Jan. 31, 2016
By ANNA PITINGOLO, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Lady Lions have always known that they have something special in Brianna Banks, Lindsey Spann and Teniya Page. They saw just how dominant that trio of guards could be in an 88-78 double-overtime loss to Purdue.
Despite the loss, Banks, Spann and Page led the Lady Lions on a furious route of the Boilermakers in the first half. Combining for 38 of Penn State's 42 points, it seemed that there was nothing Purdue could do to slow them down.
Banks opened the scoring with four quick points, including one off a steal, helping the Lions avoid the slow start they've faced several times this season. The fast start came as no surprise to Spann, who said the team was just executing their game plan.
"We played with a lot of energy. We came out and we made that an emphasis to attack them and that's what we did."
The hot start carried over into the second period, when the Lady Lions outscored Purdue 26-10 to take a 17-point lead into halftime. Page reached double-digits for the sixth straight game, and the eighteenth time this season, before halftime.
"I thought we played pretty well in the first half," head coach Coquese Washington said. "I thought we were aggressive, I thought we were attacking, I thought we were playing to our strengths and I think that certainly helped us get out to the lead."
The Lady Lions seemed to have cooled down in the second half, and Purdue was able to capitalize. The Boilermakers ended the third quarter on an 11-0 run to get the score to within five. In that time, Penn State had six of its 24 turnovers.
"Our ball control in the second half of the game wasn't anywhere where it needed to be," Washington said. "I thought that was the biggest factor in the change in momentum and the change in the tide was the turnovers. We had quite a few live turnovers which they were able to turn into points and that was the biggest factor in the game."
After letting Penn State's guards run the show in the first half, Purdue was all over Banks, Spann and Page in the second, virtually shutting them down. The Boilermakers used a 7-0 run in the final minutes of the game to shrink Penn State's lead to one when a foul put Andreona Keys at the free throw line for Purdue.
Keys made 1-of-2 shots to force overtime, but one period wasn't enough when Purdue's Ashley Morrissette tied the game up again with nine seconds left in the first extra session. Purdue kept Penn State scoreless in the second overtime period until there was just over a minute left, but by then it was too late.
"Basketball is an emotional game and you put a lot of heart and a lot of effort and soul into the game," Washington said. "When you have a finish like this where you feel like you let one slip through your fingers, it's tough. So one of the things about this team, their resilience has been pretty strong all season long so I have no doubt that we'll bounce back and get ready for the next game. It's an emotional game so when you have these kinds of experiences, they're hard."
The Lady Lions have a couple days to relax and bounce back before they hit the road to take on Nebraska on Wednesday night.