Feb. 26, 2009
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UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - The Penn State Lady Lions (11-16, 6-11) were sluggish after an emotional Senior Night ceremony, but bounced back to score 46 second-half points en route to a 65-50 win over Northwestern (7-21, 3-14) Thursday night at the Bryce Jordan Center. The Lady Lions, who shot 48.6% (17-35) in the second half, forced 28 turnovers and scored 24 points off of those turnovers.
Junior Tyra Grant (Youngstown, Ohio) did her best to send the seniors out in style with 23 points to go along with five rebounds and two steals. It is the 15th game this season that Grant has scored 20 or more points. Senior Mashea Williams (Erie, Pa.) made her last game in the Jordan Center memorable as she registered 12 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals. With her effort, Williams surpassed the 800-point mark for her career and moved into a tie for 18th place on Penn State's career assists chart (234).
Sophomore Evelyn Lewis (Hampton, Va.) equaled her career high with eight points on 4-of-6 shooting. She also pulled down five boards and had two blocked shots. Senior Brianne O'Rourke (Pittsburgh, Pa.) accounted for three points, four rebounds and six assists in her home finale, while sophomore Julie Trogele (Devon, Pa.) added five points, five caroms and a pair of blocks.
The Lions took the early lead as Rashida Mark (Brooklyn, N.Y.) grabbed the rebound and putback on PSU's first possession, but the Wildcats were the ones that had the hot hand early as they made three of their first four shots to establish a 7-2 lead with 17 minutes left in the half. Grant ended Penn State's short drought with a jumper. On the ensuing Northwestern possession, Williams stole the ball and went the length of the court for the old-fashioned three-point play to tie the game at 7-7 with just under 16 minutes on the clock.
The Lady Lions struggled to find the bottom of the net for the next six minutes, allowing the Wildcats scored six straight points and take a 13-7 lead with 10 minutes left. Freshman Zhaque Gray (Chicago, Ill.) ended the scoreless streak with a steal and layup to kick off an 8-0 run. Janessa Wolff (Park Rapids, Minn.) converted on a layup off of a pass from O'Rourke and Grant drained a jumper and a layup to cap the run to give the Lady Lions a 15-13 lead with eight minutes to play in the half.
Northwestern scored nine consecutive points to take a seven-point lead (22-15) as the Lady Lions' shooting woes continued with a nearly eight-minute scoreless drought. Gray ended the skid on a jumper with 37 seconds left and Grant knocked down a shot from the baseline with eight seconds left to send the teams into the half with the Wildcats holding a 22-19 lead.
Grant led the way for the Lady Lions with eight points, while Gray added four tallies. Penn State shot just 27.3% (9-33) from the field, but stayed in the game with solid defense as the Lions forced 16 turnovers in the opening frame.
On the first offensive possession of the second half, Trogele grabbed the offensive rebound and converted layup and free throw for the old-fashioned three-point play to tie the game at 22-22. However, the Wildcats immediately responded with a three-point play of their own to pull ahead by a trio of points (25-22) just a minute into the second half. Grant continued the high-paced action with a three-pointer to pull the Lions to even at 25-25 with 18:43 left.
After a hot start to the second half, both teams went a bit cold from the field as they only managed a combined four points over the next four-plus minute to make it a 27-27 game. Ellen Jaeschke put Northwestern back on top, but Wolff responded with a bucket of her own off of a pass from Gray to even the score at 29-29 with just over 13 minutes remaining. Following an Erin Dickerson three-pointer, Williams decided to carry the team on her back as she scored the next two points and assisted on Lewis' layup to give Penn State a 35-32 lead with 11:24 on the clock.
The squads swapped scoring opportunities for the next stretch until a bucket by Amy Jaeschke gave Northwestern a one-point lead (38-37) with 9:38 on the clock, but Grant responded for Penn State over the next minute as she knocked down two free throws and converted on a fastbreak layup off of the pass from Williams to put the Lady Lions up by three (41-38).
The Wildcats whittled the PSU lead down to two points before the Lions reeled off seven straight points to extend their lead to eight tallies (50-42) with just under five minutes left. Williams started the run with a layup off of a pass from Grant. Grant added one of two free throws, while Renee Womack (Lansdale, Pa.) and Trogele each added a layup during the run. Following a bucket by Amy Jaeschke, the Lions got back-to-back baskets from Lewis and Williams to extend the lead to double figures at 56-45 with 2:31 on the clock.
Two free throws by Amy Jaeschke cut the lead back to eight points with just over two minutes to play, but that was as close as the Wildcats would get as the Lady Lions would seal with win with 7-of-10 free throws down the stretch and a Mark jumper with 34 seconds on the clock.
GAME NOTES: The Lady Lions honored their three seniors, Rashida Mark, Brianne O'Rourke and Mashea Williams and all three players were in the starting lineup...Junior guard Tyra Grant is one of 30 mid-season candidates for the 2009 Naismith Trophy presented by AT&T, which was announced by the Atlanta Tipoff Club...Junior guard Meggan Quinn will miss the remainder of the season after tearing her left ACL in practice Wednesday...Penn State picked up its 10th-straight home win over Northwestern...Grant became the 14th player in school history to surpass the 1,400-point mark...With 23 points tonight, Grant registered her 15th game with 20 or more points this season...With six assists tonight, O'Rourke has games this season with five or more assists...Williams moved into a tie for 18th place on the all-time assists list (234)...Williams also surpassed the 800-point mark for her career (801) with 12 points tonight...Evelyn Lewis tied her career-high with eight points.
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.