By Kevin Watson
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Turnovers — 26 in total — plagued the Towson women’s basketball team all night long Tuesday. Two in the final minute were particularly devastating.
With one minute remaining in the fourth quarter and Towson trailing 63-60, Myasia Jones had just crossed half court when she lost control of the ball, leading to an uncontested layup from Penn State’s Makenna Marisa.
Thirty seconds later, with Towson trailing 67-61, Kionna Jeter dribbled toward the paint and missed a teammate in the post. The ball slowly bounced out of bounds, signifying the end of the Tigers’ comeback attempt.
Despite 18 points from both Jeter and Q. Murray, Towson couldn’t overcome its sloppy offensive performance, losing the home opener at SECU Arena 73-67.
Coming off a Colonial Athletic Association tournament title — which was celebrated before tipoff — and the team’s first ever NCAA tournament appearance, Towson had a disappointing next act.
Both teams were sloppy throughout the contest — Penn State had 21 turnovers and scored just 18 points in the first half.
Penn State went into a full-court press halfway through the third quarter that gave Towson trouble, leading to easy buckets off turnovers for the Nittany Lions. Penn State’s pressure changed the tone and momentum of the game.
“When the bright lights come on it’s kind of glaring,” said Towson head coach Diane Richardson.
Penn State exploded for 55 points in the second half, with many points coming off turnovers.
The Tigers shot 22.9 percent at the end of the first half. Richardson told her team at half the shots just weren’t falling, but she wanted the players to continue to be aggressive. The team ended up shooting only 32.4 percent from the field.
Towson seemed to have a lot of miscommunication early in the game. The Tigers often had a player running down the court for a breakaway and the pass would be just a little too far or just a little off to the left.
“We have seven new players we are still getting used to them we will get it together,” said Towson guard Q. Murray.
One bright spot for Towson: first-half defense and second-half blocks. The team had 8 blocks and 5 of them came in the second half of the game. Nukiya Mayo had 4 of those blocks. Mayo also scored 15 points and had 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the season.
The three returning starters from last year’s team were the three leading scorers in the game.
“From when the buzzer went off against UConn I knew those thee would step up and put the team on their shoulders,” Richardson said.
Murray left the game for a short period of time late in the fourth quarter. She was able to get up and walk to the bench on her own. She later returned to the game after a couple of minutes on the bench.
Towson will next fly across the country for a two-game California road trip against San Diego State and the University of California San Diego.