Penn State has high expectations. A Big Ten championship is at or near the top of that list.
Voted the conference preseason favorite by the coaches and media, the Lady Lions got a swift reminder in their conference opener that champions aren’t crowned in October. Their 71-63 loss to conference newcomer Nebraska on Friday night at the Bryce Jordan Center proved as much.
Huskers sophomore forward Jordan Hooper hit a deep 3 from straight on to put Nebraska up six with 16.3 seconds to play.
So, any hesitation?
‘None at all. Just always shoot,’ Hooper said.
‘Shoot before you turn it over,’ her coach, Connie Yori said, finishing the answer. With good reason, too. Penn State scored 26 points off 26 forced turnovers, including a team-high eight steals by junior Alex Bentley, who also led the Lady Lions with 22 points.
‘If you look statistically, I’m not sure how we won this game,’ Yori said.
Penn State coach Coquese Washington was little more sure. She watched her team’s nine-point lead turn into a two-point deficit over an eight-minute span that left 4:39 in regulation. From there, it never led the rest of the way.
The Lady Lions shot just 25-for-85 (29.4 percent) from the floor, including 10-for-43 (23.3 percent) in the second half.
‘It’s not surprising when you have the shot selection we had,’ Washington said. ‘We pride ourselves on being a team that takes great shots. We took a lot of not-so-great shots and the result is that shooting percentage.’
Sophomore guard Maggie Lucas finished with 18 points, snapping her streak of four straight 20-point games. She was slowed in the second half with calf cramps, likely contributing to a 7-for-22 shooting effort, including 1-for-7 from beyond the arc.
Hooper led all scorers with 31 points and pulled down 12 rebounds. Lucas (13 points) and Bentley (12 points) were the game’s high scorers at the half, a 38-38 tie.
Bentley chalked up Hooper’s night to talent and a lack of defensive communication, losing her in transition and giving her open looks.
Penn State (10-3, 0-1 Big Ten) returns to action 1 p.m. Monday at Wisconsin.
‘They’ll be fine, they’re competitors,’ Washington said. ‘They’re fighters. They’ll get in the gym and they’ll be ticked off and they’ll be ready to get better.’
This was only the first of a 16-game conference narrative. Then, there’s the conference tournament in March. Nothing was lost on a Friday night in late December.
Whether or not it will be as meaningless as October prognostications remains to be seen.
Notes: Forward Mia Nickson returned to the lineup after missing much of the previous eight games because of a concussion. She finished with four points and seven rebounds in 31 minutes.
‘She looked a little rusty,’ Washington said. ‘She looked a little out of sync. She’ll play herself back into a rhythm on the floor. She just looks like she hasn’t played basketball in a while.’
