Panthers find no joy in Happy Valley

Not even junior guard Mallorie Winn’s career-high 22 points against Penn State last Friday… Not even junior guard Mallorie Winn’s career-high 22 points against Penn State last Friday could dig the Panthers out of an early hole, dropping their second game this year 69-60 in front of 6,040 at The Bryce Jordan Center in State College, Pa.

Winn shot 50 percent from the floor, shooting seven of 14 passes, including three of seven from behind the arc. She also went 5-for-6 from the free-throw line to keep the Panthers in the game down the stretch.

A quick 9-0 deficit the Panthers suffered early in the game, however, proved to be enough for Penn State, which never trailed during the entire contest.

The closest the Panthers came to taking the lead was after Winn made a mid-range jumper with 2:09 left in the first half to cut the margin to one. The Panthers ended up trailing by three at the half.

But Penn State came out firing early in the second half, increasing the lead back to nine after Adrienne Squire’s 3-pointer just after two minutes in. The Nittany Lions continued to score, completing a 14-4 run with a layup by Kamela Gissendanner to give Penn State a 13-point lead with just over 13 minutes left in the game.

Any chance the Panthers had of digging themselves out of another large deficit diminished after sophomore forward Marcedes Walker committed two quick fouls, forcing Agnus Berenato’s team to shift their game to the perimeter.

That could have been the reason the Panthers were unable to mount a comeback, shooting only 33 percent from the floor, as compared to Penn State’s 47 percent.

And, the further back the Panthers shot from, the worse things got as they hit just four of 21 from 3-point range. The Nittany Lions, on the other hand, improved with range. They shot a total of 6-for-9 from 3, four of which came from Squire.

There were a total of three Nittany Lions who scored in double figures. Amanda Brown led Penn State with 17 points, followed by Gissendanner’s 15 and Squire’s 14. Brown was the only player to record a double-double, grabbing 10 rebounds as well.

Winn was the only Panther who was able to break 10 points. Both Walker and Xenia Stewart scored nine for Pitt. Stewart also led the team with seven rebounds.

The loss marks the second for the Panthers on the season and first on the road, taking their overall record to 5-2. The Nittany Lions improve to 2-3.

The Panthers have a chance to redeem the loss, playing on the road again tonight at Robert Morris in Moon Township at 7:30 p.m.