After blowing close games against Maryland and Ohio State, Penn State women’s basketball (10-9, 3-5 Big Ten) was able to close out fellow Big Ten bottom feeder Wisconsin (10-10, 1-7 Big Ten) in a 65-59 victory on Thursday night.

Double-digit scoring nights from Teniya Page (16 points), Jaida Travascio-Green (14), Amari Carter (12), and Lauren Ebo (10) helped Penn State power past a Badger squad which has now lost six games in a row.

The Lady Lions nearly blew a big lead in the fourth quarter, but clutch free throw shooting from Page helped Coquese Washington’s program pick up its 10th win of the season.

How It Happened

The first quarter was back-and-forth as both teams traded buckets, but points from Page and Travascio-Green as the clock trickled down gave the Lady Lions a 16-12 lead entering the second quarter.

Travascio-Green kept up her solid shooting as she opened the next quarter with a bomb from across the arc. Wisconsin soon came back however, eventually taking a quick 27-23 lead over Coquese Washington’s squad. Solid defense and rebounding combined with great interior scoring from Ebo helped give Penn State the lead again. Two more threes from Travascio-Green pushed the Nittany Lion lead to 38-31 at the half.

Penn State pushed its lead to 10 points while trying to keep Wisconsin at bay in the third quarter. Wisconsin’s Abby Laszewski and Imani Lewis made things tough, but the Lady Lions managed to hold onto a 53-45 lead entering the final quarter of play.

Penn State seemed poised to seal the result of the game early in the fourth quarter after a trey from Kamaria McDaniel and some excellent post scoring from Ebo. However, closing out games has been a major weakness of Coquese Washington’s team this year, and tonight’s contest against the Badgers was no exception. Poor defensive play and piles of turnovers put Wisconsin within three points with 43 seconds to play.

However, Teniya Page hit some clutch free throws to help her team seal a 65-59 win and improve to 10-9 in the 2018-19 season.

Takeaways

• Both teams were sloppy with the ball, with Penn State registering 17 turnovers and Wisconsin giving possession back to the Nittany Lions 15 times throughout Thursday’s game.
• The three-ball was key for Penn State, which shot 36.8 percent from beyond the arc. Jaida Travascio-Green in particular had a strong game; she drained four of her seven three-point attempts throughout the evening.
• Thursday’s game should be considered a step in the right direction for a team that’s struggled to close out opponents this season. Tonight’s game was probably closer than it should’ve been, but the Lady Lions still got the job done in no small part thanks to Teniya Page’s ice-cold veins at the free throw line.

What’s Next

The Lady Lions will return home after a two-game road swing for a contest against No. 14 Rutgers. The game will be played at 2 p.m. on Sunday, January 27 at the Bryce Jordan Center.