Women's basketball crushes Villanova, 79-54

By JOSH DAECHE
Collegian Staff Writer

Katrena Carr opened the game with a 3-pointer, and from that moment on, the Penn State women's basketball team never looked back.

Saturday night at The Bryce Jordan Center, the No. 10 Lady Lions (1-0) opened their 1999-2000 season with a 79-54 defeat of Villanova.

Penn State opened the game on a 23-2 scoring run. The Lions saw strong performances from sophomore forward Rashana Barnes, who went six-for-11 from the field, while finishing with a team-high 15 points.

"I just came out fired up, and I just wanted to contribute," Barnes said.

"Last year I wasn't too much of a contributor, and now I'm just trying to develop my outside shot."

Penn State hounded Villanova throughout the game. The Lions capitalized on three breakaways that cost the Wildcats six points in the first half.

"We saw some nice fast-break stuff that led to some offense," Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland said. "It's nice to see the excitement back."

Penn State had four players in double figures, including Big Ten preseason-Player of the Year Andrea Garner, who struggled in the first half by going zero-for-four from the floor, but responded in the second half by going five-for-13.

Garner finished the game with 12 points and 11 rebounds, while earning her first double-double of the season and 31st in her career.

Penn State dominated the whole first half, and the Lions went into halftime with a commanding 43-19 lead.

"I liked the intensity and the way we started out in the first half," Portland said.

Penn State shut down Villanova from all areas of the court. The Wildcats went into halftime shooting only 21 percent, while going zero-for-nine from three-point land.

In the second half, Villanova came out strong with freshman Katie Davis leading the way.

Davis came off the bench to lead all scorers with a game-high 18 points. She went two-for-two from behind the arc.

But the closest the Wildcats came was when they closed the gap to 17 points with slightly more than four minutes remaining.

Throughout the game, Portland used her bench as each player in blue and white saw action.

"We made the decision to go with 10 kids and those 10 kids have to be ready to play at all times," Portland said. "Every kid on this team has a role."

Despite the loss, Villanova coach Harry Perreta remained positive after the game.

"I thought we did not play that badly considering we were playing a lot of young players," he said. "We were starting two freshmen and we played a lot of inexperienced players, but I thought we gave a good effort and it was a good experience for our players."

Penn State will travel to Maryland tomorrow night to take on the Terrapins at 7:30 p.m.