UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Northwestern fought from behind for the majority of the second half and its last-ditch effort fell short as the Wildcats fell short to Penn State Sunday, 76-75.
Northwestern's Christen Inman scored on a breakaway after Karly Roser stole the ball to tie the score at 75-75 with just over 32 seconds remaining. On the ensuing possession, PSU's Sierra Moore missed a layup, with about 10 seconds to go when NU's Lydia Rohde was whistled for a foul while boxing out Candice Agee. Agee made her first free throw, but missed the second after NU head coach Joe McKeown called his final timeout. There was a scramble for the rebound, but after a lengthy review the officials stuck with the initial call and awarded the Wildcats the ball with 8.4 seconds to go.
Ashley Deary took the inbound for Northwestern and swiftly charged up the floor. The sophomore found Rohde on the wing, but the newcomer's shot couldn't find the bottom of the net. Penn State pulled down the rebound to secure the one-point win, 76-75.
"We wanted to get up the floor and then let Ashley [Deary] make a play, which she did," said McKeown. "I thought we got a pretty good shot, actually, and we had a chance to win the game.
"I'm disappointed that we're not coming out of here with a win," said McKeown after the game. "I give Penn State credit, but we didn't block out and rebound in the last three minutes and that was the difference in the game. We forced them to take shots at the end of the shot clock and we gave them two [offensive rebounds]."
The Wildcats opened the scoring when Deary and Maggie Lyon buried back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Wildcats an early 6-0 edge. Lyon's triple helped her hit the 1,000 career point mark on the nose. It also ensured that she made at least one shot from beyond the arc in her 24th consecutive game going back to March 2, 2014 at Wisconsin.
Penn State responded with an 8-2 run that prompted McKeown to use a timeout to tighten up his team's defense. The respite paid immediate dividends and Northwestern's defense helped its offense spin off a 7-0 run that put it up 15-8 with 13:50 to go.
The Lady Lions hung around and snagged their first lead of the day, 20-18, when Kaliyah Mitchell scored 3:20 later. Penn State scored 11 of the next 16 points after Mitchell's bucket to take an eight-point lead at the 6:45 mark when Lindsay Spann drained a 3-pointer.
The 'Cats steadily chipped away and when Inman scored two of her 12 first-half points 3:20 later off a feed from Roser, they grabbed a 34-33 lead with under three-and-a-half minutes to go. PSU closed the half on an 8-2 run, however, and it led at halftime, 41-36.
The Lady Lions were on fire from the field during the first 20 minutes. They shot the ball at a clip of 51.7 percent (15-of-29). Northwestern turned the ball over only four times in the first, however its shots weren't falling. The visiting team was limited to a mark of 31.4 percent (11-of-35). Inman led all players with 12 points in the first half, while Lyon added 10 for the Wildcats.
Nia Coffey scored four quick points to open the second half, pulling the Wildcats to within a point. Though they got close, the 'Cats could not get over the hump. Penn State built the lead to eight points, 58-50, when Lyon began to shoot her team right back into it. The Wilmette, Ill., native netted back-to-back 3-pointers that made it a two-point game, 60-58 with 10:41 to go.
Lyon struck again from downtown about a minute later to make it a one-point game 62-61 before Roser gave the 'Cats their first lead of the half, 63-62, with a pair of points in the paint and a tick over nine minutes left to play.
The two teams traded punches until Penn State took the lead for good on Agee's late free throw. The contest featured seven ties and seven lead changes.
The Wildcats registered a season-low seven turnovers Sunday, but Penn State dominated the battle on the boards with a rebounding margin of +17. NU, despite improving in the second half, registered a shooting percentage below 35 percent for the second consecutive game.
Lyon paced the Wildcats with a game-high 20 points, giving her 1,017 for her career. The junior added seven rebounds while playing all 40 minutes. Inman finished with 16 and three steals and Deary notched 13 points while adding three thefts of her own. Coffey picked up her seventh double-double of the season, and the 15th of her career, behind 10 points and a team-high 11 rebounds. Five of Coffey's boards came on the offensive end Sunday.
After two straight on the road, the Wildcats return to Welsh-Ryan Arena on Thursday, January 29 to host the Iowa Hawkeyes at 7 p.m. Northwestern also welcomes Minnesota to Evanston at 2 p.m. on Sunday, February 1 for Scout Day. For only $12, scouts can receive a patch, game ticket, t-shirt, clinic and pregame meal. For more information, please call Katie Stankiewicz at 847-467-3758 or e-mail katherine.stankiewicz@northwestern.edu.
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