Lady Lions Fall to Albany in Final Seconds

Story posted November 16, 2014 in CommRadio, Sports by Tim Alvarez

After raising the Big Ten regular season championship banner for the third consecutive year, the Penn State Lady Lions (1-1) were unable to complete a memorable afternoon, falling to Albany (2-0) 54-53 in the second round of the preseason WNIT.

The game was back and forth during its entirety, including a tie game in the final ten seconds. A Sarah Royals foul shot put the Great Danes ahead with 8.6 seconds left. Penn State then called timeout with 3.6 seconds remaining to set up a final play. Guard Lindsey Spann inbounded the ball to center Candice Agee who missed the game winning shot as time expired.

Shereesha Richards was the story of the game for Albany, recording 27 points on 10-16 shooting while grabbing 14 rebounds.

“She will be playing in the WNBA, she is that good,” Albany head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson said of Richards. “She has been Freshman of the Year, Player of the Year, she is hard to guard, she is super athletic, she is relentless, tough, fierce, she is everything.”

The junior from Jamaica went over 1000 points for her career this afternoon.

The Lady Lions struggled on the glass against an undersized Great Danes squad, grabbing only 31 rebounds to Albany’s 49. Albany snagged 20 offensive rebounds.

“It was disappointing, I didn't think we competed on the glass,” said head Coach Coquese Washington. “It was reminiscent of what happened against Towson, we just didn't fight as hard as we needed to in that aspect of the game, so we gotta make big jumps in that area.”

Lindsey Spann led Penn State with 14 points and four assists.

The first half was a sloppy, foul filled affair that went to the locker room with both teams tied at 28. Penn State was looking to run and had some good looks, but had problems moving the ball. Albany forced 13 turnovers in the first half and drew a staggering 18 fouls in the first half. 

Richards had a fantastic first half for the Great Danes scoring 11 points while contributing eight rebounds, leading both teams. Tori Waldner had an impressive defensive half for the Lady Lions, snatching six rebounds and blocking two shots. Waldner finished with six points, nine rebounds and four blocks. Kaliyah Mitchell had nine points in the half, getting four from the free throw line.

Albany kept the game close by shooting 24 foul shots to Penn State’s 13. The Lady Lions committed 29 fouls on the afternoon. Six players finished with four fouls.           

Imani Tate and Tiana-Jo Carter had great games on the glass for Albany. Tate added 15 rebounds while Carter tallied 11. Both added six points apiece.

Penn State will play the loser of the Western Kentucky-Colorado game next Saturday night at 7 p.m.

Tim Alvarez is a Junior majoring in broadcast journalism. You can reach him at tva5063@psu.edu