Lady Lions fall to Nebraska on the road, 87-69

Freshly off a heartbreaking loss and a 24-turnover performance, the Lady Lions knew they had to minimize their giveaways as much as possible against Nebraska on Tuesday night.

But even though Penn State committed just six turnovers throughout, it only took one to turn the tables in the Huskers’ favor and send the Lady Lions back to Happy Valley with a third-straight loss, 87-69.

Penn State led at the end of the first quarter 17-15, and opened the second playing Nebraska extremely close behind Kaliyah Mitchell’s 10 points and tight defense all around.

With about two minutes left in the half, Huskers sharpshooter Natalie Romeo hit a 3-pointer to take the lead, and Peyton Whitted turned the ball over on Penn State’s next possession. Jessica Shepard sank a jumper and Romeo scored another 3-pointer while the Lady Lions missed five of their next six shots, and the half ended with a 38-27 Nebraska lead.

That lead quickly stretched to 22 points as Penn State’s shooters continued to struggle in the third quarter and the Huskers went on an 11-4 run. Whitted hit a jumper, but the Lady Lions couldn’t connect for the rest of the period and Nebraska went on another run to lead 64-43 at the end of the third.

Penn State outscored the Huskers 26-23 in the final quarter with Romeo and Shepard sitting out for much of it, but the late rally wasn’t enough to overcome the deficit.

Romeo, who hit eight 3-pointers against the Lady Lions in the teams’ last meeting, knocked down five on 10 attempts and scored 19 points. She was complemented by Shepard’s game-high 20 points, while Anya Kalenta notched a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. The Huskers outrebounded Penn State 47-30.

Whitted did notch her fifth double-double of the season in the effort, with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Brianna Banks also scored 12 points, while Mitchell had a team-high 16 and Lindsey Spann followed closely with 14, and was 4-of-6 from 3-point range.

Penn State (8-14, 3-8) returns home to host Rutgers on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Note: The game was covered via broadcast by the Centre Daily Times.

This story was originally published February 2, 2016 at 9:52 PM with the headline "Lady Lions fall to Nebraska on the road, 87-69."