Penn State head coach Rene Portland wasn’t happy after losing 66-62 to the Spartans on Sunday at Breslin Center, and she had good reason.
Her Nittany Lions led for most of the second half and held a one-point advantage with 1:14 left after forward Jessica Brungo’s free throws made the count 62-61.
But in the final minute, Penn State did one thing the Spartan women’s basketball team didn’t - they played young.
After freshman center Kelli Roehrig’s layup put the Spartans back on top 63-62, the Nittany Lions couldn’t answer. In fact, Penn State wouldn’t even get a shot off during the remainder of the contest.
Turnovers by freshman point guard Jess Strom and sophomore Brungo on the Nittany Lions’ final two possessions squashed any chances of last-second heroics.
“You can’t be young in the month of January,” Portland said.
And the Spartans weren’t.
MSU head coach Joanne P. McCallie has seen her team suffer through last-minute struggles against No. 9 Wisconsin, No. 23 Minnesota and Illinois. Now, she’s seen her team mesh right in front of her eyes.
“Each game it’s been building, and we’ve really had to work hard to stay together,” she said. “Our team never got down, and they all showed a tremendous amount of maturity.”
Most surprising Sunday was the maturity of a few freshmen, forward Joy Johnson and guards Cortne Ellis and Kristin Haynie.
Johnson finished the afternoon with gaudy numbers filling the box score - perfect from the field (5-of-5), 3-of-4 from the free-throw line, four rebounds and 13 points.
“Joy was fantastic,” McCallie said. “She gave us a tremendous lift and played with a lot of confidence.”
Most impressive is the fact that Johnson hadn’t scored more than four points since Dec. 5, when she dropped 11 points in a win over Oakland.
But the Spartan coaches had a plan for her - slow down.
“When I first got in, I was really nervous and fumbling the ball,” Johnson said. “But, when I got back in, the coaches told me to slow down, and that’s what I did. I made my shots, and it provided a spark for everybody.”
And then there was Ellis, who provided valuable minutes off the bench for the win. In seven first-half minutes, she managed two points on 1-of-3 shooting - nothing terrific, nothing terrible.
But in her three second-half minutes, Ellis scored four points, grabbed an offensive rebound and had a steal, sparking the Spartans.
“I felt today we needed a lot of energy, and I had to bring energy offensively and defensively,” Ellis said.
Haynie, along with junior Vnemina Reese, is one of the two Spartans to start all 18 games, and has grown from her experience.
“We shouldn’t act like we’re freshmen,” Haynie said. “You just can’t play like a freshman, because we’ve already been playing for half the season.”
On Sunday, Haynie didn’t play like one - scoring the final three Spartan points, including a pair of free throws sealing the victory with four seconds left.
Add Roehrig and her nine points to the mix, and McCallie has a recipe for freshman success.
“Certainly, we have a very young team, but we’re not young anymore,” McCallie said. “Everyone has a lot of experience, and we’re trying to capitalize on that experience now that we’ve been through so much together.”
