Wild ride finishes with high emotion

By ANN TATKO
Collegian Sports Writer

The door of the Penn State locker room opened and a heavy silence ushered forth. Only a few murmured voices filled the hall from the Rec Hall basketball court to the press conference room.

Minutes before, seventh-seeded North Carolina State had narrowly upset No. 2 Penn State, 76-74, in the second-round of the NCAA women's basketball tournament.

The emotions had not quite sunk in as fans stood patiently at one end of the hall and reporters sat waiting at the other end.

The door to the press conference room opened and Penn State Coach Rene Portland and four of her players filed in. They took their seats behind the table. One player glanced downward, while the others stoically stared straight ahead.

"This is a lousy way to end a very valiant season," Portland began. "We really feel some frustration, but at the exact same time, I don't want these kids to forget what they did this year."

What they did involved battling injuries, which changed the starting lineup almost weekly.

The two weekend games were no exception as senior guard Shelby Thayer started in place of Tiffany Longworth, who couldn't go full force because of a spiral fracture in her foot.

Thayer exerted herself in both outings. Yesterday against N.C. State, she tallied 10 points, three rebounds and two steals. Two nights earlier against Jackson State, she was second on the team with 15 points and six rebounds.

"I wanted to do whatever I could," Thayer said after Friday's game. "Rebounding was a main thing for the whole team. I just tried to get in there and do what I could for the team."

Sitting next to Thayer, Portland added, "Obviously, there's not a selfish bone in her body."

Beyond the injuries, Penn State also learned to deal with on-the-court adversity this season. The Lady Lions staged a comeback to win the Big Ten tournament earlier this month and fought back from 14 points down in the game yesterday.

Behind the double-figure scoring of four players, the Lady Lions held on until the final seconds in the loss to N.C. State.

With 15 seconds remaining, Penn State called its last time out. All the Lady Lions needed was two points to tie the score at 74.

The play would go to two of the Lady Lions' mainstays -- point guard Tina Nicholson, who finished the day with 13 points and six assists, and forward Angie Potthoff, who led the team with 21 points and nine rebounds.

It took less than seven seconds for Nicholson to find Potthoff for a layup.

"I think the kids did a great job running the last play that we did for them," Portland said. "I thought they were smart to go for the two. They didn't go for the homerun."

But the Wolfpack responded quickly with a layup of its own.

Then with 2.3 seconds, a two-point deficeit and no time outs, Penn State had to act quickly.

Guard Tina Nicholson took the inbounds pass and launched the ball to forward Missy Masley. From behind the three-point arc just moments after the buzzer sounded, Masley took a shot that bounced off the rim.

For a few seconds, Masley stood almost motionless at the top of the arc.

She had completed the night with 20 points, 12 rebounds, two assists and two steals.

But the numbers that had more impact were the 76-74 final score that marked the end of the fifth-year senior's career at Penn State.

After the game, Masley leaned back against her chair during the press conference. A reporter asked her to describe what her experience at Penn State meant to her.

"I'm going to try not to cry," she said as the tears filled her eyes.

Sitting next to Masley, Portland interjected, "I really think these kinds of questions are for three days from now," she said, adding, "I think their experience here at Penn State is bigger than just basketball."

When the press conference ended, Masley quickly walked back down the hall toward the locker room. Along the way, she accepted a consoling embrace from Kathy Cafazzo, a sports information assistant.

Then she silently followed her teammates into the locker room.