Jan. 27, 2016
By Mike Gilbert, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- Usually, it's Penn State's guard play that provides the spark for the Lady Lions. But forwards Candice Agee and Peyton Whitted worked hard all night despite losing to Maryland 89-53 Wednesday night at the Bryce Jordan Center. Whitted was physical down low, hitting the ten-rebound mark despite fouling out in the third quarter. Meanwhile, Agee did some work on the offensive side, dropping 8 points and showing that Penn State's bigs can contribute on both ends of the floor. Whitted has a gameplan for grabbing boards the next time her team hits the floor.
"Just get more rebounds, keep being more aggressive and carry that over to the next game," she said.
Coach Coquese Washington was happy with the way Agee and Whitted performed tonight and the fact that they continued to work hard late in the second half.
"Certainly there are some good things we saw from our post players tonight and we're going to continue to try to work on that and build on that," Washington said following the game.
Having three more than capable bigs in Agee, Whitted and Ashanti Thomas, who pulled down five rebounds in the contest, will help with the already strong guard play from Brianna Banks, Teniya Page and Lindsey Spann.
Freshman guard also Sarah McMurty got in on the fun in the final minutes, hitting the first bucket of her career in Happy Valley, knocking down a three-pointer late in the game. That brought out a loud cheer from the crowd and the Penn State bench.
"It was great, she works hard and she's a great shooter and I thought she came in and did some good things," said Whitted.
Now sitting at 3-6 in conference, the Blue and White are in the middle of the pack in the Big Ten. But that could change, starting with a game this Saturday against the Boilermakers of Purdue. That game will be at home on Saturday at 2 p.m. Washington was clear at the end of her postgame press conference that her team would be ready.
"We'll be ready for Purdue."
Already looking forward to the next game, if Penn State can find the right balance between the talented guard play along with strong efforts from the post players down low, that could be a dangerous combination for any Big Ten conference foe.