Jan. 16, 2009
Michigan State Game Notes (1/18)
The Penn State Lady Lions (7-9, 2-4) travel to Michigan State (11-6, 4-2) Sunday looking to snap an 11-game road losing streak. The Lions and Spartans will battle at 4 p.m. in a game that can be seen on the Big Ten Network. The Breslin Center was the site of Penn State's last road win, a 69-57 victory over the Spartans on Jan. 5, 2008.
TV/RADIO/WEB: The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network with Tracy Warren (play-by-play) and Stephanie White (color) describing play. The contest can also 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 MICHIGAN STATE: The Spartans have won back-to-back Big Ten games and are coming off of a win at rival Michigan, 41-37, Thursday to improve to 11-6 on the season and 4-2 in Big Ten play. Aisha Jefferson leads MSU with a 12.5 scoring average, while Allyssa DeHaan accounts for 10.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and a conference-best 3.4 blocks per game.
ALL-TIME VS. THE SPARTANS: The Lady Lions are 23-8 all-time against the Spartans, including an 8-5 mark in East Lansing. Michigan State posted a 67-60 come-from-behind win over the Lions in the first meeting between the squads this season on Dec. 21. Grant led the way for the Lions with 22 points in the loss. The two squads have split the series each of the last two seasons.
LAST TIME VS. MSU: The Lady Lions led by as many as six points with 7:33 remaining in the game, but two late Michigan State runs spelled doom for the Lady Lions as the Spartans posted a 67-60 win over Penn State Dec. 21. Junior guard Tyra Grant chipped in 22 tallies on 10-of-20 shooting. She also grabbed four rebounds and blocked two shots. Senior guard Brianne O'Rourke added 18 points and five assists, while fellow senior Mashea Williams contributed nine points, five rebounds and three steals.
LAST TIME OUT: The Lady Lions rallied from an eight-point deficit in the second half to tie the game with seven minutes left, but could not complete the comeback as they dropped a 59-48 decision to Purdue Thursday night at Mackey Arena. Junior guard Tyra Grant posted her ninth 20-point game of the season and the 20th of her career with 20 tallies. Mashea Williams was the only other Lady Lion in double figures with 10 points to go along with five rebounds, while Janessa Wolff accounted for nine points, six rebounds and three steals.
20 IS GRANT'S LUCKY #: Junior guard Tyra Grant recorded her ninth 20-point game of the season and the 20th of her career with 20 tallies at Purdue on Jan. 15. Her nine 20-point games this season are the most by a Lady Lion since Tanisha Wright had 13 games with 20 or more points. With her performance against the Boilers, Grant also moved past Bethany Collins for 23rd place on the Lady Lions career scoring list (1,188 pts.).
FINDING THE RIGHT COMBO: Head coach Coquese Washington put her fifth different starting lineup of the season on the court against Purdue on Jan. 15. The only players to start every game for the Lady Lions this season are senior guard Brianne O'Rourke and junior guard Tyra Grant. O'Rourke has started all but three games in her career.
BRINGIN' THE "D": The Lady Lions are first in the Big Ten in steals, averaging 9.63 thefts per game. Penn State has nine games with 10 or more steals, the most by a Lady Lion team since the 2004-05 campaign when PSU had 15 games with 10 or more steals. Penn State has not led the Big Ten in steals since the 1999-00 season.
PAIR ARE 10TH & 11TH PLAYERS WITH 100 THREES: Senior guard Brianne O'Rourke and junior guard Tyra Grant became the 10th and 11th players, respectively, in program history to knock down 100 career three-pointers. O'Rourke reached the milestone with one triple against Minnesota on Jan. 1. She is currently 10th on the career chart with 104 makes from beyond the arc. Grant registered a trio of three-pointers at Purdue on Jan. 15 to reach the century mark. She is currently 11th on the all-time chart with 101 threes.
The Lady Lions return 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. Following the game against the Badgers and its second bye date of the season, Penn State will hit the road for games at Indiana on Thursday, Jan. 29 and Iowa on Sunday, Feb. 1. 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.