-53, at the Louis A. Brown Athletic Center.

Rutgers (2-1) had opened the season here Sunday against No. 2 Stanford, the best team in the country not named Connecticut, losing 81-66. That was followed on Tuesday night by a visit from Division III Kean, resulting in an 85-49 victory.

The Eagles (0-2), however, could be considered somewhere in the same long-range forecasts as the Scarlet Knights, giving Rutgers level ground against a quality opponent.

Thus, there was some early concern when Rutgers’ former Big East sister bolted to a 20-8 lead with just over 10 minutes left in the first half.

“I think we were all drinking some slow water today before we finally could get on track,” Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer said of the rough start.

However, Eagles junior 6-6 center Carolyn Swords had just gotten her second personal foul, allowing the Scarlet Knights an opportunity when the preseason All-Atlantic Coast Conference player went to the bench.

Rutgers, paced by 6-2 freshman Monique Oliver, went on a 7-0 run and eventually took a slim 27-25 halftime lead to the locker room.

The Scarlet Knights stayed ahead the rest of the way, although they did not get into the safety zone until the final minutes.

“She gets busy right away,” Stringer said of Oliver, who had nine points and four rebounds in 14 minutes of work. “I’ve not had a freshman post player yet who comes in and attacks right away.

“There’s a number of things she does not know yet, but that’s OK, she’s a freshman. But I really love her, I really do. She’s got great hands. Let me promise you, `Mo is going to be a big-time player. There are few players who show up the way she does.”

Stringer credited her vaunted 55 pressure defense for the win, although Boston College coach Sylvia Crawley, the former North Carolina star, cited other factors for Rutgers’ rally.

“I thought the difference was in the first half, they were crashing the boards really hard,” Crawley said. “They had 13 second-chance points to our zero. They had nine offensive points to our zero. They pressured us a little bit. But for the most part the rebounding hurt us more than anything else.”

The Eagles were more forceful on the boards in the second half and out-rebounded the Scarlet Knights for the game, 40-32, including a 19-13 advantage on the offensive boards.
“(Rutgers) is aggressive,” said Crawley, who played on the Tar Heels’ 1994 NCAA champion and once executed a blindfolded dunk shot in an All-Star game in the former American Basketball League in 1997.

“They attack the basket aggressively. Their posts were strong inside. They have some all-Americans out here, even if they are only freshmen. This was good to go up against a mentally-tough team. This is a style of play we face in the ACC almost every game.”

Sophomore April Sykes had her best effort of the season, shooting a game-high 16 points for Rutgers off of making 6-of-12 shots, including 2-of-3 three point attempts.

Senior Brittany Ray added 10 points.

Boston College’s Stefanie Murphy was the lone Eagles player to score in double figures, finishing with 15 points.

Rutgers’ next test comes Sunday when the Scarlet Knights travel to No. 16 Georgia, which is in mourning after the death of UGA VII, the legendary Bulldog mascot (the animal) who passed away suddenly in Savannah, Ga., earlier Thursday, due to heart-related causes.

Temple Roasts Dartmouth

The Owls continued to score and toss defensive heat at the opposition Thursday night, this time beating the reigning Ivy champions.

Next stop is at Buffalo Saturday.

Here is the report off the Temple web site. At this rate, the Guru may help Temple go undefeated by staying away from the scene, though a trip to Hanover would not have been in the cards.

HANOVER, N.H. – With a balanced offensive attack and relentless effort on defense, the Temple women’s basketball team cruised to a 64-38 win at Dartmouth (1-1) to remain undefeated this season at 3-0. The Owls were led by senior Jasmine Stone with a double-double of 11 points and 13 rebounds.

Forcing 31 turnovers, Temple came away with a 29-9 edge in points off turnovers. Senior LaKeisha Eaddy led the defensive effort with a career-high eight steals, and Kristen McCarthy tallied four steals. McCarthy was the only other player to score in double figures for the Owls with 10 points, but all nine dressed players put points on the board.

Eaddy and BJ Williams scored nine points apiece, while Natasha Thames, Kristie Watkins-Day and Victoria Macaulay added six points each.

