Nov. 15, 2007
CINCINNATI, OHIO - The Lady Lions (3-1) battled hard and had the lead late, but could not hold on down the stretch in a 72-68 loss to Xavier (1-1) Thursday night in Cincinnati.
Tyra Grant (Youngstown, Ohio) had a team-high 23 points and narrowly missed a double-double with nine rebounds, while Kam Gissendanner (Clairton, Pa.) notched her first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Mashea Williams (Erie, Pa.) had 12 of her 14 points in the second period, while Janessa Wolff (Park Rapids, Minn.) finished with six points and six rebounds.
The Lady Lions started with the hot hand from deep to open the game as they connected on four three-pointers, including two triples by Gissendanner and one shot from beyond the arc apiece for Brianne O'Rourke (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Grant, in the first four minutes of the game to establish a 14-6 lead. The Musketeers went on a 6-2 run to close within four points at 16-12 with 12:32 remaining. Penn State held the Musketeers without a basket for nearly the next seven minutes, but could not capitalize as they only scored four points during that stretch to extend the lead to eight points (20-12).
Trailing by eight points, Xavier rallied with an 8-2 run to cut the Lady Lion lead to 23-20 with just over three minutes remaining in the half. O'Rourke drained a runner in the lane to move it to 25-20, but Jerri Taylor responded with a three-pointer to move it back to a two-point game. After a Grant free throw made it a 28-25 game, Amber Harris connected on a three-pointer to knot the game at 28-28 with 36 seconds remaining. Sophomore Meggan Quinn (Red Lion, Pa.) sunk a 16-foot jumper with 11 seconds left to send the Lady Lions into the locker room with a 30-28 lead.
Gissendanner finished the first frame with nine points, while Grant added eight tallies. In her first game back from a knee injury, Quinn tied her career high with four points in the opening frame.
Both teams came out of the locker room cold, only managing three points in the first 5:40 between the two squads. Maureen Hester made a jumper at the 18:22 mark to even the game at 30-30 and O'Rourke hit the front-end of a two-shot foul to give the Lady Lions the lead at 31-30 with 16:13 left in the game.
After Alesia Barringer gave the Musketeers their first led of the game at 32-31 with 14:20 on the clock, Mashea Williams (Erie, Pa.) made a shot in the lane and converted on a steal and lay-up on the next XU possession to give Penn State at three-point lead (35-32) with 13:46 left to play.
Barringer connected on a three-pointer with the shot clock winding down to tie the game at 35-35, but the Lady Lions went on a 6-0 run to establish a 41-35 lead with just over 11 minutes left. Freshman Julia Trogele (Devon, Pa.) jump-started the run by making a driving lay-up and Grant and Williams also converted on shots during the run. A pair of Harris free throws cut the lead back to four points before Grant connected on a jumper in the lane to make it a 43-37 with 10:44 on the clock.
Xavier used five free throws sandwiched between a Wolff to cut the lead to three points at 45-42 with 8:44 remaining. A quick 6-0 run for the Lady Lions made it a nine-point lead at 51-42, but a basket by Taylor and a three-point play by Harris tightened the game to just four tallies (51-47) with 5:47 on the clock. A jumper and foul by Grant moved the lead back to seven points with just over five minutes remaining. However, Taylor and Harris drained back-to-back three-pointers and Harris connected on a hook shot to give Xavier the lead a 58-56 with 3:01 left to play.
Wolff hit a jumper in the lane to tie the game at 58-58, but back-to-back baskets by Harris made it a four-point Xavier lead (62-58) with 1:43 on the clock. Williams cut the lead to two points (62-60) with a jumper with 1:24 remaining. With 49 seconds left, Gissendanner corralled the rebound after Ta'Shia Phillips missed the back-end of a two-shot foul, but was stripped of the ball while splitting two Xavier players. The steal resulted in a three-point play for Harris that made it a six-point lead for the Musketeers at 66-60. Gissendanner made a two-pointer and Grant sunk a pair of three-pointers in the final minute to close the gap, but Special Jennings made six free throws to give Xavier the win.
The Lady Lions continue a short road trip at South Carolina on Tuesday at 7 p.m., before returning to the Jordan Center to face Drexel on Sunday, Nov. 25 at 2 p.m.
This season, Penn State introduces a new seven-game Lady Lion Flex Plan package where fans will receive a ticket to the Duke (Sun., Dec. 2) and Georgetown (Sun., Dec. 9) games and the second annual THINK PINK Day versus Iowa (Sun., Feb. 10), as well as four flex vouchers to redeem in any ticket combination for Big Ten games. Fans can purchase single-game tickets or flex plan packages by visiting the Bryce Jordan Center box office, calling 814-865-5555 or 800-863-3336 or by clicking on the ticket link on www.GoPSUsports.com.
GAME NOTES: Kam Gissendanner scored her 900th career point and posted her first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds...Tyra Grant surpassed the 500-point plateau for her career...In her first game since returning from a knee injury, Meggan Quinn tied her career high with four points.