Lady Lions fall on the road to Miami

Story posted November 29, 2012 in CommRadio, Sports by Jason Kohler

The Lady Lions (5-1), ranked No. 6 in the nation, traveled to Miami where they suffered their first defeat of the season to the Hurricanes (5-1), in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge Thursday Night.

It was a night rattled by turnovers for the Lady Lions especially to start off the game. In nine of their first eleven possessions, the visiting Lady Lions coughed up the ball. Due to foul and turnover problems, seniors Alex Bentley and Nikki Greene were both on the bench early for a short time. The team found themselves in the hole early and often in the first half.

Despite the sluggish start, the Lady Lions fought hard and the defense held strong to keep the game close. The offense would eventually pull together and tie the game at 27 with about three minutes left in the opening half. It was Miami though, who closed the half strong on a 9-2 run, to take a 7 point lead into the half.

As we have seen from this team early on though, they are resilient group and the second half would be an exciting one.

A good portion of the second half was marked by small runs being made back and forth by both teams.  Around the eleven minute mark when things really picked up. The Lady Lions, down six, went on a 10-0 run to take their biggest lead of the game 53-49. Like the majority of the half prior to then, the Hurricanes made a run of their own scoring seven straight as the ‘Canes regained the lead 56-53.

Both squads continued to trade baskets from that point until Lucas drained a three pointer for the Lions to knot the game at 60 with fewer than two minutes to play. The Hurricanes Suriya McGuire dropped in two of her 14 points on a layup to give Miami the lead again, but it was tied shortly after on an Alex Bentley fade away jumper with 40 seconds left in the game.

Not to be outdone on this night, the Hurricanes were able to slip by the defense and convert a final go ahead layup with 14 seconds left in the game. The Lions had a final chance to tie the game, but Bentley was unable to sink the game tying basket and Miami sealed the upset with a pair of free throws, to finalize the score at 69-65 in favor of the Hurricanes.

`”There's a lot of basketball left, it's November,” Penn State coach Coquese Washington told Gopsusports.com after the loss. “If we're going to put our tail between our legs after one loss, that's not the character that our team has. Our team will bounce back and play better.''

Jason Kohler is sophomore majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, e-mail jdk5342@psu.edu