Nov. 28, 2015
| 73 | 81 |
| The Matadome | Northridge, Calif. | |
| POST GAME LINKS |
| Box Score (HTML) | Box Score (PDF) |
| Notes |
| <!a href="http://www.gopsusports.com/blog/2015/10/video-one-on-one-postgame-with-james-franklin-illinois.html" target="_blank">VIDEO: Coach Washington Postgame |
| FINAL STATISTICS |
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - -- After Cal State Northridge built a 17-point lead midway through the second quarter, the Penn State women's basketball team rallied to tie the game late in the third quarter, however the Lady Lions could not grab the lead in the 81-73 loss to open the Radisson Chatsworth Thanksgiving Classic.
Penn State (3-2) trailed 37-20 with 5:13 to play in the second quarter and clawed back to knot the score at 49 apiece with 2:16 to play in the third quarter. However, the Lady Lions couldn't grab the lead from the Matadors (1-4), who connected on 12 three-pointers in the game, including three in the fourth quarter.
Freshman Teniya Page (Chicago, Ill.) enjoyed the best game of her young career, netting a career-high 17 points in just the first 20 minutes of action. Page ended the night with career-highs in points (26) and rebounds (eight), to go along with six assists and four steals. She hit 9-of-13 shots from the field -- including her only three point attempt -- and was 7-of-10 from the free throw stripe.
Playing in her home state, senior Candice Agee (Victorville, Calif.) tallied 12 points and five rebounds. She also blocked three more shots against the Matadors, giving her 13 on the season. Sophomore Lindsey Spann (Laurel, Md.) added 12 points of her own, while junior Kaliyah Mitchell (Stone Mountain, Ga.) netted 13 points to go along with six rebounds.
Both teams connected on 27 field goals and 15 free throws, with Penn State shooting 47 percent from the field and CSUN hitting on 50 percent of its shots. The difference came from beyond the three point arch, where the Matadors canned 12 shots to the Lady Lions four makes.
The Matadors opened the game on a tear from the three-point line, connecting on their first five attempts from behind the arch to open up an early lead, 19-10. In all, Cal State Northridge connected on six three pointers in the opening frame and took a 24-14 edge after the opening 10 minutes.
Page scored 13 points in the second quarter, but the Lady Lions were unable to gain much ground, as the Matadors hit three more three pointers in the second quarter. CSUN's Emily Cole hit a triple with 5:46 to play in the quarter to push the home team's edge to 17 points, 37-20. From there, Penn State out-scored CSUN,13-4 -- including 11 points from Page -- to close the half down eight points, 41-33.
Penn State battled back in the third quarter, outscoring the Matadors 21-14, to pull within one through three quarters of play, 55-54. The Lady Lions opened the frame on a 16-8 run to knot the score at 49 points on a Page free throw with 2:16 to play. After CSUN pushed the lead to three points, Spann connected on a layup with 23 seconds left to make it a one-point game (55-54) in favor of the home team heading into the final 10 minutes.
An 8-2 run to open the fourth quarter built the Matadors' lead to seven points, 63-56, before Agee connected on a layup to trim the advantage to five points. That was as close as Penn State would get, as CSUN would score the next four points and the two team's would trade baskets down the stretch to close out the game. Overall, Cal State Northridge owned a 26-19 edge in the final 10 minutes of play.
The Lady Lions will now face BYU in the first game on the final day of the Radisson Chatsworth Classic. Tip-off is slated for 5 p.m. ET. The Cougars dropped a 66-58 decision to Georgia in the first game of the tournament on Friday.
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