Feb. 24, 2008
EVANSTON, ILL. - The Lady Lions (13-15, 4-12) rallied from a first half deficit, but went cold from the field in the final six minutes on the way to a 70-58 loss at Northwestern (5-23, 1-15) Sunday. Penn State shot just 30.2% from the field, including a 19% effort from three-point range, while Northwestern connected on 43.3% of their shots. The Wildcats pick up their first conference win since a 64-61 over Penn State on Feb. 11, 2007.
Senior guard Kam Gissendanner (Clairton, Pa.) had an outstanding overall game with 21 points, seven rebounds, three blocked shots and three steals to lead the Lady Lions. Sophomore Tyra Grant (Youngstown, Ohio) added 11 points and eight rebounds, while freshman Julia Trogele (Devon, Pa.) chipped in a career-high 10 points, including a 6-for-6 effort from the free throw line.
The Lady Lions got out of the gate early with five points by Gissendanner in the first two and a half minutes of the game, but Penn State found itself down by seven (15-8) at the 13:48 mark of the opening period. The Wildcats had the hot hand in early going, knocking down eight of their first 10 shots.
Penn State rallied with a 7-2 run to make it a 17-15 game with just over 10 minutes to play in the period. During the run, Grant connected on a three-pointer, Evelyn Lewis (Hampton, Va.) converted on a lay-up and Meggan Quinn (Red Lion, Pa.) had a steal and lay-up. The Lady Lion defense held Northwestern without a basket for nearly five minutes, but could not capitalize on the offensive end. A lay-up by Amy Jaeschke and a three-pointer by Meshia Reed put the Wildcat lead back to seven points (22-15) before a Gissendanner trey sliced it back to a four-point game at 22-18 with six and a half minutes left in the period.
It remained a four-point game for the next several minutes until a Gissendanner three-point play made it a 27-26 game with 2:34 left in the half, but the Wildcats responded with a three-pointer by Nadia Bibbs. Penn State then scored four of the game's next five points to make it a one-point game (31-30) with one minute remaining. On the ensuing Northwestern possession, the PSU defense forced back-to-back misses before Savannah Stedman converted on the third Wildcat opportunity. Northwestern added another basket as the clock expired to send the teams into the break with a 35-30 Wildcat lead.
Gissendanner led Penn State with 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting to go along with two blocks and three steals. Grant added six points in the first frame and Quinn accounted for four tallies and two assists.
Gissendanner started the second half the same way she opened the game, scoring Penn State's first five tallies of the second frame to cut the Northwestern lead to two points (37-35) with 17:31 left in the game. The Lady Lions would tie the game at 37-37 on a Trogele lay-up just a minute later before Bibbs' basket put the Wildcats up 39-37 with 16 minutes to go.
Northwestern bumped its lead back to 11 points (52-41) over the next five-plus minutes, but the Lady Lions kept fighting and reeled off an 8-1 run, which included two points apiece from Grant, Quinn, Gissendanner and Trogele, to cut it to a 53-49 game with just under nine minutes to play. After several offensive exchanges to keep it at a four-point lead, Amy Jaeschke knocked down a three-pointer to seven at 58-51 with 7:32 on the clock. The Lady Lions cut the deficit back to four markers (60-56) with just under six minutes to go thanks to a 5-2 run.
The Lady Lion defense stood solid as it held Northwestern without a field goal over the final six minutes and 19 seconds, but the offense went cold for the remainder of the game with just two Trogele free throws in the final six minutes. Northwestern made its final 10 free throws of the game to take home the 12-point win (70-58).
The Lady Lions return to the Bryce Jordan Center for their final home game of the regular-season on Thursday, Feb. 28 against nationally-ranked Ohio State at 7 p.m. Penn State closes out the regular-season at Indiana on Sunday, Mar. 2 at 4 p.m., before heading off to the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis.
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.
FREE- DOWNLOAD THE PENN STATE SPORTS DESKTOP APPLICATION HERE