With four steals, an assist and a bucket less than five minutes into the contest, Eaddy set the tone for the Owls early on. By the midway point of the first half, six different Temple players had scored to give the Owls a 12-4 lead.

All nine active players on Temple’s roster had scored by halftime, and the Owls closed the first half on a 9-0 run to take a 32-10 lead. Eaddy led all players with seven points at the break, as well as three assists and an impressive six steals.

Dartmouth’s Michelle Meyer scored back-to-back three-pointers to open the second half, but from there the Owls used an 18-9 run to take a 50-25 lead with seven minutes remaining.

Temple shot 48 percent from the field compared to 25 percent by Dartmouth. The Big Green were led by Brittney Smith with seven points and 11 rebounds.

Temple will return to the court on Saturday in a 2:00 p.m. contest at Buffalo.

-- Mel

(Guru's Note: First, you may want to read a post done a short while ago, depending when you're reading this, listed below with the Guru's announcement on joining the tweeter generation. Now, the reason the web was invented, below is the extended version of a print interview advancing Elena Delle Donne's college basketball debut Tuesday night. Most of the first part repeats what is already posted. The extension will continue with a short headline to mark the break if you already read the print version before coming here. -- Mel)

By Mel Greenberg

Inquirer Staff Writer

NEWARK, Del. - Winter nights had once been a time of joy for Elena Delle Donne, the former basketball sensation out of Wilmington's Ursuline Academy.

The roar and heat of sellout crowds were common as she played well beyond her years, hitting basket after basket en route to winning state titles.

None of that was in her life a year ago, however, when winter returned.

The 6-foot-5 Delle Donne had given up the sport of her acclaim and enrolled at the University of Delaware near her home to play volleyball.

Tonight, the versatile Delle Donne will emerge for the delay of her long-anticipated college debut when the Blue Hens open their season at St. Francis University in Loretto, Pa.

"People should be patient," cautioned Delaware coach Tina Martin "because she's still a freshman - actually two freshmen - because we have her playing both the post [on defense] and guard positions."

If everything works out, the Blue Hens are expected to return to their 20-plus win seasons of the past after what has been a two-year struggle.

In a 12-month period beginning in early June 2008, Delle Donne drew more notoriety for her actions off the court than when she was setting high school scoring records in Delaware.

The controversy peaked at the end of August a year ago with Delle Donne's stunning announcement that she was returning her scholarship from eventual NCAA champion Connecticut. In June, she bolted after one day on campus at the start of summer session.

Two months later, Delle Donne told reporters she was burned out from the years of attention. She said she couldn't give the Huskies what it took to be a champion.

Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma has wished her well.

Indeed, the two might still work together down the road if Delle Donne lands a spot on the 2012 Olympic squad, which Auriemma will coach.

"I didn't know how I was going to feel watching women's basketball last season," Delle Donne said. "But when I was doing nothing, I began to think about coming back."

And so began a slow, measured journey back, during which she discovered it could be possible to rekindle the flame of her first love. The first step was to go inside a gym and embrace the basketball.

She said she was surprised to find out that she had not lost her touch, overall skills, and court awareness.

And so began the passion.

In June, she explained that her exit from UConn was the result of homesickness, which she misidentified. Much of her feelings stem from her close attachment to older sister Lizzie, who has cerebral palsy and is deaf and blind.

Last week, she spoke of the night before her scheduled departure for Storrs, Conn.

"It was my last night to sleep in my own bed, and I thought, 'Oh my God, I'm not going to be back here,' " Delle Donne said.

"That's when I really started to freak out in my head. But I didn't want to show anyone that. I didn't want my parents to get upset.

"Then I got up to UConn and I said to myself, 'This isn't happening.' "

And so she returned home in the middle of the night.

Now she is ready for her second chance in the sport. Delle Donne is eager for tonight's opening tip, when she will be in uniform for the first time since March 2008.

Delle Donne was on fire at a recent closed-door scrimmage at St. Joseph's, where she smoked the Hawks for 50 points, according to those allowed to attend under NCAA preseason rules.

