March 1, 2008
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - The Lady Lions (13-16, 4-13) complete their regular-season schedule with a road game at Indiana (16-13, 9-8) on Sunday at 4 p.m. This is the first and only regular-season meeting between the teams during the 2007-08 campaign.
The contest can be heard on the Penn State Sports Radio Network with Jerry Fisher (play-by-play) and Chris Morelli (analyst) describing play. Locally the game will air on the radio on WMAJ. The audio feed and a link to GameTracker are available at www.GoPSUSports.com.
The Lady Lions are 24-5 all-time against Indiana with a 19-4 mark in Big Ten play. Penn State is 8-3 in Bloomington all-time, but that a 58-43 loss to the Hoosiers in their last trip to Assembly Hall on Feb. 9, 2006. Penn State was victorious against Indiana to close out the 2007 regular season with a 78-68 victory at the Bryce Jordan Center on Feb. 25, 2007.
Penn State is coming off of a heartbreaking 87-84 loss to #18/22 Ohio State, a game that featured 18 ties and 16 lead changes. Senior guard Kam Gissendanner (Clairton, Pa.) carried the Lady Lions on their back with a season-high 25 points on 10-of-18 shooting in her final game at the BJC. Brianne O'Rourke (Pittsburgh, Pa.) added 17 points and three assists, while Janessa Wolff (Park Rapids, Minn.) posted her second career double-double with 16 points and 10 boards, including eight offensive caroms.
Head coach Coquese Washington put her fourth different starting lineup on the court in five games against Ohio State. It is also the sixth different starting five for the first-year head coach this season. The two constants for the Lady Lions this season have been Gissendanner and O'Rourke who have started every game. The Lady Lions have six players that made their first career start this season (Meredith Monroe, Rashida Mark, Wolff, Julia Trogele, Nicole Arcidiacono, Evelyn Lewis).
Junior guard Mashea Williams (Erie, Pa.) reached a pair of career milestones against Ohio State. She registered her 100th career steal and also surpassed the 600-career point mark. Gissendanner is also closing in on her own career mark as she needs 38 points to tie Tina Nicholson (1993-96) for 20th place on the Lady Lion career scoring charts.
When Penn State and Indiana met last season, Amanda Brown and Charity Renfro celebrated Senior Day in style as the combined for 30 points and 18 rebounds to lead the Lady Lions to a 78-68 win over Indiana on Feb. 25. Brown had a team-best 20 points and 10 rebounds to notch her 13th double-double of the season. She also tied her career high with five assists and added a pair of blocks and a steal. Renfro tied her career high with 10 points, coming of 5-of-7 shooting.
The Hoosiers are in a three-way tie for sixth place with a 9-8 record in conference play and a 16-13 mark overall. Jamie Braun leads the team and is fifth in the Big Ten in scoring with a 15.3 mark. She is also tied for 11th in the league in rebounding (6.2). Whitney Thomas has been solid for Indiana this season, averaging 12.0 points and a team-high 8.9 rebounds per outing.
The Lady Lions will now head off to the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis. No matter the outcome of Sunday's game against Indiana, the Lady Lions will be the 10th seed in next week's Big Ten Tournament. Penn State will take on the seventh seed of the tournament, which will be known when the Big Ten office releases the official bracket following the Sunday's final game.