Dec. 7, 2015
By ANNA PITINGOLO, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - When the Lady Lions travelled to the University of South Florida over the weekend, they did not emerge victorious, but they did walk away with a newfound confidence.
The 101-79 loss to USF marked the first time that five Lady Lions would reach double-digit scoring in a single game since 2012. Kaliyah Mitchell, Lindsey Spann, Brianna Banks, Teniya Page and Peyton Whitted all reached double figures for Penn State, with Mitchell leading the pack with 18.
While the scoring efforts of those five were not enough against USF, the team hopes that they can build off that for the remainder of the season. Having multiple scoring options allows the Lady Lions to threaten from all around the court, and is something head coach Coquese Washington loves to have.
"It's very valuable [having options]," Washington said. "That's one of the things I love in terms of coaching, I prefer to have multiple people who can do some things offensively, so we can continue to have four, five people in double figures. It puts a lot of pressure on the defense."
Putting pressure on the defense with multiple threats is something that Washington's squad will look to do as they face Youngstown State on Tuesday. After scoring 17 points against USF, sophomore Lindsey Spann knows how important it will be for the entire team to bring that offensive momentum into the game in order to generate a strong showing against the undefeated Penguins.
"It's very important [to have that balance]," Spann said. "It shows that we're a team where we have multiple threats, so we can share the ball and find the open person. We have a lot of people who can score and knock down shots so we can get everyone involved."
After seeing what everyone is capable of in Florida, the team has high expectations of each other for the rest of the season. While the team may have known what each other could do in practice, now that they know they can successfully execute a game plan with multiple scorers, the Lady Lions are as excited as ever for the future.
"That game showed that we're well-rounded, [and we can] have everybody get a chance to touch the ball and score," Mitchell said. "That just got us all really going for the season. Yes, we lost a couple of games, but that game, despite the outcome, it really showed us what everybody can do and how we can all contribute to one another."
The ability to have multiple high-scoring players per game opens up a whole new world of opportunity for the Lady Lions. Spann has high hopes for what this means for the success the team will be able to achieve down the road.
"A lot of times, teams that have equal scoring across the board are the teams that are most successful, where everyone's contributing, playing their role, doing their part, so that's something that will help give us a lot of success this season," Spann said. "We have a team full of threats and a lot of people can score in different ways so that's something we're going and try to put to use."
As the team prepares for Youngstown State, the Lady Lions are hoping that they can repeat that same offensive proficiency, but this time with a more preferable outcome.
"Moving forward, we're going to make big strides," Mitchell said. "Now that we saw what each other can do [in a game], we just push each other harder in practice. We've all put it out there, now it's just time to put it together."
The Lady Lions take on Youngstown State on Tuesday at the Bryce Jordan Center. Tip is set for 7:00 p.m.