There is no easy way to forget the sting of defeat in March. Maggie Lucas used a 1-for-11 showing in a second round defeat at home to DePaul in last season’s NCAA Tournament as motivation all offseason; March 2012 a chance at redemption for her and her teammates.
Saturday night’s 68-66 loss to Purdue in a semifinal matchup at the Big Ten Tournament, however, served as a reminder of the instant void felt in win-or-go-home basketball.
‘Yeah, I mean, we’re not happy,’ junior point Alex Bentley told reporters in Indianapolis. ‘It’s a really tough loss. It hurts really bad. It’s not the way we wanted it to end up. But just gotta keep our heads up because we have more basketball to play.’
In Penn State’s case, expectations were a Big Ten Tournament championship after it won its first regular season conference title in eight years. The Lady Lions carried a season-high eight-game winning streak into the matchup against the Boilermakers.
That momentum came to a screeching halt when Brittany Rayburn hit a contested baseline lay-in with 1.6 seconds remaining in regulation, sending the Lady Lions home to await their seed in the NCAA Tournament, which starts March 17.
That leaves more than week to reflect on Saturday’s loss and move on.
‘Hopefully they’ll shake it off pretty quickly,’ coach Coquese Washington told reporters. ‘Fortunately for us, we’re at spring break, so they’ve got a few days to go home and get some home cooking and TLC and get revved up for the NCAA Tournament.’
Penn State will learn its seed and region March 12 during Selection Monday. A No. 3 or No. 4 seed seems likely at this point.
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