Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/472975
Following Penn State's 62-56 loss to Wisconsin on Sunday, senior forward Tori Waldner was asked what she would miss most about her time with the Lady Lions. She pointed out that her time wasn't quite up yet. "We still have the Big Ten tournament," she said, "so I'm looking forward to that. Nothing is going to hit me about what I'm going to miss until the season is done, and it isn't [over yet]. We still have to play and we still have to do well, and we're not ending the season with this game." Seeded 13th after a 3-15 regular season (6-23 overall), the Lady Lions will open the conference tournament this evening against 12th-seeded Indiana. Tipoff for the first-round game is set for 6 p.m. ET at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Ill. A year ago, Penn State was the tourney favorite, having won the Big Ten regular- season title for the third year in a row. This time, however, the Lady Lions are among the longest of long shots in the field. Penn State is 5-7 in Big Ten tourney games under Coquese Washington, and those seven defeats include a lopsided 99-82 loss to Ohio State in last year's tourney opener. So while the Lady Lions are coming off a difficult regular season, they have a reasonable shot at sticking around a bit longer than they did in Indi- anapolis in 2014. They've defeated Indiana seven times in a row, including a 79-75 victory at the Bryce Jordan Center on Jan. 22. Sopho- more forward Kaliyah Mitchell posted a double-double (20 points, 11 rebounds) while four other players scored in double figures in that game. The Lady Lions also committed a season-low 12 turnovers. The Hoosiers (14-15, 4-14) are led by sophomore guard Larryn Brooks, who averages 11.9 points and 3.9 assists per game. Freshman guard Tyra Buss (11.4 ppg) and freshman forward Amanda Cahill (10.6 ppg) are Indiana's other double-figure scorers. The team is one of the best in the Big Ten from be- hind the 3-point arc, averaging 7.7 3s per game to rank third in the conference. In recent years, the Lady Lions have had their NCAA tourney bid sewn up before heading to Big Tens. This year, they would have to win five games in the con- ference tourney to get to the Big Dance. The odds that they will nearly double their season win total in a span of five days are exceedingly slim, but no matter when the season ends, Washington said she has seen signs of progress. "I definitely think this team has grown a lot over the course of the season," she said following the Wisconsin game. "There are a lot of areas that we had to grow in, and I think we have taken big steps in some areas and have taken small steps in other areas. As the season goes on, you certainly want to take comfort knowing your team is growing and that they are getting better. We will have the nucleus [of this team] back together next year, but at the same time, our standards are really high and I want to see big steps. I want to see more growth, and one of the things I would like to see moving forward into postseason play and into next season is a little bit more consistency. That's one of the things that experience gives you. That's one of the things I'll look forward to seeing from this team in the future – just more consistency on both ends of the floor." Tonight's winner will face fifth-seeded Rutgers Thursday afternoon in the sec- ond round. M A R C H 4 , 2 0 1 5 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 7 Tournament time Lady Lions open postseason play with first-round game vs. Indiana W O M E N ' S B A S K E T B A L L M A T T H E R B | M A T T @ B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M THINK PINK Waldner guards a Wisconsin player during PSU's Pink Zone game against Wisconsin on Sunday. The Lady Lions will be the 13th seed in the Big Ten tournament. Photo by Patrick Mansell