As the Lady Lions warmed up before last night's game against South Carolina, they might have been a little surprised by the size of the opponents on the other end of the court.
Penn State head coach Rene Portland said that South Carolina was the fifth-tallest team in the nation, and for Penn State's three-guard lineup, it would be a challenge. Relying on the guards to step up, they found a way to prevail in commanding, 68-57 fashion.
South Carolina had three players listed at 6-foot-4-inches or taller, and a total of six players over six feet. The Lady Lions would have to find a way to win that didn't include the low post.
The 6-foot-4 senior forward and the team's leading scorer Amanda Brown was matched up against the Gamecocks' Iva Sliskovic, standing one inch taller than Brown. Even though the height differential wasn't much, Brown's influence on offense almost disappeared. With only four points to show for the contest, the strong post play of South Carolina almost completely shut down the Penn State's offense in the paint. Fellow forward Charity Renfro didn't have much more success, only recording two points and seven rebounds.
"They only had three shots a piece, I don't think that's struggling," junior Kam Gissendanner. "It just really wasn't open for them tonight. A lot of things opened up off the pick and roll for the guards so we just had to capitalize on what they gave us."
On the defensive end, physical play in the post gave the Lions some foul trouble. Two of Penn State's forwards finished the game with four fouls, Renfro getting her fourth early into the second half. A third forward, Courtney Molinaro, fouled out.
For the second game in a row, the post position was virtually eliminated from the game, and in response, the Lions needed to open up the perimeter offense.
The Lady Lion guards were happy to oblige.
"That's what teammates are for," Gissendanner said. "That's why there's 11 of us on the team; there's not one of us on the team, so when one person has a bad day, someone has a good day."
Gissendanner posted 16 points, a season high, and junior Adrienne Squire made her customary contributions from behind the arc, notching three 3-pointers. Freshman Tyra Grant also recorded a season-high performance, scoring 19 points and going 12-for-13 from the foul line.
Despite the height deficiency, the Lady Lions out-rebounded the Gamecocks, 39-38, because of pure hustle from the entire team.
"It was the battle of the boards that was a really big thing," Portland said. "This was a team that had 26 offensive rebounds last game. We've never seen a team a team do that. So when we were battling for rebounds, our kids were just throwing themselves in there and trying to make something happen."
