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Lady Lions efficient, dominant

UNIVERSITY PARK — Penn State put together its most efficient offensive performance of the season to capture a dominant 80-59 win over American Sunday afternoon in the Lady Lions’ non-conference finale at the Bryce Jordan Center.

“We had a lot of contributions from a number of individuals,” Penn State coach Coquese Washington said. “In the second half we came out and were able to really step up our defensive effort and I thought that was really the key to the game. We were able to play with the lead and I’m really happy with the way we played the second half.”

Penn State and American were tied 33-33 at the half before the Lady Lions outscored the Eagles 47-26 in the second half. PSU dished a season-best 22 assists, while committing a record-low five turnovers, as the Lady Lions tied their season high with 80 points to wrap up non-conference play with a 7-4 record.

The senior duo of Amari Carter and Teniya Page led the way with 18 and 17 points, respectively, while the two also dished seven assists apiece.

Sophomore Alisia Smith followed with 14 points, while classmate Kamaria McDaniel added 13 to round out the Lady Lions in double figures. Freshman Lauren Ebo nearly missed a double-double with nine points and a team-best 12 rebounds.

Washington acknowledged that the Lady Lions have faced numerous challenges early in the season, but that her team is starting to round into form, and just in time for the Big Ten schedule which is set to begin when the No. 6 Maryland Lady Terrapins come to Happy Valley on Dec. 28.

“We’ve done some things really well in non-conference play, we’ve had some challenges, we’ve had some injuries and some adversity we’ve had to overcome” Washington said. “I like where we are right now and we’re starting to round into form. Our chemistry and confidence in each other is developing and I’m excited about heading into Big Ten play.

“Every game is tough. I think our non-conference schedule has prepared us for that because we’ve been in a lot of tough games. We know that Big Ten play is going to be challenge. We have a little bit of time to fine tune some things on both the offensive and defensive ends.”

AMERICAN: Carl 5-12 0-0 10, Koskimies 4-12 2-2 12, Lewis 5-13 0-0 10, Marenyi 6-12 0-0 15, Sanders 0-0 1-2 1, Bartner 0-1 0-0 0, Brown 0-1 1-2 1, Doring 0-0 0-0 0, Edwards 2-3 0-0 4, Fisher 3-6 0-0 6, Graytok 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 25-60 4-6 59.

PENN STATE: Smith 7-8 0-2 14, Carter 6-12 4-4 18, Frazier 3-10 0-0 6, Ortiz 1-3 0-0 3, Page 6-18 5-5 17, Ebo 4-9 1-4 9, Wallace 0-0 0-0 0, Knizner 0-3 0-0 0, McDaniel 5-10 1-1 13, McMurtry 0-0 0-0 0, Semion 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 32-73 11-16 80.

American U. 14 19 14 12 –59

Penn State 18 15 26 21 –80

3-Point Goals–American U. 5-14 (Carl 0-2, Koskimies 2-3, Lewis 0-4, Marenyi 3-4, Brown 0-1), Penn State 5-22 (Carter 2-6, Frazier 0-1, Ortiz 1-2, Page 0-4, Knizner 0-3, McDaniel 2-6). Assists–American U. 17 (Lewis 4), Penn State 22 (Carter 7). Fouled Out–American U. Carl, Rebounds–American U. 35 (Carl 5), Penn State 42 (Ebo 12). Total Fouls–American U. 16, Penn State 11. Technical Fouls– None. A–2,257.

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