Penn State Basketball: Heartbreak as Lady Lions Tumble out of NCAA Tourney

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StateCollege.com Staff

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March 21, 2011 – 11:46 pm

Local News, Penn State Basketball, Penn State Sports, StateCollege.com

by Kevin Wesley

There were moments, even stretches, when it looked like it might be easy for Penn State on Monday night. But those moments and stretches never lasted long.

Facing third seed DePaul Monday night in the second round of the NCAA tournament, the sixth-seeded Lady Lions held double-digit leads in each half. But they could never shake the Blue Demons.

Three times in the second half, DePaul cut the Penn State lead to a point. Finally, with 3:25 left, the Blue Demons took their first lead since the game’s opening 90 seconds. The Lady Lions quickly jumped back in front, and from there, a tense game turned into a heart-stopper.

It was the Lady Lions’ hearts that ultimately broke.

After a questionable foul call on Penn State sophomore Alex Bentley, DePaul forward Keisha Hampton hit a pair of free throws with :04.9 left to break a 73-73 tie. Penn State’s last-gasp attempt to win it fell well short, leaving DePaul with a 75-73 victory and ending the Lady Lions’ season just seconds shy of the NCAA Sweet 16.

Bentley, the talented sophomore, overcame a slow start to lead Penn State (25-10) with 21 points. Senior Julia Trogele went for 14 points and 11 rebounds in her final college game, and sophomore forward Nikki Greene scored 12. Record-setting freshman Maggie Lucas, the team’s leading scorer, didn’t hit her first basket until the final minute and finished with just seven points on one of 11 shooting.

It was a brutal ending for a Penn State team making the program’s first NCAA appearance since 2005. But even as she wiped her bleary eyes, fourth-year head coach Coquese Washington couldn’t stop talking about what a blast she’d just had.

“This was one of the most fun basketball games I’ve ever been a part of,” Washington said after. “Great environment, two great teams playing their hearts out, came down to the last second. It was a fun game to watch, a fun game to coach in, a fun game to play.”

In all those ways, it was reminiscent of the Nittany Lions’ NCAA loss last week to Temple. The difference was that while the Penn State men never controlled that game, the Lady Lions on Monday night appeared to have things in hand more than once. But, even as they went up 14 early in the second half, Penn State saw the Blue Demons (29-6) steadily push their way back into the game.

Still, the Lady Lions led in the final minute, going up 73-71 on Lucas’ sole made field goal, a fall-away jumper over two DePaul defenders that bounced around the rim and fell through with :54.9 seconds left. DePaul tied the game on its next possession, and after Trogele missed a jumper with about 15 seconds left, the Blue Demons held for the last shot, a contested three-point attempt by Hampton, who finished with a game-high 26.

Bentley reached out as Hampton pump faked and ultimately shot, making contact with the ball and, the referees decided, Hampton’s hand. It was a tough call, and Hampton hit two of three free throws for the decisive margin.

“I don’t know if it was a foul or not, but the game doesn’t come down to one play,” Trogele said in Bentley’s defense. “It’s not her fault. We shouldn’t have let them come back. We should’ve held our lead.”

Penn State led by as many as 11 in the first half and went into the break with a nine-point edge. The Lady Lions built their 38-29 halftime lead by not settling offensively, instead driving the lane or making the extra pass for open looks inside. Penn State’s payoff: 57 percent shooting in the opening half, and a near-double-digit lead despite taking five fewer shots than DePaul in the period.

Greene and Trogele led the Lady Lions in the first 20 minutes, with Greene totaling 12 points in what might’ve been her best offensive half of the season, and Trogele contributing nine points, five rebounds and four assists.

DePaul stayed in the game thanks largely to its offensive rebounding. The Blue Demons pulled down 12 offensive boards in the first half alone, earning second chances that kept things close.

“That killed us,” Washington said.

It also didn’t hurt that they all but shut out Lucas for the half: A combination of aggressive defense on the Lady Lion sharp-shooter and Lucas simply unable to find her range on her few open looks led to her missing all five of her first-half field goal attempts.

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