| Kam Gissendanner led Penn State with 18 points, but the Lady Lions still fell to Illinois, 66-57, Thursday in Champaign. |
Box Score
CHAMPAIGN, Ill., January 12, 2006 - Penn State staged a gutsy second-half rally, but could not overcome a 10-point halftime deficit and fell to Illinois, 66-57, Thursday at Assembly Hall.
Kam Gissendanner (Clairton, Pa.) led the Lady Lions with 18 points. Amanda Brown (Kennett Square, Pa.) and Mashea Williams (Erie, Pa.) also reached double-digits in the scoring column, scoring 16 and 12, respectively. Williams, who started the second half, provided a spark for Penn State, scoring all of her points after the halftime break. Janelle Hughes led the Illini with 15 points, including three 3-pointers.
The loss was Penn State's first to Illinois in the last seven games. The Lady Lions, who fall to 7-9, 1-4, still own a 13-games-to-eight lead in the overall series. The Illini, meanwhile, stayed perfect at home this year, and improve their record to 11-4 overall and 3-1 in conference play.
Head coach Rene Portland, looking to kick-start her team's offense, started the second half with a four-guard offense, putting Brown at center inside and guards Gissendanner, Williams, Adrienne Squire (Indianapolis, Ind.), and Brianne O'Rourke (Pittsburgh, Pa.) on the perimeter. The group, which was reminiscent of the Brungo-Mazzante-Strom-Wright days of several years ago, clicked on offense and cut the lead to five with just over 15 minutes left on the clock. Brown picked up her third foul shortly after that, and was forced to the bench. The Lady Lions stayed strong without their top scorer and rebounder, however, and chipped the lead to four after Squire buried a 3-pointer from the right baseline at the 12:30 mark. It was as close as Penn State would get, though, as Illinois held on down the stretch.
Although Brown left the game after fouling out, she did pass another personal milestone, this time becoming just the seventh Lady Lion ever to amass 100 blocks. Brown, who had 96 entering today's contest, swatted four in the game, and ranks seventh all-time on Penn State's blocks list with 100 to her credit.
Both teams got hot in the first half and exchanged big leads before the break. The game opened at a frenetic pace and Illinois took an early 11-7 lead in the first four minutes, but Penn State came firing back shooting out on a 13-3 run to pull ahead, 20-14 at the 13-minute mark. Brown and Gissendanner combined for 11 of the team's 13 points in the spurt. Penn State cooled off, however, and gave up 16 straight points to the Illini who surged to a 30-20 lead with just under five minutes to play. Penn State did not score again until the 4:22 mark when Brown muscled up an offensive rebound to make the score, 30-22. The Lady Lions closed out the first half evenly with Illinois, and went into the break down, 36-26. Illinois finished the period shooting 42 percent, including a 4-for-8 performance from the 3-point line. Penn State struggled from the field in the first half, shooting just 27 percent with no 3-pointers.
Tonight's game was the first of three straight road games for the Lady Lions. Penn State has the weekend off and next travels to Purdue on Thursday, Jan. 19 for a 7 p.m. matchup. The final road game of the swing is next Sunday at Northwestern. That game is slated to tip off at 3 p.m. ET. All of Penn State's games will air live on the Penn State Sports Network. Penn State's official athletics website, www.GoPSUsports.com, will provide links to the audio feed and the GameTracker feature.
"Sunday FunDay" packages and single games tickets for the Lady Lions are still available. Tickets can be purchased at the Bryce Jordan Center ticket windows weekdays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fans can also get tickets by calling 800-863-3336 or 865-5555 locally or visit www.GoPSUsports.com, the official website of Penn State Athletics. Tickets are also available by visiting the Downtown Ticket Center, Eisenhower Auditorium, and at the HUB ticket booth at the information desk. For groups of 10 or more, ticket discounts and preferred seating options are available by calling (814)863-6757.
Big Ten Tournament tickets are on sale now as well. To get tickets now, Penn State fans can go through the Penn State box office. Fans can also buy all-session tickets through Ticketmaster for $55 at all Ticketmaster outlets, including the Conseco Fieldhouse box office, Ticketmaster charge-by-phone numbers (570) 693-4100 in central Pennsylvania) or by visiting www.ticketmaster.com.
For group ticket information and a group order form, contact Justin Hirnisey of Indiana Sports Corporation at (317) 237-5026 or justin.hirnisey@indianasportscorp.com.