Feb. 24, 2009
Northwestern (2-26) Game Notes
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - The Penn State Lady Lions (10-16, 5-11) return to the Bryce Jordan Center for the final time this season as they host the Northwestern Wildcats (7-20, 3-13) on Senior Night at 7 p.m., on Thursday. Seniors Rashida Mark (Brooklyn, N.Y.), Brianne O'Rourke (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Mashea Williams (Erie, Pa.) will be honored before the game for their Lady Lion careers. The Lady Lions will also celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day on Thursday with a pregame autograph session with student-athletes from various Penn State women's teams and free admission for all youth (18 and under).
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 Kellie Goodman (color) calling the action. The game will air locally WMAJ. The audio feed and a link to GameTracker are available at www.GoPSUSports.com.
LIONS CELEBRATE NGWSD: The Lady Lions will celebrate the annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day on Thursday. To honor those female youth athletes, there will be free admission for all youth (18 and under). There will be a pregame autograph session with student-athletes from various Penn State women's teams. On the concourse throughout the game there will be a hands-on experience of women's athletics with uniforms and pieces of equipment. A halftime presentation is planned that includes Penn State female student-athletes and local female youth athletes. Fans will also have the opportunity to pick up promotional materials for all of the Penn State women's sports teams.
SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN: The Wildcats come into Happy Valley after posting a 62-53 upset win over Minnesota Monday night. The win improves Northwestern to 7-20 overall and 3-13 in conference play. Junior Amy Jaeschke leads the team in scoring (13.8), rebounding (8.4) and blocked shots (3.3), while Kristin Cartwright accounts for 10.0 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. Cartwright also has a team-best 35 steals on the year.
ALL-TIME VS. THE WILDCATS: The Lady Lions are 25-7 all-time against the Wildcats, including a 14-1 mark at home. Penn State has won five of the last seven meetings between the teams, although the squads have split the regular-season series each of the last two years. The Lions posted a 72-53 win over the Wildcats at the BJC last season, but dropped a 70-58 decision in Evanston. This is the only game between the teams this season.
LAST TIME VS. NU: The Lady Lions rallied from a first half deficit, but went cold from the field in the final six minutes on the way to a 70-58 loss at Northwestern on Feb. 24, 2008. Penn State shot just 30.2% from the field, including a 19% effort from three-point range. Kam Gissendanner had an outstanding overall game with 21 points, seven rebounds, three blocked shots and three steals to lead the Lady Lions. Tyra Grant added 11 points and eight rebounds.
LAST TIME OUT: In a match-up of the two teams tied for eighth place, the Penn State Lady Lions used a balanced scoring effort to register a 67-56 win over Illinois at Assembly Hall on Sunday. Sophomore Tyra Grant 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 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.
WOLFF IS 17TH TO 50 BLKS: With a pair of blocks at Illinois on Feb. 22, sophomore post Janessa Wolff became the 17th player in school history to register 50 career rejections. Wolff is now 17th on the all-time list, just one block away from tying Tyra Grant for 16th place and nine rejections behind Tanisha Wright for a Top 15 slot.
TWO BIG TEN ROAD WINS: The Lady Lions picked up their second Big Ten road win of the season on Feb. 22 at Illinois (67-56), marking the first time since the 2004-05 season that the Lions have won two Big Ten road games in a season. PSU's other Big Ten road win came at Michigan (64-56) on Feb. 9.
ONLINE AUCTION RAISES NEARLY $6,400: The inaugural Pink Zone online action raised $6,397 for the Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute, PA Breast Cancer Coalition and the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund. The Lady Lions auctioned their game-worn pink jerseys and several other items, including two football press passes, a seven-day vacation stay anywhere in the world and NASCAR tickets.
The Lady Lions complete their regular-season at Ohio State on Sunday, March 1 at 4 p.m., a game that will air on the Big Ten Network. Penn State will then travel to Indianapolis for the 2009 Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament on March 5-8. For information on Lady Lion Basketball tickets, call the Penn State ticket office at 814-865-5555.