Jan. 17, 2008
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| Postgame Podcast
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - The Lady Lions (12-6, 3-3) saw their 15-game home court winning streak come to end as Purdue (8-9, 4-2) handed Penn State a 79-70 loss at the Bryce Jordan Center Thursday night. The winning streak was tied for the third longest in NCAA Division I. It was also the fourth consecutive loss for the Lady Lions to the Boilermakers.
Sophomore Tyra Grant (Youngstown, Ohio) led all scorers with 18 points, including a trio of three-pointers, to compliment four rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Meggan Quinn (Red Lion, Pa.) had a career night with 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting, while Kam Gissendanner (Clairton, Pa.) added 14 tallies and Brianne O'Rourke (Pittsburgh, Pa.) accounted for 10 points and nine assists.
The Boilermakers jumped out to the early 4-0 lead, but Penn State stayed within striking distance and took the lead for the first time at 13-11 on a jumper by Quinn with 12:06 left in the half. From that point, the game became a see-saw affair until Purdue went on a 18-3 run to establish a 35-21 lead with just under four minutes left in the half.
The Lady Lions fought back, scoring nine consecutive points, including four points by Grant, three points by Gissendanner and two tallies from Williams, to cut the Purdue lead to five points (35-30) with 11 seconds left in the half. However, FahKara Malone knocked down a three-pointer with four seconds left to send the Boilers into the break with a 38-30 lead.
Grant had 10 points with three assists in the opening frame, while Gissendanner added seven points on 3-of-3 shooting. Both teams shot 50% or better in the first half as Purdue connected on 51.7% of their shots and Penn State was 13-of-26 for a 50% mark from the field.
Rashida Mark (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Grant combined to score the first four points of the second half to cut the lead to four points at 38-34 just a minute in, but the Boilermakers got back-to-back three-point efforts sandwiched around an O'Rourke jumper to extend the lead back to eight points (44-36). A three-pointer by Grant cut into the Purdue lead again, but the Boilers responded with an 11-2 run to move ahead by 14 points (55-41) with just over 12 minutes remaining in the game.
The two squads exchanged scoring opportunities for the next several possessions until Quinn's second three-pointer of the game pulled the Lady Lions within 10 points at 63-53 with eight minutes remaining. A pair of O'Rourke free throws sliced the lead to eight points (63-55), but Purdue pulled ahead by 12 points (75-63) with 4:30 remaining. However, the Lady Lions had one last run in them and scored the next seven points to get within five tallies (75-70) with 1:44 on the clock.
On the ensuing Purdue possession, the Lady Lions forced Natasha Bogdanova to miss her three-point attempt, but Kalika France corralled the offensive rebound which led to Malone draining two free throws to extend the lead to seven. After back-to-back three-point misses by Penn State, two Purdue free throws sealed the 79-70 win.
The Lady Lions are back in the Jordan Center against Michigan on Sunday, Jan. 20 for THON Hoops day at the Lady Lion game. It is also a 4 for $40 day where fans can get four tickets, four hot dogs and four drinks for $40. There will also be a postgame autograph session with the Lady Lions on the concourse. Penn State is back on the road at Wisconsin on Thursday, Jan. 24 and at nationally-ranked Ohio State on Monday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.
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: Meggan Quinn scored a career-high 11 points, which also marked her first career double-digit scoring game in her career...Tyra Grant tied a career-high with 39 minutes of action against Purdue, which was her third career 39-minute game...The loss snapped a 15-game home winning streak for the Lady Lions, which was tied for the 3rd longest home winning streak in the NCAA...It was the Lady Lions' first home loss since a 63-61 setback against Ohio State on Jan. 11, 2007...Penn State's last win over Purdue came on Jan. 20, 2005 (77-54) in University Park.