Dec. 15, 2014
By Mike Esse, GoPSUSports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - After starting slow Wednesday at Hartford, Coquese Washington stressed to her team during practice the importance of a fast start in the first half against Rider on Sunday. It's safe to say the Lady Lions listened in their 85-51 win.
Two minutes and 46 seconds into the contest, Penn State raced out to a 13-4 lead without missing a shot from the field and forcing three Rider turnovers. Just under five minutes into the game, the Lady Lions already doubled up the Broncs taking a 21-10 lead.
"We focused more on building off of that second half (against Hartford) and playing with the same level of energy and intensity to start this game," Washington said of her team's preparation prior to Sunday. "There were a lot of positives today."
Ten minutes into the first half Penn State already tallied 30 points. Point guard Lindsey Spann said that they were able to succeed immediately in the first half because they went back to playing their brand of basketball.
"We were able to get out and run in transition," Spann said. "That led to getting a lot of easy buckets. Our spacing was good and people were knocking down open shots, so that helped us out a lot."
When the first half ended Penn State held a 50-23 lead, as they shot 55.6 percent from the field, forced 13 Rider turnovers and outrebounded the Broncs 29-18. Penn State's impressive first half stats didn't go away in the second half as they ended up winning by a margin of 34 points.
With a young team, that is learning from each and every game, being up by 20 points or more could allow them to lessen the energy in the second half or as the lead grew larger, but the Lady Lions kept pushing.
"We can't get too comfortable," guard Keke Sevillian said of what her team was focusing on in the second half. "We may be up 20 points, but this game was about us and us getting better at the things we need to [get better at] before conference play starts. We try to not look at the scoreboard. We can't get to comfortable with any lead. We have to continue to play our game."
Washington was impressed with that aspect of her team's dominating performance.
"I was glad that we didn't have long stretches of play where the energy and focus wasn't where we needed it to be," she said. "For a young team, I think they're learning that 40 minutes is a long time. It's a long game and a lot can happen both positive and negative, if you relax or if you don't play with intensity. We learned that lesson in some of our earlier games and I think they responded to that challenge tonight by staying focused and playing hard for 40 minutes."
Playing hard was also a major takeaway for Washington. Her teams have traditionally become successful because of their energy and relentless play defensively.
That style of play has been on display all season during the non-conference, but perhaps none more than Sunday against Rider.
"It always comes down to who wants it more," Sevillian said. "At the end of the game it came down to effort. Effort includes transitions, diving for the ball, steals and deflections. That is what it comes down to so it is very important that we hone in on that every game."
With one non-conference game to play before opening the Big Ten schedule, Washington reflected on her team's progression thus far.
"In terms of preparation, it's been a big learning experience for us," Washington said. "Developing an identity, developing our on-court chemistry, developing a rhythm in terms of how we want to play and what we can expect each night. Even after 10 games, it's still a work in progress."