Jan. 13, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - After spending four of their first five Big Ten games at home, the Penn State Lady Lions (7-8, 2-3) begin a stretch of four road games in their next five contests when they travel to Purdue Thursday for a 7 p.m. tipoff. The Lions will face the Boilermakers in West Lafayette for the first time since Dec. 31, 2006.
RADIO/WEB: A live video stream of the game is available on BigTenNetwork.com. The contest can be heard on the Penn State Sports Radio Network with Jerry Fisher (play-by-play) and Stacey Brewer (color) calling the action. The game will air locally WMAJ. The audio feed and a link to GameTracker are available at www.GoPSUSports.com.
SCOUTING PURDUE: The Boilermakers have won six of their last seven games, including a 67-57 overtime win against Northwestern Sunday. Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton has returned to her all-conference form after missing last season with an ACL injury. She tops the team in scoring (13.5), rebounds (9.1) and steals (43). Lakisha Freeman (10/9) and Brittany Rayburn (10.4) are also averaging double figures for Purdue.
ALL-TIME VS. THE BOILERS: The Lady Lions are 14-19 all-time against the Boilermakers, including a 4-11 mark in West Lafayette. Penn State has lost five of its last six games to Purdue. Last season, the Boilers posted a 79-70 victory in Happy Valley in the only meeting between the squads.
LAST TIME VS. PURDUE: The last time these squads met, the Lady Lions saw their 15-game home court winning streak come to end as Purdue handed Penn State a 79-70 loss at the Bryce Jordan Center on Jan. 17, 2008. The winning streak was tied for the third longest in NCAA Division I. Tyra Grant led all scorers with 18 points, including a trio of three-pointers, to compliment four rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Meggan Quinn had a career night with 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting.
LAST TIME OUT: In a game that featured 14 ties and 13 lead changes, Indiana used a 13-4 run to end the game and hand the Lady Lions an 84-77 loss at the Bryce Jordan Center Sunday. Tyra Grant led five players in double figures with 17 points to go along with four rebounds, while Brianne O'Rourke added 11 points, four assists and a pair of steals. Freshman Zhaque Gray posted the second double-digit scoring performance of her career with 11 tallies.
EIGHTH TO 500: With an assist on a Janessa Wolff basket in the first half of the Jan. 11 game against Indiana, senior guard Brianne O'Rourke became the eighth player in school history and the 22nd player in Big Ten Conference history to reach 500 career assists. O'Rourke is the fourth Lady Lion in the Big Ten's 500-assist club, joining Tina Nicholson, Helen Darling and Jess Strom. O'Rourke is also be the first Big Ten athlete with 500 helpers since OSU's Kim Wilburn had 518 assists from 2003-06.
MER NETS CAREER HIGH: Junior guard Meredith Monroe was 4-for-5 from the field en route to a career-high eight points in nine minutes of action in the Jan. 11 loss to Indiana. Monroe's previous career mark was six tallies, which she reached against Michigan on Jan. 4 and versus Wisconsin on Feb. 3, 2008.
ZHAQUE ZAPS HOOSIERS: Freshman Zhaque Gray earned the second double-digit scoring performance of her career with 11 points against Indiana on Jan. 11. Gray scored nine of her 11 tallies in the second half, including a personal 6-0 run to put the Lions up by two points with 12 minutes remaining in the game. Gray's other double-digit scoring output came on Nov. 19 when she had 17 points against Stony Brook.
The Lady Lions continue their road trip and at Michigan State on Sunday, Jan. 18 before returning home to face Wisconsin on Thursday, Jan. 22 at 7 p.m. The Wisconsin game will be $1 dog night for those fans in attendance. 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.