"I can't wait for that first game, for a regular crowd to be there and just to be out there with my teammates wearing a regular jersey," she said.
 

                                              The Extension Follows Here

One person who is a close confident beyond Delle Donne’s family is Veronica Algeo, her former coach of Fencor AAU.

“Elena texted me recently, telling me how happy she is,” Algeo said. “On a personal note, I’ve always had a lot of concern about her. But as a fan of women’s basketball, I say when you take Elena’s natural talent, the layers of work Elena has put on top of it and if she’s happy, we’re in for a real treat.”
 

One of Delle Donne’s best friends is former Germantown Academy star Caroline Doty, a Fencor teammate who was set to be a roommate at UConn.
 

“When I left Storrs that night, I left Caroline a text message: ‘You’re not going to understand this or anything, but I’m so sorry I had to do this, I had to go home.’”

Doty got off to a sensational start with the Huskies and then went down with a second knee injury just as Connecticut entered Big East play in early January.

“It was terrible,” Delle Donne said. “I felt so bad for her. I texted her right away. But she has a great attitude toward things. I knew she’d get through it.”

Delle Donne isn’t concerned about the possibility of hearing boos in the stands.

“Listen, those St. Elizabeth crowds in high school were really rough. Everyone is going to have their own perspective,” Delle Donne said.

She’ll see some familiar faces on the opposing team Tuesday night.

Kelley Doogan is a former teammate at Ursuline, while Sarah Thorn, a graduate of Pennsbury East, played with Delle Donne on Fencor AAU.

“Doogan’s the reason the game is one schedule,” said St. Francis coach Susan Robinson Fruchtl, a former Penn State star and assistant coach. “It was already in place to get her a trip home next year against Delaware.

“But we’re looking forward to the game. We knowDelle Donne's reputation.”

It was noted to Delle Donne that one of her AAU associates hopes she’ll attend that person’s wedding in late March.
“I don’t know,” Delle Donne said with another smile. “I expect to be busy still playing by then.”

      -- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

   ALTOONA, Pa. - OK, the Guru decided to do it after arriving here late Monday nite/Tuesday AM in the staging area to head to Loretto for Tuesday nights' Delaware-St. Francis (Pa.) game in which Delaware's Elena Delle-Donne will make her collegiate debut.

  The Guru is now on twitter at -- you guessed -- it twitter.com/womhoopsguru  to be sort of consistent. It's still a work in progress in getting totally up and running and seeing what can be done from the blackberry, but tweeting from the game will occur.

   And, yes, over in the print section of The Inquirer Sports section, the Guru has an advance, which he hasn't seen the edited version as he writes this.

   That is it. Time for a sunrise snack in the mountains.

  The Guru will experiment from his phone down the road.

Technologically signing off but maybe not for long.

  -- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

PHILADELPHIA -- Drexel senior Gabriela Marginean has an excellent chance to break Michelle Maslowski's all-time Dragons scoring record (1,900 set in 2003) Sunday afternoon when Penn arrives from a few blocks down the street from the Daskalalis Athletic Center for the annual neighborhood confrontation in West Philadelphia.

The native of Romania needs just 20 points to become the new career leader. She is also approaching the all-time women's record in the Colonial Athletic Association.

Drexel already put up another number on the Dragons' women's athletics history charts Saturday afternoon with an NCAA Division I Field Hockey tournament 3-1 upset of No. 5 Connecticut in College Park, Md.

It was the No. 10 Dragons' first-ever appearance in the tourney. On Sunday, they face overall No. 1 seed Maryland, the defending national champion.

An enhanced account of the win over the Huskies is hopefully posted somewhere else in the sports area on Philly.com.

Incidentally, left out of Friday night's coverage was the fact the home loss to Penn State Friday night drew over 1,500 persons, which might be an all-time women's basketball record in the small facility.

The Nittany Lions have always been a major drew in the City of Brotherly Love dating back to their days in the Atlantic 10 wars. The highlight appearance was in 2000 when Penn State advanced to its only NCAA Women's Final Four appearance, which was held at the Wachovia Center.

