Feb. 1, 2009
IOWA CITY, IOWA - The Penn State Lady Lions (8-12, 3-7) and the Iowa Hawkeyes (13-8, 6-4) tangled in a battle for the ages on Sunday afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena as the squads combined for the longest women's basketball game in arena history. The Hawkeyes found their rhythm at the right time and prevailed 97-89 in triple overtime. It is the first triple overtime game in Lady Lion history.
The Lions rallied from 11 points down with 6:01 remaining to force the first extra frame and had a chance to win the game in the first overtime with Janessa Wolff (Park Rapids, Minn.) at the line with nine seconds left, but the sophomore was unable to make either shot. After a back-and-forth second overtime, the Hawkeyes dominated the third extra period, scoring the first eight points and 10 of the 12 tallies that period.
Junior Tyra Grant (Youngstown, Ohio) tied her career high with 33 points to go along with five rebounds, four assists and two blocks. She is one of five players in school history to have three or more 30-point games in their career. Senior guard Brianne O'Rourke (Pittsburgh, Pa.) became the 32nd player in school history to reach the 1,000-poit mark with a season-high 20 points. She also dished out nine assists in the loss. Senior Mashea Williams (Erie, Pa.) also had a season-high 19 points and narrowly missed a double-double with nine rebounds. Wolff had a solid effort off the bench with eight points, 11 rebounds and three steals.
Just like Thursday night at Indiana, the Lady Lions got off to a fast start against the Hawkeyes as they connected on six of their first seven shots, including their first three three-point attempts, en route to establishing a 16-6 lead just five minutes into the game. Evelyn Lewis (Hampton, Va.) opened the scoring for the Lions with a free throw and then Williams gave Penn State its first lead of the game (3-2) with a layup at the 18:28 mark. Julia Trogele (Devon, Pa.) added a layup, followed by back-to-back three-pointers by Grant to make it an 11-4 lead. O'Rourke nailed a trey and Trogele added a reverse layup to make it 16-6 with15:18 left in the half.
Williams pushed the Penn State lead to 12 points (18-6) with a basket, but the Hawkeyes went on a 16-0 run to take a 22-18 lead with just under nine minutes left in the half. The run proved costly for the Lions on more than just the scoreboard as Trogele, who had four points and two rebounds in seven minutes of action, went down with an ankle injury at the 11:14 mark and did not return.
Williams stopped the nearly six-minute scoreless drought for the Lions with a jumper to pull Penn State within two points at 22-20 with eight minutes left. The Hawkeyes made it a four-point game (24-20) with a basket, before Grant, who was playing with two fouls, scored five consecutive points to put the Lady Lions on top by a 25-24 margin with 6:21 left in the half.
The squads swapped the lead for the next several possessions until O'Rourke drained her second three-pointer of the game to give the Lions a 34-31 lead with 1:34 left. The bucket also marked the 1,000th point of O'Rourke's career, making her the 32nd player in school history to reach the milestone and the second Lady Lion to hit 1,000 points this season (Grant). A three-pointer by Iowa tied the game at 34-34 with 1:12 on the clock, but O'Rourke would send the Penn State into the locker room with a two-point lead (36-34) after hitting a jumper with 44 seconds left.
Grant was the go-to player in the first half for the Lions as she tallied a game-best 13 points in just 14 minutes of action as she was saddled with foul trouble, while O'Rourke and Williams added eight tallies apiece in the opening frame. Kristi Smith paced the Hawkeyes with eight first-half tallies and Kachine Alexander added six points and 11 rebounds.
The Lions extended their lead to five points with a three-pointer by Grant on the opening possession of the second half, but Iowa scored four consecutive points to pull within one point at 39-38 with 17:41 left in the game. A layup by Williams pushed the lead back to three points, but Iowa tied the game at 41-41 on a Wendy Ausdemore three with just over 17 minutes on the clock.
The teams swapped baskets until the Hawkeyes scored 14 of the game's next 17 points to give Iowa a 58-49 lead with just under 12 to play. The lead remained at nine points until back-to-back baskets by the Hawkeyes stretched their lead to 62-51 before a driving layup by Grant brought it back to a nine-point deficit for the Lady Lions (62-53) with seven minutes left in the game.
