Jan. 2, 2008
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UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - After sophomore Tyra Grant (Youngstown, Ohio) made two clutch free throw with just under 10 seconds remaining, junior Mashea Williams (Erie, Pa.) picked the perfect time to register her first defensive charge of the season. Williams stepped in front of Rebecca Harris at the buzzer to lead the Lady Lions (10-4, 1-1) to a thrilling 49-48 victory over Illinois (10-4, 2-1) Wednesday night at the Bryce Jordan Center.
With the Lady Lions trailing 48-47, Grant drove baseline on the Lady Lions' final possession and drew the foul on her lay-up attempt with 9.9 seconds left. Grant coaxed her first free throw attempt in with a bit of body language to tie the game and found nothing but net to put Penn State up by one (49-48). On the ensuing Illinois possession, Rebecca Harris drove the lane with Brianne O'Rourke (Pittsburgh, Pa.) guarding her. When O'Rourke slipped, Harris continued to drive to the bucket, but Williams slid in front of Harris as she went up for the shot to draw the game-winning charge.
Penn State, which held Illinois to just 17.2% from the field in the second half, made all 11 of its free throws in the final stanza and 89.5% of its shots from the charity stripe overall to come away with the win. Grant finished with 13 points, six rebounds and two assists, while Williams added 13 points, eight rebounds and two steals in the win. O'Rourke was also in double figures with 10 points, four assists and three rebounds.
The Lady Lions fell behind by four early, but went on a 7-2 run, led by O'Rourke's two three-pointers, to pull ahead by five at 18-13 with just under eight minutes left in the half. Plagued by a series of turnovers and despite several good defensive possessions, Illinois went on a 9-0 run to reassume the lead at 24-20 with just over two minutes left in the opening frame. Rashida Mark (Brooklyn, N.Y.) stopped the run and brought PSU within two points with a rebound and put-back, but the Illini would score six of the final eight points of the half to head into the locker room with a 30-24 lead.
The two teams swapped baskets in the early part of the second half until Williams converted on a three-point play to pull the Lady Lions within two points at 35-33 with 15:35 remaining in the game. However, the Fighting Illini scored four consecutive points to move ahead by six tallies (39-33) with 14:30 on the clock.
The Lady Lions subsequently went on an 8-0 run to take a 41-39 lead with 8:21 on the clock; it was Penn State's first lead since the 5:25 mark in the opening period. Williams, Meredith Monroe (Olney, Md.), Grant and O'Rourke accounted for two tallies apiece during the run. Despite solid defense, the Lady Lions could not extend the lead during a seven-minute scoring drought for Illinois, which was snapped when Lori Bjork connected on a three-pointer with just under seven minutes remaining to move the Illini ahead by one (42-41).
Illinois extended its lead to four point on a three-point play by Chelsea Gordon with 5:21 left, but the Lady Lions got two free throws from Williams and a fade away jumper by Grant to even the score at 45-45 with under four minutes to play. Bjork, the top-ranked free throw shooter in the Big Ten, split a pair of free throws to put the Illini up 46-45 with 3:22 on the clock.
Gordon made a pair of free throws to put Illinois up by three points (48-45) with one minute left before Williams connected on two freebies with 56 second on the clock and Grant added the game-clinching free throws with 9.9 seconds remaining.
The Lady Lions travel to Michigan State on Saturday, Jan. 5 for a nationally televised game on CBS at noon before returning to the Jordan Center to face Northwestern on Thursday at 7 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: Mashea Williams reached the 500-point mark for her career with 13 tallies against the Illni...Brianne O'Rourke surpassed the 600-point plateau for her career with eight points in the first half. She finished the game with 10 points.