by By Mel Greenberg; Inquirer Staff Writer , The Philadelphia Inquirer

"I was especially looking forward to coming down and see her," Staley said of Yow. "I know she's in a battle for her life but if anyone is as strong as Coach Yow, she's the one who can turn cancer away. She's battling and I've been keeping up with her.

"You know her [team] is her. And I'm just keeping her in my prayers."

The 66-year-old Yow, who coached the United States to an Olympic gold medal in 1988, has cited low energy levels as the reason for staying away from the bench.

It is believed that Yow, who has been at home, and the school will decide in the next week her plans for the rest of the season, according to a source familiar with the deliberations.

Two years ago she took a leave for a month and then returned to inspire her players to a run to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament.

It is not known whether Yow will do something similar for an indefinite period or potentially announce her retirement.

Associate head coach Stephanie Glance has guided the team in Yow's absence as she did two years ago.

Staley, who is now 8-5 with the Gamecocks, had better success against Yow as an all-American point guard at Virginia in the early 1990s.

During her time at Temple, Staley suffered three narrow losses to the Wolfpack, including one here her first season in 2000-01 on a night Yow reached 600 overall wins.

Yesterday it appeared another tough setback would occur for Staley when N.C. State went ahead with six seconds to play.

"It's just a good win for our kids," Staley said. "They have been working extremely hard. I'm pretty, pretty tough on them - but it's for situations like this so they can be disciplined on the road and steal a win from a very good basketball team."

The Temple Owls women's team, which arrived early in the game, did not stay to see Staley's moment of victory.

The Owls had to leave for practice in nearby Durham, where Temple will meet No. 6 Duke tonight.

Temple coach Tonya Cardoza, a longtime friend and former Virginia teammate of Staley's, learned Friday night of the South Carolina game.

Another former Temple coach was also in the house. Charlene Curtis, who coached the Owls in the early 1990s, is now supervisor of women's officials for the Atlantic Coast Conference .

Drexel 56, Delaware 40 - Drexel star Gabriela Marginean was held to two points, but the Dragons (6-6) posted a win over the Blue Hens (8-4) in Newark, Del.

Drexel forced 21 turnovers, led by five steals from Archbishop Carroll graduate Andrea Peterson.

Jasmina Rosseel led Drexel with 15 points, while Tesia Harris scored 13 points for Delaware, which had won six straight games.

Penn State 76, Michigan 58 - Tyra Grant scored 24 points as the Lions (7-7, 2-2 Big Ten ) topped the Wolverines (8-6, 1-2) at home. She also had eight rebounds and two steals.

Contact staff writer Mel Greenberg at 215-854-5725 or mgreenberg@phillynews.com. Read his blog at go.philly.com/womhoops.

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