When the four Lady Lion seniors suited up Feb. 25 at the Bryce Jordan Center for Senior Night against Wisconsin, everything that could possibly go right, went right -- for the Badgers.
A sloppy game all around by Penn State, the four seniors were tamed from the opening whistle as Wisconsin dominated every facet of the game en route to a 71-39 victory.
Safe to say, it wasn't the way the seniors wanted to go out.
But Monday night, those four seniors found out they would get a second chance.
For the first time in five years, the Lions will be playing in the postseason, as Penn State hosts Hofstra on Thursday in the first round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament at the BJC, giving the seniors at least one more game on their homecourt.
"They were like, 'Yesss, we can get a chance to redeem ourselves, so to speak.' " coach Coquese Washington said. "I think that will be good for them to get a chance to play in front of our home fans at least one more time and hopefully put on a good showing."
If Penn State wins, then the seniors would get yet another home game on Saturday -- but an opening win must come first. Whether they get a chance to play another home game over the weekend or not, Thursday's game means the seniors will have at least one more chance to put on a show for the home fans and make up for the Senior Night debacle.
During that game, Tyra Grant -- who joined the three other former Lady Lions in the 2,000-point club -- was held scoreless for the first 22 minutes while Meredith Monroe went 0-for-4.
Nicole Arcidiacono, after getting the start, found her familiar seat on the bench two minutes into the game, and all injured Meggan Quinn could do was sit and watch her fellow seniors get embarrassed.
"We're just going to forget that two weeks ago happened, so now we're going to get a real last game here," Arcidiacono said. "It doesn't have to be a Senior Night. That's fine by me. Just as long as we play hard and get to play here again."
The rest of the team didn't play much better against the Badgers, and freshman Alex Bentley was left with a bitter taste in her mouth after that showing.
The point guard, who didn't score that entire game, is excited about the opportunity to help send her senior teammates out in a much more improved way.
"The Senior Night, I just felt terrible," Bentley said. "I didn't want to send them out on their homecourt like that at all. We can have a chance to redeem ourselves for them. It feels good."
However, playing at home is simply an added bonus for the seniors. More importantly, Thursday's game against Hofstra means the season lives on, and those four Lions get to continue their collegiate careers another week.
Throughout all the ups and downs -- including a coaching change and two late-season collapses -- the seniors always remained positive, and Washington is glad they get to play at least one more game wearing a Lady Lion jersey.
"It's really nice for them to have this experience," Washington said, "to be the class and be the group that has kind of led our turnaround in getting back to being a program that plays in postseason play."