In other Sunday games involving area Division I games of interest, La Salle will be at Long Island trying to bounce back from Friday's home loss opener to Loyola of Maryland. St. Joseph's travels to Providence after losing at New Hampshire, while Penn State will be after two straight victories when the Nittany Lions host New Jersey Instituteof Technology in their home opener.

The big game is up the road in Piscataway, N.J., where No. 25 Rutgers opens at home against No. 2 Stanford, which demolished Old Dominion in Norfolk, Va., Saturday night.

Scarlet Knights coach C. Vivian Stringer will be honored before the game for her induction to the Naismith Basketball  Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., in September.

The Guru hears there is already a strong push for Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer to advance to the main election committee to be part of next year's class.

To Twitter Or Not Twitter

Although the Guru has stated his reluctance here to join the Twitter generation, he his having some second thoughts about his stance, thinking the medium could serve useful purposes such as during Friday night's local openers when he was tracking the other games and realized he could be putting up quick updates.

Although the Guru has access to facebook, he does not believe those posts should be on personal page status updates because friends connections include people who do not follow the women's game and would find those results an intrusion.

If you want the Guru to twitter, you know the email address to campaign.

Meanwhile, Sunday night is the first regular AP Poll vote of the season with the results to be released Monday afternoon.

For those along the SID network, the historical files update may be delayed should the Guru get a sign-off to travel to attend a certain game in central Pennsylvania near Altoona Tuesday night involving a red-shirt freshman's collegiate debut.

An advance will be in Tuesday's print section and possibly copied into this blog to reduce your searching. Some new perspectives from the subject matter will be covered.

--Mel

(Guru’s note: He was actually at the Drexel-Penn State game Friday night, which he led the print roundup for the Inquirer sports section, which could found elsewhere on Philly.com.
But to give Temple its due, here is a re-cast and enhanced roundup after he checked in with the Owls.
The Guru, also corrects here that the game was played in McGonigle Hall. He alluded to Temple’s regular home the Liacouras Center out of force of habit. Call it a senior moment.)

By Mel Greenberg

PHILADELPHIA - Temple’s Tonya Cardoza, in her second season coaching the Owls, has been associated with two Hall of Fame coaches who are getting membership cards to the 700 victory club.

Judging from Friday night’s dramatic comeback from an 18-point deficit early in the second half, as well as 16-pointy deficit with 5:51 left in regulation, to beat Illinois 82-78 in overtime at McGonigle Hall, it is obvious the coaching DNA is rubbing off on the former Virginia star.

Temple is playing seven games in McGonigle Hall near the Liacouras Center which does offer more of a home-court advantage in the smaller arena.

The Owls also began the season without three key players from a year ago. Post players Shenita Landry and Shanea Cotton graduated, while sophomore Lindsay Kimmel, a three-point shooting ace, transferred to Villanova, where she'll be eligible next season.

“It was amazing,” Cardoza said after the season-opener for both teams. “We started to press and force them into turnovers and they didn’t adjust. And once we got the momentum, we just refused to let it go.”

Shaqwedia Wallace set a career high for the Owls with 27 points, while Kristen McCarthy tied a career mark with 19 points.

Illinois’ Jenna Smith, a preseason all-Big Ten conference honoree, had 24 points and 10 rebounds.

“Shaqwedia was sensational,” Cardoza said. “She kept getting steals, but everyone had a hand in this win.”
LaKeshia Eaddy was symbolic of the way the night went for Temple. Struggling most of the way, she suddenly caught fire with a pair of three-pointers that drew the Owls within striking distance of the Illini down the stretch.

It was a tough loss for third-year coach Jolette Law, the former longtime associate head coach to Hall of Famer C. Vivian Stringer at Rutgers.

Cardoza played for Debbie Ryan, who joined the 700 victory club Friday night after beating back a strong challenge on the road at Maryland-Baltimore County.

“I went with the posts early in the game and then realized I had to go with all guards to get us some speed,” Ryan said.

