Penn State women’s basketball (3-1) fell to No. 22 Syracuse (3-0) 82-72 on the road Sunday to conclude the non-conference slate.

Tova Sabel led the Lady Lions in scoring off the bench with 15 points on 5-for-7 shooting from beyond the arc. The upset bid came to a halt as senior center Johnasia Cash fouled out with 3:29 left in the game, leaving Penn State outmatched against a veteran Syracuse front court.

How It Happened

Shay Hagans scored the first points of the game with a crafty floater in the middle of the paint to take an early first quarter lead. The Lady Lions forced three turnovers in the opening three minutes of play, holding Syracuse scoreless until the 6:44 mark in the first quarter.

Needing a scoring spark off the bench, Kieger turned to Tova Sabel, who nailed her first three-point attempt from the left wing to give the Lions a 7-2 edge. After a few turnovers of its own, the Lady Lions let the Orange back into the game prior to the first official TV timeout of the contest, where they held a slim 9-6 advantage.

Penn State ended the first quarter red-hot after the timeout, finishing on a 10-4 run sparked by a barrage of three-pointers. The freshman duo of Sabel and Maddie Burke finished the quarter a combined 4-for-5 from downtown, leading to a 22-14 margin after the opening 10 minutes of play.

The Lady Lions’ run continued, as Johnasia Cash converted a layup down low to advance the lead to double-digits early in the second quarter. Stout perimeter defense from Hagans and Makenna Marisa limited penetration and scoring opportunities from the Orange, who went 2-for-9 in the first six minutes of the quarter.

As Syracuse’s offense continued to struggle, the Lady Lions remained scorching hot from deep. Veteran guard Kelly Jekot added a three-pointer at the midway point in the second quarter, helping the Lions catapult to a 14-point lead with 4:26 left in the half.

Following four made free-throws from the Orange to cut the lead to 10 with 2:44 to play in the half, a Makenna Marisa turnover from full-court pressure resulted in an easy lay-in for Syracuse. The layup sparked a series of fast beak points off of missed Penn State three pointers, leading to 15-0 run from the Orange in transition. After a disappointing finish to a well-executed first half, Penn State entered the locker room trailing 33-32.

After a Syracuse turnover to start the second half, a slashing Johnasia Cash converted a difficult layup in traffic to regain the lead for the Lions. Cash missed the free-throw attempt to finish off a three-point-play, but scored again on the next offensive possession as the lead continued to rotate back-and-forth.

Penn State began the quarter shooting 6-for-7 from the field, including two back-to-back three’s from Sabel to take a 46-39 lead with 7:04 left in the third period of play. Despite the adversity, the Orange stormed back with a 10-1 run of its own to take a 49-47 lead prior to the first official timeout of the half.

Syracuse center Amaya Finklea-Guity initiated two quick fouls on Johnasia Cash late in the quarter, totaling to four personal fouls for the Lady Lion center with over a quarter left to play. Without a dominate inside presence on the court, the under-sized Lions struggled to defend the dominate front court of the Orange. A timely Marisa three-pointer cut the lead to four points with 58 seconds left, but the transition offense of Syracuse would not let up, extending the advantage to 61-53 in favor of the home team.

After trading baskets to start the final quarter of play, Maddie Burke converted a huge three-pointer with just over six minutes to play to cut the deficit to 6-points. With just one foul left to give, Cash re-entered the game for the Lions with just under five minutes remaining in the fourth. Her presence underneath helped cut the lead to just four, but the senior forward ultimately fouled out with 3:29 reaming.

Penn State’s late comeback effort was staved by poor shooting down the stretch, as the team finished the game with just two points in the final 3:07 of play. The veteran presence from the Orange proved to be too much for the young Lady Lions, as the game ended in a 82-72 defeat for the visiting squad.

Takeaways

• The Lady Lions played well enough on both ends of the court to upset the ranked Orange on the road, but turnovers were the story of the matchup. Penn State finished the contest with 23 in comparison to 16 from Syracuse, which proved to be pivotal in the fast-break point differential.
• With Penn State’s limited size in the front court, the Lady Lions will live and die by the three-pointer over the course of the season. The team shot a respectable 30.3% from deep against the Orange, but will have to improve in that category to in a loaded Big Ten conference.
• The depth of the Lady Lion bench was solid once again for Carolyn Kieger and company. 29 of Penn State’s 72 total points were scored by bench players, with 15 coming from Tova Sabel alone.
• Johnasia Cash must stay out of foul trouble to keep the Lady Lions alive late in the fourth quarter this season. The SMU transfer finished in double-double fashion with 13 points and 10 rebounds, and played fantastic defense against the fierce front court attack from Syracuse.

What’s Next

The Lady Lions will tip off Big Ten play against Purdue on Sunday, December 20 at the Bryce Jordan Center. The time of the matchup is to be determined.