Iowa's Alexander brought the Hawkeye lead back to 11 points at 64-53 with 6:02 on the clock. However, the Lady Lions did not give up as a jumper kick-started an 8-0 run to bring Penn State within three points. During the run, O'Rourke chipped in two free throws, Williams added a rebound and putback and Wolff capped the run she started with a 15-footer to make it a 64-61 game with just under four minutes to play.
Iowa pushed the lead back to five points, but a basket by Grant made it a 66-63 Iowa lead. On the ensuing Iowa possession, O'Rourke notched a steal and found Grant down court and then a steal by O'Rourke, who found Grant down court who made the selfless play to find Williams on the bounce pass and the layup to cut the Iowa lead to a single point a 66-65. A jumper by Kristi Smith gave the Hawkeyes a three-point lead (68-65), but O'Rourke answered on the ensuing offensive possession with a three-pointer to tie the game at 68-68 with 50 seconds left. Alexander gave Iowa a 70-68 lead with 38 seconds left, but Williams went the length of the floor for the layup to tie the game at 70-70 just five seconds later. Iowa was unable to connect on any attempts to end the game in regulation and the teams headed for the extra frame.
Wolff started the scoring in overtime with a hook shot to put Penn State up 72-70 just 18 seconds in. However, a three-pointer by Wendy Ausdemore and two free throws by Alexander put Iowa back on top (75-72) at the 3:48 mark of the extra period. Grant continued her impressive day with a bucket to pull the Lions within a point at 75-74 with 3:30 to play. Ausdemore hit her second three in the extra period on the ensuing Iowa possession to give Iowa a 78-74 lead, but Wolff kept the Penn State in the game with a jumper to make it a 78-76 lead with 2:40 to play.
Smith knocked down a three-pointer to push the Iowa lead to five points, but Grant responded with a three-pointer of her own and then tied the game at 81-81 with a jumper at the elbow with 56 seconds remaining. Wolff had a chance to give the Lions the win as she was fouled on her shot attempt with nine seconds remaining, but was unable to convert on either attempt and the squads had to settle for a second overtime period.
Alexander made four straight free throws in the second overtime to give Iowa an 85-81 lead with 3:08 left. After several lackluster offensive possession, the Lady Lions got on the board in the second overtime thanks to a runner by O'Rourke to make it 85-83 with 1:43 remaining. On the defensive end, Penn State got the steal and O'Rourke brought the ball up the court for a 2-on-1 where she found Grant under the basket, but Grant quickly passed it back to O'Rourke for the game-tying layup with 1:06 to play. Smith put Iowa up by two (87-85) before Grant connected on a layup as she fell to the ground to tie the game at 87-87 with 14 seconds remaining. Smith had a chance to win the game for Iowa, but her attempt was long and a last-second opportunity by O'Rourke under the basket fell short to send the teams into a third overtime.
The Hawkeyes came out in the third overtime with the hot hand as they scored the first eight points to take a 95-87 lead at the midway point. Grant scored the lone points for Penn State with a pair of free throws to make it a 95-89 game, but Alexander capped the scoring in the game with a rebound and putback with 21 seconds left to give Iowa the win.
GAME NOTES: Junior guard Tyra Grant tied her career high, also set at Iowa her freshman year with 33 points today. It is her second 30-point game of the season and the third of her career, making her one of five players in school history to have three or more career 30-point games...This was the first-ever triple overtime game in Lady Lions history...Today's game was the longest women's basketball game in Carver-Hawkeye Arena history...Senior guard Brianne O'Rourke became the 32nd player in school history to reach the 1,000-point plateau with a season-high 20 tallies today...She is the second Lady Lion to reach the milestone this season, joining Tyra Grant...Sophomore Juila Trogele went down with an ankle injury in the first half and did not return...Senior Mashea Williams had a season-high 19 points to go along with nine rebounds...The Lions are now 1-2 when wearing pink uniforms.
The Lady Lions return to the Bryce Jordan Center on Thursday, Feb. 5 to face Minnesota at 7 p.m. The game against the Gophers is $1 Dog Night. The University Park Airport Paper Airplane contest will also take place at halftime where fans will have a chance to win a $250 travel voucher from University Park Airport. PSU then hits the road to face Michigan (Feb. 9) and Wisconsin (Feb. 12) before returning to the BJC for the Third Annual WBCA Pink Zone Day. 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.