Feb. 22, 2009
2009 WBCA Pink Zone at Penn State Page
CHAMPAIGN, ILL. - In a match-up of the two teams tied for eighth place, the Penn State Lady Lions (10-16, 5-11) used a balanced scoring effort to register a 67-56 win over Illinois (8-19, 4-12) at Assembly Hall on Sunday. Sophomore Tyra Grant (Youngstown, Ohio) led four Lady Lions in double figures with 16 points.
Grant also pulled down four rebounds and registered three steals in the win. Janessa Wolff (Park Rapids, Minn.) came off of the bench to score 15 points to go along with five rebounds and two blocks. Wolff was stellar from the free throw line for the Lions as she was 9-for-10 from the charity stripe. Senior Brianne O'Rourke (Pittsburgh, Pa.) had 12 points and three assists, while fellow senior Mashea Williams (Erie, Pa.) was the final Lion in double figures with 11 tallies. Sophomore Julia Trogele (Devon, Pa.) continued her solid play with six points, 11 rebounds and a pair of assists.
The Lady Lions had the game pace in their favor in the early going as they sprinted out to an 8-4 lead in the first three-plus minutes of the game. Williams had four points early, while Trogele and Zhaque Gray (Chicago, Ill.) added two points apiece. After four straight points by the Illini tied the game at 8-8, the Lady Lions went back on top with a steal and layup by O'Rourke and a jumper by Grant to move ahead 12-8 with 14 minutes on the clock.
Illinois came back to tie the game at 12-12, but O'Rourke knocked down a three-pointer to give the Lady Lions the advantage. A steal by O'Rourke on the ensuing inbounds pass led to a jumper by Wolff and a five-point lead for the Lions with 11:39 on the clock. A three-pointer by Lydia McCully sliced the Penn State lead to two points (17-15), but the Lions rattled off seven straight points on two free throws by Wolff, a three by Grant and a rebound and layup by Rashida Mark (Brooklyn, N.Y.) to push their advantage to nine tallies at 24-15 with just under nine minutes left in the half.
After a hot start from the field, the Lady Lions went cold and during a nearly nine-minute field goal drought that allowed the Illini to take a three-point lead at 31-28 with 24 seconds remaining in the half. Wolff snapped the Lady Lion field goal skid with a layup off of a pass from Grant with six second remaining to send the teams into the half with the Illini holding a 31-30 lead.
Wolff paced the Lady Lions with nine points, which included five tallies from the free throw line. Grant and O'Rourke added five tallies each in the opening frame.
The Lady Lions did not show any signs of a hangover from the slow offensive production to end the first half as Grant drained a three-point to put the Lion up by a pair (33-31) just 45 seconds into the second half. Jenna Smith tied the game for the Illini, but Penn State immediately responded with baskets from Trogele and O'Rourke to make a 37-33 game with 18:27 on the clock. After the Illini tied the score at 37-37 with 17:44 remaining, the Lions scored four straight points on a bucket by Trogele and two free throws by Williams to pull ahead by four (41-37).
The squads swapped baskets over the next several minutes to keep the Lady Lion lead at four points until three consecutive baskets by Smith gave the Illini a 49-47 lead with 7:45 left in the game. O'Rourke responded for Penn State as she knocked down her second three-pointer of the game to put the Lions ahead by a 50-49 count with 7:28 to play. Wolff extended the lead to three points (52-49) on a rebound and putback, but the Illini had a chance to slice into the PSU lead with Smith at the line shooting two, but she was unable to convert on either shot. The Lady Lions took advantage as Wolff went to the free throw line and hit both shots to make it a 54-49 game with 5:17 on the clock.
The Illini scored three of the next four points to pull within three tallies at 55-52, but an old-fashioned three-point play by Grant brought the margin back to six points (58-52) with 3:26 remaining. After a defensive stop, Grant was fouled for a one-and-one where she made the first shot, but had the second waved off due to a lane violation by Trogele.
Smith scored a basket to cut it to a 59-54 game with just over two minutes left in the game, but O'Rourke found a streaking Grant for the layup and a 61-54 lead with 1:38 left. Macie Blinn registered two free throws for the Illini to cut the Penn State lead to five points (61-56), but that was as close as Illinois would climb as the Lady Lions sealed the win with six free throws down the stretch for a 67-56 win.
GAME NOTES: This was the third of three WBCA Pink Zone games for the Lady Lions this season. PSU sported pink uniforms at Iowa (Feb. 1) and versus the Hawkeyes (Feb. 15)...The Lady Lions registered 10 or more steals for the 12th time this season with 10 thefts against the Illini...This is Penn State's first win at Illinois since a 63-56 win on Feb. 13, 2005.
The Lady Lions return to the Jordan Center to face Northwestern on Senior Day on Thursday, Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. Penn State will honor its three graduating seniors, Rashida Mark, Brianne O'Rourke and Mashea Williams. The Lady Lions will also celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day against the Wildcats. Penn State completes its season at Ohio State on Sunday, March 1 at 4 p.m. 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 online auction will run until Monday, Feb. 23 at 5 p.m. Items that will be available up for bid include all 13 of the uniforms worn by the Lady Lions for the Pink Zone game, as well as a one-week timeshare for anywhere in the world, Penn State football experiences, NASCAR experience and autographed memorabilia. For more information on the Pink Zone Online Auction, visit the Pink Zone auction website (http://psupinkzone.cstvauctions.com). The funds raised from the online auction benefit the Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute, the Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition and the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund.