Dec. 4, 2015
By ANNA PITINGOLO, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa - With 35 seconds on the clock and down by six points, Penn State needed a quick shot coming out of a timeout in order to cut into Virginia Tech's lead. Lindsey Spann received the inbound pass and wasted no time, immediately turning and going for the deep 3-pointer with a defender in her face.
Swish.
The sophomore's twentieth point of the game hit nothing but net, bringing the Lady Lions to within three with 31 seconds on the clock. But a foul on the rebound put the Hokies at the free throw line, and after sinking both shots, the five-point deficit proved to be too much for Penn State. The Lady Lions ultimately fell to Virginia Tech 64-59.
The game proved to be somewhat of a coming out party for Spann, who has had a relatively quiet year after leading the team in scoring average her freshman season. Her 20 points were a season-high, topping her previous high of 14 at Tennessee, and she also tied a career high with six free throws made.
Only her third double-digit scoring effort of the season, Spann has been putting in a lot of work to try and up that total. The difference against the Hokies was the trust she put in herself and her teammates, as well as taking the right shots at the right time.
"I kept trusting in myself and my teammates. When I was open, I took shots," Spann said. "I'm still doing the same things, I'm working on my shot every day so I just try and come [into] the game prepared. I've been struggling with my shot but I keep shooting and it went in tonight so moving forward, [I'm] just trying to stay consistent."
A big part of Spann's success came from the limited action that senior Brianna Banks saw. Head coach Coquese Washington had said prior to the game that if Banks was not 100 percent from an ankle injury she suffered against Tennessee, she would be relying on Spann to provide a spark. When Banks rolled her other ankle midway through the second quarter against Virginia Tech, Spann knew exactly what she had to do.
"I come into every game focused and trying to be ready to play so whatever my team needs then that's what I come in here to do," Spann said.
Washington saw Spann play with a level of confidence that started to build towards the end of the second quarter. Spann scored the teams final eight points of the quarter, and then carried that momentum with her into the second half.
"I thought the second half in particular she made some big shots for us, she was a big reason we were able to cut into that lead offensively," Washington said. "Leading into the second half she got a little bit of confidence, getting to the basket, picking up some fouls, getting to the free throw line, so once she got on a roll she got a lot of confidence."
With Banks now day-to-day as she nurses her ankle, Spann is going to have to continue to bring that spark that Washington relies on her to have. The main thing Washington is focused on for her team moving forward is avoiding slow starts, which she credits to poor execution early on.
"We''re getting slow starts because we're not executing very well at the start of the game," Washington said.
The Lady Lions will travel to Florida over the weekend to take on the University of South Florida on Sunday. Tip is set for 3:00 p.m.