Freshman forward Cetera Washington jumps for a layup Saturday afternoon at Breslin Center. Washington scored five points against Penn State.
The MSU women’s basketball team dropped its third Big Ten matchup with a 69-57 loss to Penn State on Saturday.
Down by one point at the half, the Spartans (9-7 overall, 1-3 Big Ten) scored the first basket in the second to take their only lead of the half. The Nittany Lions (11-4, 2-1) pounded the basket shortly after for a 10-3 point run to set the pace that would eventually seal the win.
Draining shots was the last thing the Spartans accomplished in the second half, only scoring 21 points, as they headed into the locker room sinking eight of 30 shot attempts inside the arc.
“We’ve done a lot of extra shooting, we’re trying to go harder and shorter and spend time just shooting the basketball,” MSU Coach Suzy Merchant said. “Some of our key reserves are not shooting the ball that well. We need (senior guards) Alisa Wulff and Courtney (Davidson) to make shots … they’ve been struggling a bit.
“Our guard play has to come up for us to be successful. We just aren’t knocking shots down.”
Merchant contributes lack of depth, leadership and team chemistry for the mainly flat Big Ten performance as well as the lackluster practices.
“It’s very frustrating, we’ve tried every kind of offense we could,” Merchant said. “(The team) just needs to give a little more effort in practice so that we can simulate what we’re trying to accomplish. I know we’re not fast, we don’t have a lot of depth we aren’t very quick and athletic.
“The young kids have to step up their play, focus and intent and the upperclassman need to start showing a little more emotion and effort.”
Merchant said the team desperately needs someone to step up into the leadership role, whether it be a freshman or bench player.
Turnover trouble remains a problem for the Spartans, who committed 22 on the day, allowing Penn State 16 points.
“Teams aren’t beating us, we are beating ourselves,” sophomore center Lauren Aitch said. “It’s not that the other teams have great defense, it’s that we keep making errors and defeating ourselves.”
Nittany Lion guard Brianne O’Rourke was the star on the court with 23 points.
Although sophomore center Allyssa DeHaan has been heavily guarded and pushed away from the basket the last few games, she still tallied a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. DeHaan missed her first free throw in conference play, shooting 4-7 at the line, ending her streak at 15 consecutive free throws.
The Spartans return to the hardwood for a game against Iowa at 8 p.m., Thursday, at Breslin Center.
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