| Mashea Williams scored a career high 20 points to lead Penn State to its first Conference win of the year Sunday vs. Wisconsin. Williams and the Lady Lions hope to make it two in a row as they face Illinois on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET. The game will air live on the Penn State Sports Network, while GoPSUsports.com will provide links to the audio feed and the GameTracker feature. |
Penn State game notes
Big Ten notes
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. January 10, 2006 - Penn State Head coach Rene Portland will face her former teammate and longtime friend when her Lady Lions visit Illinois on Thursday.
The game is slated to tip off at 8 p.m. ET. As usual, the Penn State Sports Network will broadcast the game over the radio and Penn State's official athletics website, www.GoPSUsports.com will provide links to the audio feed and the GameTracker feature.
Head coaches Theresa Grentz and Rene Portland have grown up professionally with each other. The two played together at Immaculata where they won three national championships together from 1972-1974 under Hall of Famer Cathy Rush. The two both had two-year stints at Saint Joseph's in Philadelphia, with Portland taking over for Grentz in 1976. Grentz has been at Illinois since the 1995-1996 season and before that coached at Rutgers where she faced Portland in Atlantic 10 action. The two coaches will reunite before the game, however. When Portland was honored as the Renaissance Fund Person of the Year earlier this year, she asked Grentz to emcee the event. Grentz took the invite one step further and auctioned off a dinner at her house in Champaign with the money going to the Renaissance Scholarship fund. The top bidder will ride with Penn State on the team charter and enjoy dinner at the Grentz home with the two coaches.
Penn State (7-8, 1-3), which picked up its first Big Ten win of the year on Sunday vs. Wisconsin, is led by Amanda Brown (Kennett Square, Pa.), who is averaging 15.5 ppg and 7.3 rpg, which rank sixth and eighth in the Big Ten, respectively. Her .612 shooting percentage ranks second in the Big Ten as does her 1.9 blocks per contest. Kamela Gissendanner (Clairton, Pa.) is adding 14.7 ppg while Adrienne Squire (Indianapolis, Ind.) is also in double-digit scoring figures at 12.5 ppg. Squire is also the team's second-leading rebounder at 4.4 rpg. Although the Lady Lions picked up a win on Sunday, the game also marked the end of an exciting streak. Squire, who came into the game with a record string of 57 straight free throws, made her first three to move the streak to 60. On her 61st attempt, however, the ball bounced out. Although the streak came to an end, Lady Lion fans showed Squire their appreciation for her remarkable shooting streak with a long standing applause. Squire, who has made 60 of 61 free throws in her career, including 50 of 51 this season, set the new Penn State single season and career marks. She was only six away from the NCAA Division I record of 66.
Ilinois (10-4, 2-1) had an up and down non-conference season. The Illini dropped games to Northern Colorado and Northern Florida, but defeated then-No. 15 Oklahoma. Illinois started out the Big Ten season with a big win over Michigan, but lost at Iowa on New Year's Day. The team is coming off a 64-55 win over Northwestern on Sunday. Janelle Hughes led the team with 15 points while Audrey Tabon pulled down 14 rebounds. Hughes and Tabon lead the team in points and rebounds, respectively with Hughes averaging 14.6 ppg and Tabon pulling down 7.1 rpg. Pennsylvania native Erin Wigley is the other Illini player averaging double-digit scoring figures at 11.7 ppg.
This game is the first of three straight road games for the Lady Lions. Penn State has the weekend off and travels to Purdue next 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.