Lady Lions end with 12-game losing streak

- CDT staff reports

INDIANAPOLIS — The slate may have been swept clean for the Penn State women’s basketball team heading into the Big Ten Tournament, but once Thursday’s opening round game was played the story remained the same.

An opponent’s big run, aided by a long Lady Lion drought, resulted in another loss. This difference this time was the loss ended Penn State’s season.

Michigan used a 17-0 run midway through the second half as the Wolverines handed the Lady Lions their 12th consecutive loss with a 64-54 decision at Conseco Fieldhouse. Seventh-seeded Michigan (17-12) faces No. 2 Iowa (19-9) at 11:30 p.m. in the quarterfinals, while Penn State finished 13-18.

Krista Phillips’ 15 points led four Michigan players in double figures. Tyra Grant had 18 points and Kamela Gissendanner had 12 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Lady Lions, who shot just 32 percent (21-of-66) from the field.

For a good chunk of the clash, it looked like Penn State might bury its school-record losing streak. The Lady Lions rode their transition game to a 31-28 halftime lead and after Gissendanner nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key, they extended the margin to 43-37 with 13:38 left.

But as good as the Lady Lions had looked to that point, they couldn’t score or stop Michigan over the next seven minutes, a trademark of their losing streak. Six different Wolverines, led by Carly Benson’s six points, scored during the 17-0 run that gave Michigan the lead for good at 54-43.

“We knew they would go on runs and we would go on runs,” Benson said. “We had to try to stop their runs and keep our runs going as long as we could.”

“We were stuck on 43 for quite a bit,” Penn State coach Coquese Washington said. “I thought we started settling jumpers during that stretch. We weren’t attacking the basket like we had been for the first 27 minutes.

“We quit running. We kind of settled into a halfcourt game. The tempo became much more to Michigan’s like than our liking.”

Grant’s 3-pointer with 5:56 remaining finally snapped the Michigan run and triggered one last thrust by the Lady Lions. Grant scored seven points in a 9-3 outburst that brought Penn State to within 57-52 with 31/2 minutes left.

Penn State had one possession to try to cut the margin smaller, but Gissendanner stumbled over a Wolverine foot and was called for traveling. After two Jessica Minnfield free throws, Penn State had three shots but misfired on each, including an airball 3-pointer from Brianne O’Rourke on the final attempt.

Minnfield, the league’s second best 3-point shooter who had missed her first four attempts Thursday, then ice the game with shot from behind the arc to push the Wolverines’ lead back to 62-52 with 1:34 left.

“We got back to the tempo that we wanted, but it was a little too late,” Washington said. Penn State’s top three scorers in the regular season all struggled from the field. Grant was 8-for-20,

Gissendanner was 4-for-16 and O’Rourke was 3-of-10.

Gissendanner, playing her final game, had scored 20 or more points in five of her last nine games. “She just struggled to make shots today,” Washington said. “It happens.”

Phillips, who missed most of the first half with foul trouble, scored her 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in just 18 minutes. She was 7-for-11 from the field, mostly against freshman Evelyn Lewis, Penn State’s best post defender.

“Evelyn made it difficult for her to get the shots that she wanted,” Washington said. “She’s a tough cover for us, but they had four or five people that did well.”

Starters Benson and Krista Clement added 13 and 10 points, respectively. Ashley Jones, who had played in just 12 games and entered with a 1.9 average, had 10 points off the bench for the Wolverines, who shot 44 percent (23-for-52).

Michigan had lost its previous three tournament games and had a very nervous first-year coach on the bench. “I didn’t eat this morning,” said Kevin Borseth, who earned national recognition for a tirade after a loss a week earlier. “You get that feeling in your belly. You just hope your kids are able to play well, and we earned it. They worked so doggone hard.”

The Wolverines opened the game going exclusively to Phillips. The 6-foot-6 center attempted the team’s first seven shots, making four. She had to spend the final 10:56 on the bench after picking up her second foul.

Mashea Williams, still wearing a protective mask over her recently broken nose, came off the bench to give the Lady Lions a lift. Williams had eight points and two assists as Penn State rallied from a five-point deficit. O’Rourke’s 3-pointer gave the Lady Lions a 31-28 lead at the half.

“We wanted to run and get our transition game going,” Washington said. “I thought Mashea came in and did a phenomenal job of pushing tempo for us. We just couldn’t quite sustain that in the second half. ... We needed the game to be up in the 60s and 70s.”

Williams finished with 10 points and five assists. O’Rourke added 10 points and six assists. Despite Gissendanner’s effort, the Lady Lions were outrebpunded 39-34.

Penn State concludes the season having lost 14 of its last 15 games. The Lady Lions lose just Gissendanner to graduation.

“It’s tough for me to evaluate this season clearly in it’s entirety right now,” Washington said. “I can say the good thing is that we have almost everybody coming back. We’ll have the benefit of having a full spring and a full summer of workouts to be able to work out some kings and to quite honestly just get better.”