Dec. 18, 2016
By: Jeff Sattora, GoPSUsports.com
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- Star guard Teniya Page dropped in 30 points, and four different Nittany Lions combined for 29 off the bench Sunday afternoon, helping Penn State secure a 70-65 win over American University in the Bryce Jordan Center.
Penn State got off to a slow start in the first quarter, as the home team fell behind 13-6 after the first 10 minutes of play. Despite the early hole, Jaida Travascio-Green came off the bench for the Lady Lions and dropped in two straight buckets to cut the deficit to one possession, 13-10 to start the second.
Jumpstarted by four of Travascio-Green's nine points on the day, the Lady Lions made a run in the second quarter, outscoring American 18-7 to take a 24-20 lead into halftime.
While the true freshman Travascio-Green played well, it was redshirt freshman De'Janae Boykin who stole the show off the bench for the Lady Lions.
Boykin, who was playing her first game in the Blue and White after transferring last fall from UConn, made an immediate impact for Penn State, filling the stat sheet with 10 points and 6 rebounds.
"She's an explosive athlete," head coach Coquese Washington said on Boykin. "She gives us somebody who can play inside and outside. Someone who certainly helps us with our transition game and gets us going. She's a finisher. She finds a way to finish plays and finds a way to finish shots around the basket which is something that is definitely a benefit for us."
For Boykin, it was a positive start to her Penn State career.
"Honestly it feels amazing because I haven't played in like two years," she said. "It was a good start for me."
A back-and-forth beginning to the third quarter then saw another run by the Lady Lions, as seven points by Page helped spark an 11-0 run and a 42-31 Penn State lead. For Washington, it was Page's aggressiveness that was the key to her success all afternoon, including in that seven-point stretch.
"She's just aggressive. When she's aggressive, she's really a tough matchup," she said on her star guard. "I thought the first quarter she was not as aggressive as she needed to be. As the game went on she turned it up."
Although Teniya's 30 points highlighted the box score, it was a balanced bench, that included Boykin and Travascio-Green, that may have been the difference Sunday afternoon.
"I thought we had a lot of energy coming from Sierra Moore, De'Janae Boykin, Jaida Travascio-Green and Peyton Whitted. When those four come out on the floor, it ratchets up whatever we're doing," Washington said. "Especially during a game like today when our starters were a little flat to start the game. Bringing those guys in gave us a boost of energy and got us going."
"It makes me a little bit more comfortable when I'm tired. I know that when people sub in there isn't a drop off from the starters to the people who sub in, so for me it just helps me out a lot confidence wise and I have a lot of confidence in our team already," Page added on how a strong bench can help her performance in the starting unit.
That team effort proved critical down the stretch, as despite a 42-31 lead with 2:12 to go in the third, American responded. A 46-38 Penn State lead heading into the fourth turned into an exciting final session, as American took a 57-54 lead in the quarter and fought the Nittany Lions down to the wire.
Washington was happy with the way her team responded to American's late push.
"I thought we played with a lot of poise in the fourth quarter. We didn't buckle under the pressure. I think they came back and took a four-point lead. We just came down and got a couple of big stops. We came down on the offensive end and got some good shots and Teniya [Page] got to the free throw line," she said.
The Lady Lions will look to keep that poise Tuesday night, as they host Iona in the Bryce Jordan Center before heading on a holiday break.