As the Penn State women's basketball team began to celebrate its upset win at center court, leaping up and down to the sounds of Zombie Nation, Lady Lions guard Mashea Williams wasn't with her teammates.
Standing only inches from the Lady Lions' raucous student section, Williams could be found nearly three feet off the ground, arms and feet wrapped around former teammate and current assistant Amanda Brown.
The wide grin on her face said it all. After scoring a career-high 22 points and leading her team to a two-point win over No. 11 Duke, it was the junior guard's emotional and team-guiding performance that helped the Lady Lions extend the Blue Devils' losing streak to three games, their longest drought since the 1996-97 season.
"I was confident on the floor today," Williams said. "I was just trying to help my team out any way that I could, and whether it be on offense or defense I was just trying to do whatever I could to keep us in the game. It came offensively today, but tomorrow or the next game might be defensively."
Williams was lights out during the second half, shooting a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe, complementing her 5-of-7 shooting from the field. Although she was fairly quiet on the defensive side of the ball, Williams pulled down six rebounds and forced two steals in the victory.
It was a banner 20 minutes for Williams, whose game appeared like night and day compared to the first half. Heading into the locker room at the break, the Erie native had only six points, and was an icy cold 2-of-8 from the field.
"Well the first half I wasn't doing so good," Williams said, "but I went in and my teammates were cheering me on. We were trying to stop Duke together, and we knew it was going to be a fight in the second half."
While Williams admitted she had a tough time putting shots in the basket during the first half, it was her 10-foot jumper with only seconds remaining before intermission that restored the Lady Lions' confidence.
After the Blue Devils cut what was once a 15-point lead for the Lady Lions down to just six, Williams stopped short on a fast break, sinking only her second field goal of the contest. The Penn State bench raced into the locker room, as the sounds of the Bryce Jordan Center crowd drowned out the halftime buzzer.
"Mashea is one of the most mentally tough kids on our team," Penn State coach Coquese Washington said. "She's one of the biggest competitors, and it doesn't matter what our situation is she's going to fight.
"Like she said, she's going to find a way to help us whether it's get a big steal or get a big rebound. That's just her character."
Williams' offensive display was one of many for the Lady Lions, as the team posted a season-high 86 points. Along with Williams, four Penn State players ended in double figures and Williams' 22 points was second only to junior guard Brianne O'Rourke, who registered a game-high 23.
Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie took note of Williams' career day.
"She was a pain, and I mean that respectfully," McCallie said. "She did a real good job. She attacked off the dribble, took some shots and just created. Again I think that she showed what she can do.
"That was an excellent show of determination on her part."