In terms of the triumphs, which included getting three straight trips to the NCAA Women’s Final Four in the early 1990s, Ryan paid tribute to Cardoza’s good friend Dawn Staley, whom she succeeded last year when Staley, a legendary point guard, left for South Carolina.

“Dawn obviously was involved in a lot of the big wins,” Ryan said of the native Philadelphian

Cardoza also spent 14 seasons as an assistant to Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma, who on Saturday night can begin collecting the four wins he needs to get to 700, when the NCAA defending champions open at home against Northeastern.

Meanwhile, Temple’s next game is also in McGonigle Hall Tuesday night when Auburn visits.

While the Tigers are not the same team that stormed the Southeastern Conference last season because of the graduation of key players, such as DeWanna Bonner, another win will be nice for the RPI resume when the two Owl opponents start playing their rugged conference schedules.

Penn State Ruins Drexel’s Opener

Drexel women’s basketball coach Denise Dillon’s hopes of an opening weekend sweep at home were ruined when a Dragons rally fell short and Penn State emerged from the Daskalakis Athletic Center with a 71-61 victory.

The Dragons host Penn Sunday afternoon, which will also mark the debut of new Quakers coach Mike McLaughlin.
Drexel senior Gabriela Marginean scored 27 points and moved within 20 of topping the all-time Dragons women’s scoring record (1,900) set by Michelle Maslowski in 2003.

Jasmina Rosseel added 14 points to the Drexel total.

Penn State’s Tyra Grant scored a game-high 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds while Janessa Wolff scored 14 points

One would like to say Penn State was in mid-season form late in the first half, rolling to a35-15 lead, except the Nittany Lions last had a winning record in 2004-05.

Nevertheless it was a quality win over the reigning Colonial Athletic Association champions.

“Drexel is tough to play,” said Penn State coach Coquese Washington, who is in her third season in Happy Valley.

 We have a young team so I was happy to get a lead and we were able to hold on to it.”

The Dragons got back into the game with a 10-0 run to finish the half and moved to within five points at 56-51 with just over four minutes left in the game before Penn State held firm.

“We’re not going to win games allowing 70 points,” Drexel coach Denise Dillon said. “The biggest problem is we didn’t adjust to what Penn State did. They showed the full-court press with man-to-man pressure and we kind of abandoned everything we do and are known for.

”When a team sets a tempo like that, they’re going to take advantage.”

The game also served as a homecoming for Penn State’s Julie Trogele (Villa Marie Academy), Renee Womack (Methacton High) and Nicole Arcidiacono (Archbishop Wood).

La Salle Felled By Loyola (Md.)

Morgan Robertson and Nadia Duncan each scored 12 points for the Explorers and Antonio Gale added 11 in a 69-55 loss at the Tom Gola Arena. Miriam McKenzie scored a game-high 23 points for the Greyhounds, who are coached by former St. Joseph’s assistant Joe Logan.

New Hampshire Out-Rallies St. Joseph's

Freshman Shelby Smith had 14 points for the Hawks, while Brittany Ford scored 13 points and Amy Gillespie had 11 in a 64-56 loss in Durham, N.H.

St. Joseph’s had come from an early 13-point deficit to take an eight-point lead midway through the second half before New Hampshire mounted its own rally to win the game.

Later

-Mel

(Guru's Note: Was on the scene for a print story off a short session with a key Blue Hen to run later in the weekend. The Wilmington News-Journal was also in the house for a combo interview-video enterprise.)

By Mel Greenberg

NEWARK, Del. -- The Delaware women's basketball team had already been drilliung for close to an hour Thursday afternon when coach Tina Martin called a time out, not that any officials were in the house to blow the whistle.

She then gathered her players at center court to instruct them further.

The veteran Martin then turned and looked toward the rafters on the left side of the Bob Carpenter Center Arena where ten banners hung denoting Bue Hens success stories of past seasons.

"Every team that put up on of those banners, did so for one reason," Martin said to her squad. "They played defense."

That was the focus throughout the session.

