Jan. 10, 2008
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UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - The Lady Lions (12-4, 3-1) led wire-to-wire on the way to a 72-53 victory over Northwestern (4-12, 0-4) Thursday night at the Bryce Jordan Center. Senior guard Kam Gissendanner (Clairton, Pa.) became the 30th Lady Lion to reach the 1,000-point plateau on a jumper four minutes into the game and finished with 18 tallies on 6-of-12 shooting.
Despite an uncharacteristically poor night at the free throw line (57.1%), the Lady Lions used a balanced attack, shooting 48.3% from the field and outrebounding the Wildcats, 42-35, in the win. Sophomore Tyra Grant (Youngstown, Ohio) led all scorers with 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting and tied her career high with three blocks.
Junior point guard Brianne O'Rourke (Pittsburgh, Pa.) registered her fourth career double-digit assist performance with 10 helpers, just one off her career high, to go along with eight points, five rebounds and two steals, while Mashea Williams (Erie, Pa.) added 10 points, five rebounds and five assists. Junior post player Rashida Mark (Brooklyn, N.Y.) led all players with 12 rebounds, which ties her career high.
After a slow start, the Lady Lions jumped out to a 13-point lead at 25-12 with nine minutes left in the half. Gissendanner scored seven of Penn State's first 10 points, including the jumper that brought her over the 1,000-point mark for her Penn State career, and Grant registered nine tallies in the opening spurt for the Lady Lions. Penn State kept the Wildcats at a distance for the remainder of the half and led by a 32-24 margin at the break.
Grant finished the opening frame with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting, while Gissendanner added nine points. Mark pulled down seven rebounds in the opening period to lead all players.
The teams swapped baskets to start the half, but the Lady Lions proceeded to score the next six points to pull out to its largest lead of the game to that point at 14 points (40-26) with 18 minutes remaining. As Penn State went through an offensive lapse, Northwestern chipped away and pulled within eight points at 44-36 with 13 and a half minutes remaining.
The Wildcats would pull no closer from that point as an 8-2 Lady Lion run, which included three points by O'Rourke, two points each by Grant and Gissendanner and one tally by Janessa Wolff (Park Rapids, Minn.), extended the lead to 52-38 with 11 minutes remaining. Penn State continued to keep the pressure on, pulling ahead by as many as 19 (62-43) on an O'Rourke jumper with just under seven minutes on the clock.
After back-to-back three-pointers brought the Wildcats within 13 points (64-51) with two minutes left, the Lady Lions scored eight of the last 10 points, including four tallies from Meredith Monroe (Olney, Md.), of the contest for the final margin.
The Lady Lions travel to Minnesota on Sunday, Jan. 13 for a 2 p.m. (Eastern) contest that will be televised on the Big Ten Network. Following Sunday's game, the Lady Lions are back in the BJC for two key Big Ten contests against Purdue on Thursday, Jan. 17 at 8 p.m. and Michigan on Sunday, Jan. 20.
Fans can purchase single-game tickets 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. The second annual THINK PINK Day is slated for Sunday, Feb. 10 versus Iowa at noon. For more information on THINK PINK Day, visit Penn State's official THINK PINK website at www.gopsusports.com/thinkpink.
GAME NOTES: Kam Gissendanner became the 30th player in Lady Lion history to reach the 1,000-point plateau with a jumper at the 16:07 mark in the first half...Tyra Grant notched her fourth 20-point performance of the season and 11th of her career with 20 tallies...Brianne O'Rourke recorded her fourth career double-digit assist performance with 10 helpers, which was one assist shy of her career high...Rashida Mark tied her career high with 12 rebounds.