| 53 | 54 |
| Bryce Jordan Center | University Park, Pa. | 8,607 | |
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UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - It was what you would expect when cats and dogs get together: a fracas. The Penn State Lady Lions (1-1) dropped a tightly played 54-53 contest to the Albany Great Danes (2-0) on Sunday afternoon at the Bryce Jordan Center in the second round of the Preseason WNIT.
With the loss, Penn State will no longer play the game slated for Thursday, Nov. 20, but will now conclude play in the Preseason WNIT on Saturday at 7 p.m. Tickets from the Thursday, Nov. 20 game will be honored for Saturday's game.
The game featured 10 ties and 11 lead changes, with the final tie coming on a Jenny DeGraaf (Springboro, Ohio) three-pointer with 1:28 left in the game to knot the score at 53-53. Albany's Sarah Royals made one of two free throws with 8.4 seconds left to give the Great Danes the lead and Penn State final shot caromed off the iron as time expired.
DeGraaf ended the day with a career-high 12 points, connecting on all four of her three-point attempts. She is the first Lady Lion to shoot perfect from beyond the arch (min. 4 attempts) since Maggie Lucas was a perfect 4-for-4 vs. Bucknell on Dec. 21, 2011. DeGraaf also tied her career-high with three rebounds versus the Great Danes.
For the second time in as many games, freshman Lindsey Spann (Laurel, Md.) led the Lady Lions in scoring. The rookie netted a team-best 14 points. It is the first time that a freshman had led Penn State in scoring in back-to-back games since Maggie Lucas did so on January 13 &16, 2011. She also added four assists for the second straight game.
Albany's Shereesha Richards led all scorers with 27 points and added 14 rebounds, while Imani Tate and Tiana-Jo Carter each registered double-digit rebound games, with 15 and 10, respectively.
Sophomore Sierra Moore (Hanover, Pa.) filled the stat sheet for the second game in a row, ending the game with eight points, three rebounds, three assists, one steal and one blocked shot.
The Lady Lions registered eight blocks in the game, with a season-high four coming from senior Tori Waldner (Milton, Ga.) and a career-high tying three coming from junior Candice Agee (Victorville, Calif.). Waldner moved into 10th place on the Penn State career blocks chart with her effort against the Great Danes and now has 93 career swats. She trails Jess Brungo's 94 rejections from the 2001-04 for ninth on Penn State's all-time list.
The Lady Lions raced out to an early 7-0 lead when Spann knocked down a three-pointer with 17:12 left. Albany would chip away at the early Penn State lead and eventually grabbed their first lead of the game at 16-14 on a Richards' layup with 7:56 left in the opening half.
Mitchell carried the Penn State offense during the middle portion of the first half, scoring all nine of her points during a five minute stretch. That stretch ended with the Lady Lions' trailing 24-23 with 2:45 to play.
The two teams then traded the lead three times over the final two and a half minutes, with a Spann jumper giving Penn State a 25-24 edge with 2:16 left. A pair of free throws from Royals pushed the Great Danes back in front, 26-25, before a DeGraaf three-pointer recaptured the lead Penn State, 28-26, with 1:11 to play. Albany scored the final bucket of the half and the two teams headed to the locker room tied, 28-28.
Most of the second half was played within one possession, with neither team holding a lead larger than six points. Penn State opened the half by scoring eight of the first 10 points to grab a 36-30 advantage, but Albany reeled off seven straight to grab the lead back at 37-36.
From there the two teams were tied three time and Penn State eventually took a 45-43 lead on a Moore fastbreak layup with 8:52 to play in the contest. A pair of Richards' free throws knotted the score at 45 and the two teams traded the lead once again over the next three minutes.
Albany eventually built a slim three-point advantage, 53-50, with 1:49 to play on a Richards' jumper, but DeGraaf nailed her fourth three-pointer of the game on the next trip down the floor to knot the game at 53-53. Both teams had chances down the stretch to take the lead, but it wasn't until Royals knocked down one of two free throws with less than 10 seconds remaining that the deadlock was broken.
With Albany leading, 54-53, with 3.9 seconds left on the clock, Penn State inbounded the ball from beneath their basket and eventually found Agee, whose shot bounce off the back iron and time expired.
The 2014-15 Penn State Lady Lion Basketball season is presented by Kish Travel and Kish Insurance. Penn State will now meet the loser of Western Kentucky-Colorado contest in the consolation round on Saturday, Nov. 22 at 7 p.m.
Lady Lion Basketball single-game and season tickets are available by calling 1-800-NITTANY. Single-game tickets range from $10-17 for adults and seniors and $5-11 for youth (12 and younger). Season tickets are $105 for adults and $52 for youth (12 and under). Additionally, the Family Season Ticket package, which features two adult tickets and two youth tickets in the family section in section 114L, is $210. There is a $15 handling fee per order on season tickets.
The PNC Flex Books are $120 and give fans 12 vouchers, 10 that can be redeemed in any combination for Nittany Lion and Lady Lion Basketball tickets throughout the year and two extra vouchers for the Nittany Lions' Coaches Vs. Cancer game and the Lady Lions' Pink Zone game. The Lady Lions also have a pair of mini-plans available this season with the B1G Deal and the Five for the 50th plans. The B1G Deal is a mini-plan that includes the nine Big Ten Conference home games. Tickets for the B1G Deal are $90 for adult sideline, $63 for youth sideline, $63 for adult baseline and $45 for youth baseline tickets. To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Women's Athletics at Penn State, there is a Five for the 50th mini-plan. The plan features a ticket to the following games: South Florida (12/21), Illinois (1/4), Rutgers (1/10), Michigan State (2/11) and Ohio State (2/26). The package is $50 in honor of the 50th anniversary.
The Lady Lions are on Twitter. Follow sports information contact Kris Petersen (@ladylionsid) and the Lady Lions and coaches (@pennstatewbb) to get the inside scoop. The Lady Lions are also on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pennstateladylions.