Basically, redshirt-freshman Elena Delle Donne could be capable of scoring a ton of points as the 50 the former high school national player of the year threw down Sunday in a scrimmage at St. Joseph's. But Martin knows unless Delaware gets stops the other way there could be a bunch of high-scoring WNBA Phoenix Mercury-style results, but not necessarily in the Blue Hens' favor.

"We're a work in progress," Martin said afterwards. "We have the ability to be good,but until we learn how to play some defense, we still have a way to go.

"One good thing is we're sharing the ball and that's a good start," Martin added. "And of course, we haven't played a game yet."

That will come Tuesday night when Delaware travels to St. Francis, Pa., near Altoona, to meet the Red Flash in a game scheduled long before Martin knew Delle Donne was going to be part of her lineup.

For her part in Thursday's practice, Delle Donne could be observed soaking up whatever the coaching staff was

offering in terms of court education. On one play, she missed a shot from the top of the key and then bolted toward the basket through a group of defenders to grab the rebound and connect with a layup.

"People have to remember Elena is just a freshman and maybe she's even two freshmen because she's playing both the center and guard positions and I have four other newcomers who also have to learn the system," Martin said.

"College is a whole different situation than high school."

Though the media focus is on Delle Donne, the Blue Hens focus is getting everyone to work together.

"People that know the game know you don't get this done overnight. Everyone of my successful teams had to go through a learning process."

At one moment, Delle Donne was asked how much her season a year ago playing volleyball helped improve her already talented basketball skills.

She grinned and said, "It kept me jumping."

For now, Martin continues to do likewise to Delle Donne and the rest of her teammates.

A Guide to Beth and Debbie or Debbie and Beth.

Through the last two years a growing number of women's fans has began listening to the Shootaround podcast hosted by broadcasters Debbie Antonelli and Beth Mowins that is supported by the Women's Basketball Coaches Assocition (WBCA).

The podcast can be found on I-Tunes and downloaded into the music library or continued on to I-Pods and I-Phones.

Last winter the Guru finally caught up with the show, downloaded it into his device, and then played the podcast through his car radio while driving around.

This week, the broadcasts seem to be even better in that the stereo output gives the feel that Beth and Debbie are separately on the speakers of the automobile device.

Anyhow, a week the WBCA announced a preview of a new season beginning with the Southeastern Conference.

This week when the Guru went lurking in the I-Tunes library -- he didnt recall any advance notice or multi-notice a week ago -- he discovered a whole bunch of other conference previews -- Big East, Atlantic Ten, ACC,Pac-10, Big-10, Big-12 and Mountain West.

After downloading and exporting the podcasts to his I-Pod, he noticed something technology smart also frightening as executed bhy the duo.

As the ACC podcast began, the opening sounded familiar.  In fact, it seemed a duplicate of the SEC opening, which made the Guru wonder whether he hit the right podcast.

Then, as daylight began to seep out of the darkness (in more ways than one), the Guru realized what had occurred.

The first two segments are national in scope as is the final portion of each podcast. The third segment is conference specific.

Now the Guru is discussing this as a public service to the shootaround audience.

If there is interest in just one specific conference preview, no problem.

But for the info-glutens such as Helen, one of the outstanding contributors to the womenshoops site,the repetition can become maddening.

So, here's the Guru's tip how to streamline the whole thing.

First, take one conference preview of choice.

Then download the others as desired.

Once in your I-Tines library, go to the tab in each podcast that allows you to edit the start and stop time.

Make the ensuing conference previews kick-in at the 13-minute mark. That will allow you to go straight to each conference in-depth discussion without hearing the opening national intros repeatedly.

Once Beth and Debbie or Debbie and Beth go to the break, you can go on to the next conference podcast because the final segment is also a national segment that would be rehashed (begins approximately at the 9-minute remaining mark).

Of course, one can leave it all alone and just have that much longer to be in the company of the duo until the regular season podcasts begin.

                                   Attention Division II and Division III Locals!

 The folks at the ongoing Philadelphia Small College Luncheons throughout the season want to add bi-weekly player awards for Division II, III and junior college women's teams, according to Nate Ware, the president of the small coaches coaches association.

