One moment yesterday described perfectly the recent slide of the Penn State women's basketball team: Tyra Grant and Kam Gissendanner had three open layups underneath the basket and promptly missed all three.
Missed opportunities was the theme of the afternoon yesterday as the Lady Lions were bested by conference foe Wisconsin for the second time in 10 days, 77-59, at the Bryce Jordan Center.
While Penn State lost for the fifth time in their last six games, Wisconsin (11-10, 4-7 Big Ten) won for the third time in its last four, grabbing its first-ever win in State College.
Last time, Penn State (13-9, 4-6) was burned by the Badgers' secondary scorers like Lin Zastrow and Rae Lin D'Alie along with the conference's marquee scorer in Jolene Anderson.
Yesterday, Anderson took it upon herself, scoring 30 points, including 18 in the first half alone, on the beleaguered Penn State defense.
"I'm very proud of our basketball team," Wisconsin coach Lisa Stone said. "Our defense was outstanding, our rebounding commitment was superb, and the fact that this person sitting next to me [Anderson] put her team on her back, particularly in the first half."
Anderson's teammates also showed up, especially Zastrow, who ended with a career-high 18 points. She also had 10 rebounds for her first career double-double, and relentlessly crashed the boards.
And even though Penn State held two of the Badgers' top three scorers (Janessa Banks and Danielle Ward) to a combined 11 points, it still wasn't enough. Nine minutes into the second half, Anderson and Zastrow had more points (37) than the Lady Lions had as a team (34).
It wasn't just the defense that struggled against the Badgers, the Lady Lions just couldn't do many things right. Whether it was Gissendanner, who missed a wide-open layup in the second half, or Rashida Mark, who had a rebound bounce off her hands and right into the hands of Zastrow for an uncontested bucket. Zastrow's board was one of 43 rebounds for Wisconsin.
"The ball's in the air; it's me and you going for the ball, and Kam Gissendanner does that," Penn State coach Coquese Washington said. "And she needs four other teammates that are going to have that same kind of fight to grab the rebound."
Penn State also struggled on offense, shooting 37.7 percent for the game. The Lady Lions had 24 free throw attempts, but missed eight straight free throws in the second half while Wisconsin stretched the lead to 22.
Gissendanner made up for her gaffes, leading Penn State with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Grant did her part too, scoring 13. But Brianne O'Rourke and Mashea Williams combined for only 14 points and no Lady Lion other than Gissendanner had more than three rebounds.
It was another game that slipped away for Penn State, which will now go on the road to face Michigan on Thursday, while finding itself dropping fast in the standings and its postseason hopes slipping away.
"There's always a sense of urgency to play with intensity and to play with focus," Washington said. "We need to get a little tougher."
