Kazakhstan becomes lady cagers’ most recent exhibition victim

By DONNIE COLLINS
Collegian Staff Writer

Exhibition games typically are designed to be less about victory and more about discovering weaknesses.

Judging by Friday's exhibition battle with the Kazakhstan National Team, it's obvious the Penn State women's basketball team's weakness is not running out to big early leads.

And it's certainly not holding onto those leads once they're obtained.

The Lady Lions took a 10-0 lead in the contest's first three minutes and never allowed their opponents to get much closer in an 86-69 win at The Bryce Jordan Center.

Penn State coach Rene Portland used the game as a litmus test, as all 11 players on the Lion roster saw significant playing time. It was a strategy Portland wished to employ before the Lions' regular-season schedule opens Wednesday at Pittsburgh.

"I think we stuck to our game plan in both of our preseason games," Portland said. "We wanted to make sure that everybody had an opportunity to be a part of this team. We changed lineups in both halves. We think the kids had a really open mind about it."

Although it was a team effort overall, as 10 of the 11 Lions who entered the game scored, guards Lisa Shepherd and Helen Darling stole the show from the opening whistle. In the Lions' early 10-0 run, eight of the points were either set up or scored by the backcourt duo. Shepherd had four points, one rebound and a key steal in the sequence, while Darling collected four points and a pair of assists.

Freshman forward Rashana Barnes provided the frontcourt presence to compliment the guards, pouring in a team-high 13 first-half points to give Penn State a comfortable 48-36 halftime lead.

The constant player substitutions failed to knock the Lions out of rhythm, as Portland felt they might.

"Once we're in there, we don't worry about whether we're going to come out in two minutes or if we're going to come out in five minutes," Darling said. "We just go out there and have fun."

At no time in the second half was it fun for Kazakhstan, as the Lions refused to let it carve into the 12-point halftime lead. Five Lions finished with double-digit point totals, led by Barnes' 16 and Shepherd's 13, six of which came from behind the 3-point line. Darling and center Clara Carter had 11 points and seven rebounds apiece, while forward Maren Walseth contributed 10 points.

Despite the impressive offensive output, Portland said she had minor concerns with the way her team defended its opponent's taller post players, namely Kazakhstan's 6-foot-3 forward Elana Iourtaeva, who scored a game-high 17 points.

"Every now and again, we'd not have weak-side help," Portland said. "They put two posts on the same side. I think it was more their offense that gave us a little trouble than the players themselves."

Barnes, who recorded two blocked shots and a steal to go along with her sterling offensive performance, said that with a little more work and practice, the defense won't be a problem.

"We're almost there," she said. "We still need some work on details."