Lady Lions Fall to No. 24/23 Rutgers

By Kenny Varner
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Updated: January 11, 2015

Courtesy of PSU Athletics

Spann paces Penn State with 18 points

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; January 10, 2015 – In their first meeting as Big Ten foes, the Penn State Lady Lions (3-13, 0-5) couldn’t overcome the high-pressure #24/23 Rutgers (12-4, 3-2) defense in their 71-51 setback on Saturday at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Freshman Lindsey Spann (Laurel, Md.) led the way for the Lady Lions with 18 points, followed by 12 from Sierra Moore (Hanover, Pa.) and 10 tallies Candice Agee (Victorville, Calif.). It is the eighth time this season that three Penn State players reached double-figures in a game and the third time this trio accomplished the feat.

Spann reached double figures in the scoring column for the 15th time this season and led the team in scoring for the 12th time. It was the 11th double-figure scoring game of the season for Moore and fifth such effort for Agee.

In addition to her 12 points, Moore had three assists and three steals, while Agee, who was 5-for-7 from the field, also grabbed six rebounds, dished out two assists and had a block.

Senior Tori Waldner (Milton, Ga.) and sophomore Peyton Whitted (Suwanee, Ga.) each pulled down a team-best eight rebounds. The effort was Waldner’s 10th game with five-plus boards this season. She also blocked a pair shots in the game.

The Lady Lions shot a season-best 90.9 percent from the free throw stripe, marking the first time since March 1, 2014 vs. Michigan they eclipsed the 90 percent mark from the charity stripe. However, the Lady Lions were decimated by 38 turnovers, the most turnovers for a Penn State team since the 1991-92 season.

Penn State scored the opening basket on a Spann jumper and was even with Rutgers at 4-4 before the Scarlet Knights scored nine of the next 11 points to build an early seven point lead, 13-6, with 12:10 to play. A Kahleah Copper fastbreak layup swelled the lead to 13 points (21-8) with 8:31 to play in the opening half.

The lead remained double figures down the stretch for Rutgers until Penn State closed the half on a 10-3 run. After a pair of free throws from RU’s Cynthia Hernandez made it 32-19 in favor of the visitors, Spann connected on a pair of layups and Kaliyah Mitchell (Stone Mountain, Ga.) knocked down her fourth three-pointer of the season to cut into the lead.

With 23 seconds left, Copper made one-of-two free throws to make it 35-26 in favor of the Scarlet Knights. On the final possession, Spann let one fly from the top of the key as the horn sounded and banked in the three-point basket to send the Lady Lions into the half trailing by just six points (35-29).

The Lady Lions picked up the second half like they ended the first half and cut the Rutgers lead to just four points (39-35) with 18:11 to play in the game. A pair of free throws from Spann and baskets from Agee and Moore got the offense rolling early in the second half.
Rutgers responded with a 14-2 run to push their lead to 16 points (53-37) with eight of those 14 points coming from Tyler Scaife. The lead eventually reached 20 points with 47 seconds left on a Cooper layup that accounted for the final total of 71-51.