| Senior post player Amanda Brown registered her 10th double-double of the season with 19 points and 17 rebounds in Penn State's heartbreaking 64-61 loss at Northwestern Sunday. The Lady Lions return home to face Minnesota at the Bryce Jordan Center Thursday at 7 p.m. |
- Box Score
EVANSTON, ILL.; February 11, 2007 ?? Missed opportunities seemed to be the theme of the day as the Lady Lions (12-13, 5-7) dropped a tough 64-61 decision at Northwestern (7-18, 1-11) Sunday afternoon. Penn State had three chances to tie the game or take the lead in the final 40 seconds, but could not connect on any of the attempts. The Lady Lions also struggled from the free throw line, hitting on just 14-of-24 shots.
Senior post player Amanda Brown (Kennett Square, Pa.) registered her 10th double-double of the season with 19 points and 17 rebounds, while freshman guard Tyra Grant (Youngstown, Ohio) added a game-high 24 points, 16 of which came in the second half, and five rebounds in the loss. Junior guard Kam Gissendanner (Clairton, Pa.) also reached double figures for the Lady Lions with 12 points.
In a hotly contested first half, the Lady Lions jumped out to the early 2-0 lead with a basket by Gissendanner, but the Wildcats quickly responded with a bucket of their own by Kristin Cartwright. Northwestern took an 8-6 lead heading into the first official timeout on a basket by A.J. Glasauer, but two free throws by Grant coming out of the timeout tied the game at 8-8 with 15:42 remaining. Neither team would lead by more than two points until Northwestern went on a 6-0 run to jump out to the biggest lead of the half by either team at 20-15 with 7:12 left in the period. The Lady Lions fought back with a pair of free throws by Grant and back-to-back baskets by Brown to tie the game at 21-21 with 4:33 on the clock. Northwestern jumped back out to a four-point lead (28-24) with 2:18 remaining in the half, but back-to-back buckets by Grant allowed the Lady Lions to enter the locker room at the half tied at 28-28. Brown scored half of Penn State??s 28 points in the first half and grabbed nine rebounds, while Grant added eight tallies and two steals.
The second half proved to be more of the same as the teams continued to exchange baskets, but it was Gissendanner and Grant who took charge offensively for the Lady Lions, scoring 24 of PSU??s 33 points in the period. A three-pointer by Glasauer gave the Wildcats a 38-36 lead with 14:33 remaining, but a lay-up by Brown a short time knotted the game at 38-38. A field goal by Grant extended the lead to 41-38 with 11:14 remaining in the game, but the Wildcats fought back with a free throw and a pair of field goals to take a 43-41 advantage on the scoreboard at the midway point in the half. Grant connected on three-pointer to return the lead to the Lady Lions (44-43) with just under 10 minutes to play.
A quick 7-2 spurt by Northwestern gave the Wildcats a 50-46 lead with 7:25 remaining in the period. The Lady Lions went back on top at 53-52 with 5:19 on the clock after a three-point play by Grant and a jumper by Gissendanner. A trio of Northwestern free throws, combined with an offensive drought by Penn State, allowed the Wildcats to regain the lead at 58-54 with 3:22 left in the game. Brianne O??Rourke (Pittsburgh, Pa.) hit a lay-up with 2:47 left in the game to make it a two-point game at 58-56, but Northwestern quickly responded with their final field goal of the game at the 2:20 mark to move the lead back to four points (60-56).
The Lady Lions continued to chip away and cut the NU lead to one, 60-59, with just over a minute remaining. With 39 second remaining, Brown tossed a full-court outlet pass off of a Melissa Miller miss to a wide-open Grant, who missed the lay-up that would have given the Lady Lions the lead. Beth Marshall missed the backend of a two-shot foul to give the Lady Lions another chance to tie the game, but O??Rourke had her jumper blocked by Kaitlin McInerney, who was fouled on the rebound, with 16 seconds remaining. McInerney split her two free throws to keep hopes alive for Penn State, but the Lady Lions could only connected on a lay-up by Brown. After two free throws by Marshall made it a 64-61 lead for Northwestern with three seconds remaining, Grant??s half-court heave bounced off the backboard as time expired to give the Wildcats the three-point win.
The Lady Lions return to the friendly confines of the Bryce Jordan Center to face Minnesota on Thursday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. Penn State will be celebrating National Girls and Women in Sports Day by recognizing all of the women??s athletic teams at halftime.
Single-game tickets for the Lady Lions may be purchased by visiting the ticket section of GoPSUsports.com or by calling the ticket office at 814-865-5555. Women's single game tickets are $12 for adults and $5 for students and youth (under 18).