  Plaques will be given and each recipient is requested to be accompanied by her coach or SID.

Yes,the Guru agreed to be part of the process. Details will be revealed shortly.

                                      Local Division I Openers

The Guru on Friday night will be at Drexel for the Penn State game (7 p.m.) to lead a print roundup for the sports section and from the DAC will add reports on the other three Friday night openers: Illinois at Temple (7 p.m.), Loyola, Md. (coached by former St. Joe assistant Joe Logan) at La Salle, and St. Joseph's at New Hampshire.

Many nights this blog will extend the reports that will be limited in space due to print.

That's it for now. Got some transcribing to do.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

The women's basketball coaching revolving door in Division I did much less spinning in the off-season than in recent times.

Unlike several years ago when job changes through retirements, firings, and the domino-effect of filling vacancies caused by those exits shot the number of faces in new places into the 40-60 range, this year's list of switches is a mere 13 based on one of the side charts that are part of The Associated Press women's preseason package of stories for sports department affiliates.

The economy certainly is a cause of that with athletic directors opting to letting a coach near the end of a contract finish out their deal rather than start paying buyouts and additional salaries to new hires.

In some cases, that reluctance to make a move inherently is giving an extra chance this season for coaches who had bad records a year ago to try to turn things around.

Although the number of moves is small, there are significant stories involving the offices that have new names posted on the doors.

Seattle is one such place where Joan Bonvicini, a longtime veteran who had stops at Long Beach State and Arizona State, has returned to active duty after a year's absence.

Her success at Long Beach and in the early years with Arizona has Bonvicini high on the active list in terms of appearances of coaches who guided teams ro eankings in the Associated Press poll.

It still seems like yesterday that the energetic Bonvicini, a former star at Southern Connecticut, was coaching the likes of Cindy Brown and current WNBA Los Angeles Sparks general manager Penny Toler.

From the earliest times, Bonvicini was media-smart and constantly through herself into the extra effort it took to market a program.

A few days ago, she checked in with an email from the Emerald City to friends to give an update on her new scene in the Northwest.

 "Just wanted to give you an update of my life in Seattle," Bonvicini wrote.

"I have adjusted very quickly to the Northwest and absolutely love it here. There is so much to do in the this area, and the people at Seattle University have been very welcoming to me.

" The biggest difference between being at a very large University like Long Beach State and the University of Arizona and now at Seattle U is that it is so much more personal. The people at the school and Athletic Department truly care and want you to do well.

"We are basically starting from scratch at building this program…with season ticket sales, speaking engagements, booster clubs, camps, etc. It is all new for the people here.

" Everything is smaller…classroom size, the budgets and my salary. But, this is a very good fit for me right now and life is good again."

Bonvicini finished after giving further updates by offering a positive, but realistic assessment of the job ahead.

"I know that there will be some difficult days ahead, but I feel so good about being here."

Some other places worth watching include Oregon and Southern California in the Pacific-10 Conference where former WNBA coaching rivals Paul Westhead (Phoenix Mercury-Oregon) and Michael Cooper (Los Angeles Sparks-USC), who both have NBA pedigrees, are making collegiate debuts coaching women.

Both produced WNBA titles.

Former Boston College coach Cathy Inglese has returned from a year off to takeover at Rhode Island in the Atlantic 10, and former Tennessee star Kellie Harper, formerly with Western Carolina, is the new full-titled coach at North Carolina State having to fill the shoes of the legendary Kay Yow, who died in January after a lengthy battle against breast cancer.

In Cincinnati, another former assistant to Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma gets under way with her own program in Jamelle Elliott, who also starred at UConn.

On media day when the squad was picked for last by the Big East coaches, Elliott quipped, "That's going right up on the locker room door when I get back."

Staley's Foundation hit by the economy

In mentioning the economy in the previous item, the Guru would like to note that even here in Philadelphia such longtime efforts as the Dawn Staley Foundation that the former Olympic star who coached Temple is now at South Carolina launched in 1996 to help inner-city youngsters, has been affected by the downturn.

