March 6, 2008
INDIANAPOLIS, IND. - The Lady Lions' (13-18, 4-14) season came to an end on Thursday afternoon as seventh-seeded Michigan (17-12, 9-9) handed Penn State a 64-54 loss in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. In her final game as a Lady Lion, Kam Gissendanner (Clairton, Pa.) posted her sixth double-double of the season with 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. The Lady Lions are 20-12 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament, including a 2-2 mark in the first round.
Sophomore guard Tyra Grant (Youngstown, Ohio) added a game-high 18 points to go along with five rebounds and three steals. Junior Brianne O'Rourke (Pittsburgh, Pa.) accounted for 10 tallies and six assists, while fellow junior Mashea Williams (Erie, Pa.) chipped in 10 points, five rebounds and two steals off of the bench.
The teams were even in the early going as it was 8-8 at the first media timeout, but five straight points by the Wolverines put Penn State in a 13-8 hole with 12 minutes remaining in the half. Following an exchange of baskets, the Lady Lions got back-to-back three-pointers from O'Rourke and Grant to pull within one point with 8:44 on the clock. The Wolverines extended their lead to three tallies before a basket by Janessa Wolff (Park Rapids, Minn.) and a fastbreak lay-up by Williams gave the Lady Lions the lead at 22-21 with 7:43 left in the half.
Out of a media timeout, Krista Clement knocked down a three-pointer to put Michigan ahead by a 24-22 margin, but Williams hit a pair of free throws to knot the game at 24-24 with just under five minutes left in the half. The squads swapped buckets and then free throws before O'Rourke rippled the net for a three-pointer with 1:22 on the clock to give the Lady Lions a 31-28 lead. Neither team would score for the remainder of the period.
Six different players scored for the Lady Lions, led by Williams and O'Rourke with eight points apiece. Grant added seven points and three rebounds, while Gissendanner has four tallies and a game-high five rebounds.
Gissendanner started the second half on fire as she scored Penn State's first five points of the closing period to help the Lady Lions maintain their three-point lead with 17:30 left in the game. The lead remained at three points until Gissendanner drained a triple to give Penn State a 43-37 lead with 13:39 on the clock. The Lady Lions had a seven and a half-minute scoring drought which allowed the Wolverines to go on a 17-0 run to pull ahead by 11 points (54-43) with just over six minutes left in the game.
Grant snapped the scoring drought with a three-pointer and Williams converted on a lay-up to slice the Michigan lead back to six points at 54-48 with 5:37 on the clock. After an exchange of baskets, the Lady Lions had two opportunities in transition to cut the lead but could not convert until Grant sunk a scoop shot to make it a 57-52 game with 3:20 remaining.
Two free throws and a three-pointer by Jessica Minnfield and a single free throw by Ashley Jones stretched the lead to 11 points (63-52) before Grant scored on a lay-up to cut the lead back to nine with one minute left. However, the Lady Lions would not score again and a Minnfield free throw would account for the final margin.