Dec. 9, 2008
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - With something to prove to their home crowd after sluggish starts the last few games, the Penn State Lady Lions (5-4) jumped out to an early 8-0 lead and never looked back en route to an 81-44 win over Bucknell (3-4) Tuesday night at the Bryce Jordan Center. The Lady Lions scored 37 points off of 30 Bucknell turnovers. It is the most forced turnovers by a Penn State team since the Lions forced 34 turnovers in an 88-37 victory over Fairfield on Dec. 2, 2001.
For the fifth consecutive game, the Lady Lions registered more than 10 steals with 12 thefts off of Bucknell's 30 turnovers. The last time the Lady Lions had five-straight games with 10 or more steals was from Feb. 16 - March 7, 2003. Junior guard Tyra Grant (Youngstown, Ohio) led the offensive charge for Penn State with 24 points, while senior guard Brianne O'Rourke (Pittsburgh, Pa.) added 15 points and five assists for the Lady Lions, who shot 45.7% from the field and 46.2% from three-point range.
Sophomore Janessa Wolff (Park Rapids, Minn.) was solid in the post with nine points, a team-best six rebounds and a career-high six blocked shots. Her six rejections are the most by a Penn State player since Amanda Brown had seven blocks against OSU on Jan. 11, 2007. Meggan Quinn (Red Lion, Pa.) also accounted for nine points and freshman guard Emily Phillips (South Bend, Ind.) dished out a career-high eight assists.
Grant connected on back-to-back three-pointers in the first minute and six seconds of the game to jump-start a 15-2 Lady Lion run to open the contest. Following Grant's threes, Williams scored four consecutive points, sandwiched around a Joyce Novack layup, and Grant added a layup of her own and a free throw to make it a 13-2 lead. Rashida Mark (Brooklyn, N.Y.), who was making her first start of the season, capped the opening spurt for the Lady Lions with a pair of free throws and make it a 15-2 game with 16:33 left in the period.
Penn State extended the lead to 23 points (30-7) with just under 10 minutes remaining on a fastbreak jumper by Quinn. During the run, Grant had four tallies, O'Rourke added three and Renee Womack (Lansdale, Pa.), Trogele and Wolff added two tallies apiece.
The Bison scored five-straight points to cut the Penn State lead to 18 points (30-12) with just under nine minutes left in the half. After the teams swapped baskets, Penn State went on 11-4 run to establish a 25-point lead (41-16) with three minutes remaining. Bucknell cut the PSU lead back to 22 points on a three-pointer by Morgan Wrightson and that is where the margin would remain as the teams headed to the locker room with Penn State holding a 45-23 lead.
Nine Lady Lions scored in the first half, led by Grant's 13 points in eight minutes of action. O'Rourke added 12 points and four assists, while Williams, Trogele and Quinn added four tallies each. Penn State forced 20 Bison turnovers in the opening frame, resulting in seven steals.
After a sloppy start to the second half that saw Bucknell move within 20 points, Trogele drained a jumper and five consecutive points by Grant put the Lions up 52-25 with just over 17 minutes left in the game. After a pair of offensive exchanges, two Grant free throws brought the Penn State lead to 29 points where it would remain until a Monroe layup kicked off an 11-0 run to make it a 76-35 game with 7:15 on the clock. After Monroe's layup, Quinn knocked down a three-pointer and hit a jumper from 18 feet in transition. Also during the run, Mark converted on a layup and Grant drained a pair of free throws. Bucknell sliced the Lady Lion lead back to 33 points (77-44), but Penn State scored the final four points of the game on buckets by Wolff for the 37-point victory.
GAME NOTES: Lady Lions are now 9-0 all-time against the Bison, including a 6-0 mark in Happy Valley...Rashida Mark made her first start of the season...Tyra Grant scored a game-high 24 points - her fourth game this season with 20 or more points and her 15th contest in her career...Lady Lions accumulated 12 steals, making this their fifth consecutive game with at least 10 steals. The last time the Lady Lions had five-straight games with 10 or more steals was from Feb. 16 - March 7, 2003...Janessa Wolff blocked a career-high six shots. It's the most blocks by a Penn State player since Amanda Brown had seven rejections against OSU on 1/11/07...Emily Phillips had a career-high eight assists, surpassing her previous record of three against Dayton on 12/6/08...Brianne O'Rourke had five assists making it her fifth game with five or more assists...Julia Trogele had her third game with three steals - the last of which was against Stony Brook on 11/19/08...Zhaque Gray had 2 steals, surpassing her previous record of one steal.
The Lady Lions travel to New York City and Madison Square Garden for the Third Annual Maggie Dixon Classic. The Lady Lions will face the top-ranked Connecticut Huskies at 2 p.m., as part of a doubleheader. Both Maggie Dixon Classic games will be televised on ESPNU. Penn State returns home for its Big Ten opener against Michigan State on Sunday, Dec. 21 at noon, a game that can be seen on the Big Ten Network. For information on Lady Lion Basketball tickets, call the Penn State ticket office at 814-865-5555.
The 2009 WBCA Pink Zone at Penn State proudly supported by Mimi Barash Coppersmith (formerly known as THINK PINK Day) will take place on Sunday, Feb. 15 at 3 p.m., as the Lady Lions take on Iowa in the Bryce Jordan Center. The game can be seen on www.bigtennetwork.com. The first two Pink Zone events have raised more than $50,000 for breast cancer awareness. This year's fundraising efforts will benefit the Penn State Hershey Breast Cancer Institute, the Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition and the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund. For more information on the Pink Zone at Penn State, visit the official Pink Zone website at www.gopsusports.com/pinkzone.