Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1547542
D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 6 4 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M T anisha Wright knew she was taking on a thorough rebuild when she be- came head coach of the Penn State women's basketball team in March. Growing pains were inevitable, and they were evident when the Lady Lions dropped the first three games of their new era. Penn State opened the season with a 62-61 loss to Cleveland State on Nov. 2 at the Bryce Jordan Center, then fell 76-53 at Cincinnati on Nov. 7 and 77-71 at Dayton two nights later. Those results offered a reminder that Wright and her staff had to build a team virtually from scratch, with seven transfers and three freshmen comprising the bulk of PSU's 11-player roster. In the opener, sophomore guard Ava Black supplied career highs of 17 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists, recording her first collegiate double-double. Junior guard Devyn Quigley added 12 points, while sophomore guard Skylar Durley scored 10. Penn State outrebounded Cleveland State 45-41 and entered the fourth quarter tied at 44-44. Black opened the final period with a three-pointer, but the Lady Lions couldn't hold on to their lead. Trailing by seven with 14 seconds re- maining, Penn State nearly pulled off an improbable escape. Quigley and Black hit consecutive three-pointers, cutting the deficit to one. Cleveland State then missed a pair of free throws with three seconds to go, but the Lady Lions failed to get a shot off before time expired. Penn State shot just 31.8 percent from the field and 22.2 percent from beyond the arc in the season-opening loss. "I thought we could have worked the ball a little bit more, moved the ball, been patient a couple times, and maybe tried to get easier shots at times, espe- cially when our outside shots weren't falling," Wright said. "That's a lesson for a brand-new team learning about each other, learning about themselves. We'll grow ,and we'll get better in that area." Cincinnati presented a different kind of challenge, with the Bearcats tak- ing control almost immediately. The hosts scored the first eight points and led 22-11 after the opening quarter be- fore extending their advantage to 40- 20 by halftime. Another strong quarter pushed their lead to 62-34 entering the fourth. Penn State opened the final period with a 12-2 run, but the deficit proved too large to overcome. Quigley paced Penn State with 19 points on 8-for-18 shooting. Senior forward Cristen Carter grabbed 12 re- bounds off the bench, helping the Lady Lions finish with a 37-30 advantage on the boards. However, Penn State com- mitted 17 turnovers and made only 1 of 10 attempts from beyond the arc. Quigley, an NC State transfer, was leading the Lady Lions in scoring through three games with 54 points, an average of 18 per game. Black was aver- aging 8 points and 6 rebounds. Carter was Penn State's leading rebounder with 28 total, an average of 9.3 per game, while graduate forward Savannah White was averaging 6.3 rebounds. For Wright, the opening results un- derscored the work ahead, but she was confident after the Cleveland State loss that her team would continue to im- prove. "Who we are today won't be who we are in December," she said. "It's better to learn your lessons from wins than from losses, obviously, but we'll grow from this. We'll be able to get better from this." ■ WOMEN'S BASKETBALL Lady Lions Open New Era With Early Setbacks M AT T H E R B | M AT T. H E R B @ O N 3 . C O M Sophomore guard Ava Black led the Lady Lions with 17 points and 10 rebounds in their season-opening 62-61 loss to Cleveland State. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS WOMEN'S BASKETBALL Date Opponent Time/TV/Result Oct. 27 PITT-JOHNSTOWN (Exh.) W, 84-47 Nov. 2 CLEVELAND STATE L, 62-61 Nov. 7 at Cincinnati L, 76-53 Nov. 9 at Dayton L, 77-71 Nov. 5 at Arizona State 6 p.m./ESPN+ Nov. 19 BOWLING GREEN 11 a.m./B1G+ Nov. 22 SAINT JOSEPH'S 1 p.m./B1G+ Nov. 27 Baylor* 5:30 p.m. Nov. 28 USF/Seton Hall* TBA Dec. 2 JAMES MADISON 6 p.m./B1G+ Dec. 6 at Michigan State 4 p.m./BTN Dec. 10 ARMY 6 p.m./B1G+ Dec. 13 at TCU 3 p.m./ESPN+ Dec. 20 FORDHAM Noon/B1G+ Dec. 29 PURDUE 6 p.m./B1G+ Jan. 1 OREGON 4 p.m./BTN Jan. 5 at Minnesota 8 p.m./B1G+ Jan. 8 RUTGERS 6 p.m./B1G+ Jan. 12 INDIANA 6 p.m./B1G+ Jan. 15 at UCLA 10 p.m./B1G+ Jan. 18 at USC 4 p.m./BTN Jan. 27 at Michigan 6 p.m./B1G+ Jan. 31 OHIO STATE 1 p.m./B1G+ Feb. 4 at Northwestern 8 p.m./BTN Feb. 7 MARYLAND 1 p.m./B1G+ Feb. 10 at Rutgers 7 p.m./B1G+ Feb. 13 WASHINGTON 1 p.m./B1G+ Feb. 18 IOWA 6 p.m./BTN Feb. 21 at Nebraska 3 p.m./B1G+ Feb. 25 at Illinois 8:30 p.m./BTN Feb. 28 WISCONSIN 1 p.m./B1G+ * Paradise Jam at St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands