Bear necessities

Lady cagers squeak past Baylor in WNIT final

Maybe the Lady Lion basketball team deserved an NCAA Tournament bid after all.

Penn State made a convincing case for itself last night, defeating Baylor 59-56 and capturing the WNIT Championship in front of 10,057 raucous fans at the Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas.

"We're very fortunate to come out of here with a win," Lion coach Rene Portland said. "The juniors and seniors have been wonderful leaders and the young players have been workhorses."

As it has done throughout the postseason, Penn State received contributions from a variety of players and made the critical plays when it mattered most. WNIT Tournament MVP Helen Darling, freshman guard Lisa Shepherd, who led the Lions with 16 points, and All-Tournament selection Andrea Garner stepped up in the closing minutes to make the biggest plays of the season.

First, Darling nailed a running jumper as the shot clock expired to give Penn State a 55-51 lead with a little less than two minutes remaining. Then with 4.7 seconds left Shepherd hit a crucial free throw, putting the Lions ahead 59-56. Garner then squashed any hope of a miracle Lady Bear comeback by grabbing the offensive rebound off Shepherd's missed second foul shot, allowing Penn State to run out the clock.

After struggling through a rough first half, the Lions were fortunate to still be in the game at halftime. Not only were Darling, Garner and fellow starter Christine Portland held scoreless in the opening stanza, Penn State also turned the ball over 15 times and went 3 for 8 at the foul line. The only thing preventing the Lions from being further behind than 27-26 was tenacious defense and solid rebounding.

"Turnovers are very uncharacteristic of us," Portland said. "We hurt ourselves early in the game."

Penn State stormed out in the second half and quickly erased the one-point deficit, using a 15-4 spurt to build a 10-point cushion with 16 minutes remaining.

Baylor guard Lara Webb, though, single-handedly brought the Bears back. She scorched the Lions the entire game leading all scorers with 26 points and igniting a 20-8 run to give the Baylor a 51-49 lead late in the game.

Once again, however, Penn State dug in and fought back. Shepherd, Garner and Darling hit consecutive jumpers and the Lions built a four-point lead they would never relinquish.

Capturing the championship could help Penn State step into the national spotlight next year.

"Winning the WNIT," Shepherd said, "will get us back into the top 25."