Lady Lions outworked by emotional Rutgers team

So often this season, the Penn State women’s basketball team has found itself in an early deficit from which the team has been unable to climb.

While head coach Coquese Washington said it’s not a specific pattern of events that leads to difficult post-game conversations after a loss, like after Sunday’s 74-62 defeat at the hands of Rutgers (14-10, 5-7), she does have a description for what her team is going through. The Lady Lions had a 19-11 first-quarter deficit, which stretched to as large as 20 points in the fourth quarter.

“I don’t think there’s any one thing,” she said. “You know, it’s not just, ‘If we did this ...’

“It’s been a number of different things, a number of different reasons. So there’s really no pattern. ... One night it could be turnovers, another night it could be missed shots, another night it could be transition defense, another night it could be rebounds. There’s no pattern. It’s almost like whack-a-mole. You fix something, and something else comes up.”

The Scarlet Knights came right out of the gate with energy and emotion — and they had big reason to do so. Their head coach, Vivian Stringer, lost her mother this week and missed Sunday’s game for the funeral service. Assistant Tim Eatman served as interim coach.

“I’m just so proud of our kids,” he said. “For them to win a basketball game on the day (Vivian) is burying her mother ... I think that was a great effort from our kids. They fought through and showed (Coach Stringer) that they really appreciate her for all that she has done for them in their lives, not just on the basketball coach.

“Today we saw a little bit of what Rutgers basketball should be like. We’re just so proud of them for the way they respected Coach.”

Eatman was emotional himself, as he sees Stringer as a maternal figure in his own life. He said he rode the bus 24 hours from Alabama to Iowa (when Stringer coached there) when he was 21 to work at her basketball camps.

“She has been that rock in my life,” he said. “What I wanted to make sure we did as a staff, is when Coach got back, we wouldn’t be backwards. As long as we are moving forward when she gets back so that things flow for her, that’s the best we can do.”

For their part, the Lady Lions looked almost listless at times, going on three-and-four-minute scoring droughts in the third and fourth periods, and only getting eight fast-break points — rare for a team that likes to run as much as Penn State does.

“They’re active on the ball, defending, they’re quick and athletic defensively,” said guard Lindsey Spann of Rutgers’ defense. She paced the Lady Lions’ effort with 13 points.

Eatman said his team really worked the past two days on stopping the fast break and the drive, as a previous loss to Minnesota showed that was where the Scarlet Knights had a weakness.

“We slowed down. We didn’t rush,” he said. “Sometimes when you don’t rush, you make four to five passes before you go into your shot, it almost gives them a sense of ‘OK, I got to take a good shot this time. I can’t rush down the court, I got to take a good shot. Because if I miss it, they’re gonna come back and slow me down again.’

“We encouraged our kids to slow down … . Before the game, what we did was we gave our point guard three sets. So on every possession, (she had) three sets. So we wanted to make sure we got into our offense every time, and that kept them from going as fast as they wanted.”

Penn State continued to struggle as one of the team’s leading scorers, guard Brianna Banks, had to sit in long spurts due to foul trouble. It disrupted the Lady Lions’ game plan and broke up any semblance of an offensive rhythm for the team.

“Well it certainly changes our aggressiveness on offense,” said Washington. “She’s I think our second leading scorer (behind guard Teniya Page) and she certainly takes a lot of attention away, which opens things up for a lot of people. So when she’s not in the game, it definitely takes one of our biggest weapons away.”

Page said the team really missed Banks’ presence on the court.

“She is the best penetrator on the team, so not having her out there to create (opportunities) for other people when she’s driving to the basket, that’s kind of what helps the most. So not having her out there hurts us a lot,” she said.

Heavily contested shots by a stifling Rutgers defense saw Penn State shoot just 34 percent from the field as they hit 21 of 58 shots. The Scarlet Knights also shut the Lady Lions down in the paint, outscoring them 36-16 down low.

“We contested shots,” said Eatman. “I thought they got to where they wanted to (on the court), but we contested their shots.”

Page did crack the top 10 for freshman scoring for the program, scoring 18 points to edge out former guard (and current WNBA player) Tanisha Wright — a feat that didn’t even cross her mind.

“Not really, I would rather win than crack whatever you just said,” Page said quietly after the game, when asked if she was aware of her milestone. “I’d rather win, but thanks for letting me know.”

The loss was Penn State’s fourth straight. The Lady Lions are now 8-15 on the season and 3-9 in Big Ten play.

This story was originally published February 7, 2016 at 6:21 PM with the headline "Lady Lions outworked by emotional Rutgers team."