| Rene Portland and the Lady Lions fought hard down the stretch but could not overcome the No. 8 Boilermakers, falling 72-61 at home on Sunday. The Lady Lions are at Inidiana on Thursday, but return to the Bryce Jordan Center on Sunday for a 1 p.m. matchup vs. Illinois. |
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. February 5, 2006 - Amanda Brown (Kennett Square, Pa.) scored a career-high 29 points, but the Lady Lions could not top No. 8/8 Purdue, falling to the Boilermakers, 72-61, on Sunday in front of 9,523 at the Bryce Jordan Center.
All-Big Ten candidate Kam Gissendanner (Clairton, Pa.) also reached double-digit scoring figures for Penn State, tallying 11 in the game. Four players reached that mark for Purdue, with Katie Gearlds leading the way at 17 points. Brown led all rebounders with eight.
Brianne O'Rourke (Pittsburgh, Pa.) led all players in assists, dishing out eight on the day. The leading Big Ten Freshman of the Year candidate continues to move into some very select company at Penn State. She now has 122 assists, passing former Kodak All-American Helen Darling to take over fourth place on the Penn State single season freshmen assist annals. O'Rourke, who was the first player in the Big Ten to eclipse the 100-assist mark this year, is averaging a Big Ten-best 5.5 assists per game, which also ranks in the top 20 of the country.
With the win, Purdue (18-3, 10-1) snapped its six-game losing streak at the Bryce Jordan Center. This is the first time since 1999 that Purdue has won both games in the season series, and also the first win at the BJC for Purdue head coach Kristy Curry.
On the postgame stat sheet nearly everything was even. Penn State (10-12, 4-7) connected on more baskets (24 to 22) than Purdue, and nearly matched Purdue's output on the boards. The difference came at the free throw line. Penn State made an uncharacteristic 11 of 17 free throws while Purdue shot 25 for 30.
Before the game Gissendanner said that Penn State would have to keep Purdue within arms reach in order to have a shot at the top-ranked Boilermakers in the end. Penn State did just that in the first half, and opened the second half down by just four points, 34-40.
Gissendanner opened the second frame with an inside jumper, but Purdue quickly built a 41-32 lead, its largest of the game, after just three minutes. Penn State answered back with a Brown bucket and free throw on the foul at the 16:43 mark, but did not score again while Purdue pushed its lead to 20 with 13 minutes left in the game. Head coach Rene Portland called a 30-second timeout to regroup and Mashea Williams (Erie, Pa.) came out of the short break and drew a foul, converting one of the free throws to trim the lead to 55-36 and end the scoring drought at just over four minutes. The Lady Lions outscored Purdue 15-5 over the next several minutes, pulling to within 60-49 after O'Rourke sunk a driving layup. The freshman point guard then stole the inbounds pass and made an acrobatic play, calling timeout as she fell out of bounds to preserve the possession and bring the nine thousand-plus crowd to its feet. Penn State converted the turnover into a Brown layup, trimming the lead to nine with just over seven minutes on the clock. Purdue went ahead by 12, but Charity Renfro hit her second 3-pointer of the year to cut it back to nine with 4:15 left on the clock. Purdue held the Lady Lions at bay down the stretch, making five of its last six free throws in that time.
"I thought it was a good effort to cut the lead," said Portland. "Purdue relaxed a little when they got up by so much and we capitalized. When we cut it nine, we kept pressing them but they were using up most of the 30-second shot clock running their offense, and it was hard to keep making things happen."
Brown paced the Lady Lions in the first half with 15 points, helping to keep the Lady Lions within striking distance of the No. 8 Boilermakers. Purdue took an early seven-point lead after four minutes of play, but Penn State kept the Boilers from pulling away and went on a commanding 17-4 run over the next seven minutes. Romana Vynuchalova (Bratislava, Slovakia) sparked the run with a nifty driving move in the paint to make it 11-6. Williams found Brown on a fast break play and Gissendanner tied the game at 11 points apiece with a long 3-pointer. Penn State kept the pressure on and pulled ahead, 21-15 with nine minutes left in the half.
Purdue found its rhythm, however, putting together a run of its own capped by a Gearlds 3-pointer to reclaim the lead at 26-24 with just under four minutes until the break.
Brown took over at that point, scoring five of her 15 first-half points in the last four minutes and answering several of Purdue's efforts to pull ahead. First the Boilermakers knocked down a jumper to make it 28-24, but Brown answered with a layup to pull the Lady Lions within two. On the other end she grabbed a missed Purdue shot and took a pinpoint pass from Gissendanner inside to tie the game at 28 with a little over two minutes left on the clock. Purdue responded with a jumper, but Brown came right back with a free throw to bring Penn State to 30-29. Purdue scored the last two buckets of the game to go into the break up, 34-30.
Penn State heads back to the road on Thursday, Feb. 9 to take on the Hoosiers in Bloomington. The Lady Lions will be looking to avenge their 54-50 upset loss at home on New Year's Day. Penn State returns home Sunday, Feb. 12 to take on Illinois at 1 p.m. ET. That game will air live on Comcast Sports Net. Following the game vs. the Illini, Penn State has two more home games. First the Lady Lions host Northwestern on Thursday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. Next Penn State welcomes Ohio State in the regular season finale on Sunday Feb. 26 at 2 p.m.
Single games tickets for the three remaining home games 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.
Fans interested in buying all-session tickets for the NCAA First and Second Round Games at the Bryce Jordan Center on March 18 and 21 should contact the Penn State ticket office at 1-800-863-3336 or 814-865-5555. All-session tickets will gain the bearer entry to all three sessions. Adult all-session tickets for the six-game, two-day event are available for $42. Penn State students, youth under 18 and senior citizens (60 or above) can purchase tickets for only $18. Fans may also purchase tickets by downloading a ticket brochure and returning the adjoining application to the Penn State ticket office at the address provided. The brochure, and additional information on the NCAA Tournament Games at the Bryce Jordan Center are available online at http://www.gopsusports.com/BasketballW/NCAATourney/
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.