With donations down from several corporations, Staley noted that for the first time the annual Day-In-The-Park program held in the fall in North Philadelphia near her original home had to be cancelled.

Staley alluded to staff cutbacks and that she increased her own donation to keep the foundation alive by meeting outstanding expenses.

She did say that some new strategies and new partnerships with businesses and corporationsw have helped secure funding for the 2010 fiscal.

But revenues are still needed to get through the present one.

Checks to the foundation are tax deductible and allowed by law.

"After careful thought and consideration, we realized that the price of not opening our doors is far greater than closing them. For many of our girls, the program is a safe haven and a place they call home."

Local Previews

This is a quick timeout to say that the Guru's print preview of the Big Five and Drexel can be found in the Inquirer sports section somewhere down the virtual hall here at Philly.com.

Delle Donne reunion

When Elena Delle Donne makes her collegiate debut with Delaware Tuesday night at St. Francis, Pa., (somewhere near Altoona), there will be several familiar faces among the Red Flash who will serve as opponents.

One is freshman guard Kelly Doogan, who played three seasons with the former national high school player of the year at Wilmington's Ursuline Academy.

Another is Sarah Thorn, a sophomore guard from Yardley, Pa., who is a graduate of Pennsbury East and played with Delle Donne on Fencor AAU.

Two other area products at St. Francis are sophomore forward-center Kelsey Caruthers from Conestoga and Penn Manor, and Najah Prescott, a sophomore forward-center from Cardinal Dougherty.

By the way, the Guru doesn't have details but a few other private scrimmages were held over the weekend involving area teams with Drexel meeting Rutgers, while Temple played Hofstra.

That's today's report as the Guru is almost 100 percent back from last month's technology collapse.

   -- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

   Well, the Guru got some interpretations from reliable sources on Monday on how much more he could tell you about Delaware's "private" scrimmage Sunday in town here at which red-shirt freshman Elena Delle Donne scored 50 points, hitting 20 of 25 shots, with some errant three-point attempts among the few missed connections.

  The scrimmage was against St. Joseph's in the Hawks' new Michael J. Hagan Arena in which each team won a half, according to an eyewitness report.

  Under NCAA rules, spectators and media were banned from the scrimmage, which could not be mentioned ahead of time.

  Formal statistics were not kept, although someone was obviously counting. The previous post pretty much covers everything that can be said now that you know the site.

  "No question,  Elena makes them an entirely different team," St. Joseph's coach Cindy Griffin said.

   The Guru was told by several persons Monday that after-the-fact comments from an eyewitness can be made, though to play it safe, one quote says it all for now, although the Guru just noticed that the traffic at this site surged overnight with word of the Monday report.

    New Media Initatives

    The Guru's good friend and colleague Doug Feinberg, the Associated Press national women's basketball writer, will be conducting a twitter chat Thursday at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. Though the Guru continues to avoid the twitter world as much as possible, he is impressed by the notables following Doug.

   If the Guru has figured it out, the internet connection is at twitter.com/dougfeinberg. If you have problems, get over to the Rutgers message board because a link is posted at the Scarlet Knights' fan site.

   Meanwhile, Vicki Friedman of the Virginia Pilot in Norfolk, where she had been a longtime beat reporter covering the Old Dominion women until shifted to news side at the end of last season, is contributing to blog site ladyswish.blogspot.com that extensively covers Colonial Athletic Association women's hoops, featuring ODU, and other women's news out of Virginia such as the Cavaliers.

   Michelle Smith, who took a buyout after last season and a longtime stint covering Stanford, is now writing for AOL Fanhouse.com.

   Closing a Decade

  With thoughts potentially toward all-decade awards at the end of this season, here is some data off the rescued AP poll history charts in terms of most Top 5 and Top 10 appearances since the arrival of 2000 in the 1999-2000 season.

   The Guru's data guy here created that report and a decision will have to be made whether to move the yardsticks back to the 1999 half or to close out the decade in the last vote before 2010 arrives in terms of producing final category rankings.

Top 5 Appearances

Top 10 Appearances

OK, The Guru has to run and write his local preview to appear sometime this week in print.

  -- Mel