After taking a five-point lead into halftime against No. 6 Duke on Friday, only to lose 66-58, Penn State went into the break yesterday ahead 30-29. The Lady Lions' defense held Villanova to 39 percent shooting in the first half, but Villanova's leading scorer Liad Suez found herself on the bench with two fouls halfway through the first 20 minutes.
In the second half, it was the Wildcats' fresh legs that led to the initial surge. Four of their first five field goals were 3-pointers, and the other went for a three-point play on the foul. Suez scored 12 of her 20 points in the final 20 minutes, and Jackie Adamshick scored 15 second-half-points, with both adding four 3-pointers each.
A lay-up by Ashli Schwab early in the second half put the Lady Lions up 36-35, but that was the last time they led in the game.
Schwab scored four of the Lady Lions first five field goals in the second half, and finished the game with 20 points and eight rebounds. The inside advantage that Penn State had in the game was erased by Villanova's ability to shoot from the outside.
The Wildcats made nine 3-points to Penn State's one, and hit 59 percent of their shots in the second half. It was their first game of the season, but it didn't take long for them to settle into their role of underdog.
"[Penn State] was the favorite in the game, and we like that underdog role," Villanova coach Harry Perretta said. "Especially when we're at home, and especially when we have the lead. ... We were concentrating in staying in the game, and staying in contact with them, but it worked out better than we thought."
Tanisha Wright led the final attempt at a comeback down the stretch, and the Lady Lions cut the lead to five with 1:05 remaining. Schwab missed an open lay-up with less than 25 seconds that would have made it a three-point game, but the Wildcats put it away with foul shots.
"We just didn't buckle down as a team tonight, that's it," Wright said. "We can think about any excuse in the world, but right now we're not playing basketball the way that Penn State plays basketball. It's embarrassing and I don't think since I've been here we've ever played basketball like this. Never, since I've been at Penn State University, and it's absolutely ridiculous."
Wright scored 22 points and Jess Strom scored nine to go with her six assists. Freshman Amber Bland scored her first six points of her career on 3-3 shooting.
Amanda Brown played just four minutes in the first half because of foul trouble, but Penn State outscored Villanova 18-6 in the paint, and 10-0 in second-chance points. Thus far, the Lady Lions have had trouble playing an entire game.
"We were an 18-minute ball club," Portland said. "At Duke we went 26-27-28 minutes. Are those two teams hard to play? Yeah. I think our kids want to play those kind of teams and we've been successful against those kind of teams and this team should be successful against those kind of teams."
With the brutal road trifecta over, the Lady Lions will be back in the Bryce Jordan Center tomorrow night against Duquesne with not much time to figure things out.
"We'll learn from this, and we'll get stronger from this and this is gonna prepare us," Portland said. "Because we're at the breaking point of how long you gonna let this happen to you?"
