March 5, 2009
INDIANAPOLIS, IND. - The eighth-seeded Penn State Lady Lions (11-18, 6-12) held the lead early, but went cold from the field en route to a 58-49 loss to ninth-seeded Illinois (10-20, 6-13) in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament at Conseco Fieldhouse Thursday. The Lions shot just 30.6% (19-of-62) on the game and 25.8% (8-of-31) from the field in the second half.
Junior Tyra Grant (Youngstown, Ohio) had a team-high 16 points to go along with four rebounds and two steals to lead the Lady Lion attack. Seniors Brianne O'Rourke (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Mashea Williams (Erie, Pa.) added 11 and 10 points, respectively. O'Rourke dished out four assists to finish her Lady Lion career with 560 assists, which is seventh in Penn State history. Sophomore Evelyn Lewis (Hampton, Va.) was a monster on the boards for the Lady Lions with a career-high 15 rebounds, which is tied for sixth on the Big Ten Tournament single-game chart.
The pace was fast and furious in the first five minutes as the Lady Lions took an 11-8 lead thanks to four points each by Grant and Williams, as well as a three-pointer by O'Rourke. The Illini took their first lead of the game with back-to-back baskets, but the Lions fought back with a rebound and putback by Janessa Wolff (Park Rapids, Minn.) and a layup by Williams to put Penn State back up by a 15-12 with 11 and a half minutes left in the game.
A scoop shot by Grant extended the lead to 17-12 with 10:22 on the clock, but the Illini scored 12 of the next 14 points to take a 24-19 lead with five minutes remaining in the opening frame. Williams scored the lone PSU bucket during the Illini run. O'Rourke connected on a 12-foot jumper to make it a 24-12 game with just under four minute left, but Lacey Simpson was fouled on a three-point attempt and drained all three freebies to extend Illinois' lead to 27-21 with 3:30 remaining in the half.
Grant knocked down a pair of free throws and O'Rourke converted on an old-fashioned three-point play to slice the deficit to a single point (27-26) with 1:46 left in the half. The Illini pushed the lead back to three points after a bucket by Jenna Smith, but O'Rourke hit nothing but net for a three-pointer on the ensuing offensive possession to tie the game at 29-29 with 27 seconds left. However, Smith would send the Illini into the break with a two-point lead after she scored with 14 ticks on the clock.
O'Rourke paced the Lady Lions with 11 points and two assists, while Grant and Williams added eight tallies apiece. Wolff rounded out the scoring for the Lions with two points. Julia Trogele (Devon, Pa.) had a team-best six rebounds in the opening frame.
The Illini came out of the gate quickly in the second half and extended the lead to six points (35-29) just two minutes into the frame. Grant cut the deficit in half with her second three-pointer of the game at the 17:55 mark. The squads swapped baskets before back-to-back buckets by Simpson pushed the Illini lead to seven points (43-36) with 12:38 remaining, prompting Coquese Washington to call a timeout.
Out of the timeout, Evelyn Lewis (Hampton, Va.) was fouled and drained both free throws to make it a 43-38 game with 12:22 on the clock. The teams exchanged scores before Simpson and Smith scored on consecutive possessions to extend the Illini lead to nine points. After a basket by Williams, the Illini registered five consecutive points to push its lead to 12 points (54-42) with seven and a half minutes to play. A layup by Wolff on the fast break made it a 10-point game (54-44), but that is as close as the Lady Lions would get until a Grant three-pointer cut the lead to nine with 29 seconds left.
GAME NOTES: The Lady Lions fall to 20-13 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament, including a 2-3 mark in the first round...Penn State is now 3-2 against Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament...Evelyn Lewis pulled down a career-high 15 rebounds, which is tied for sixth on the Big Ten Tournament single-game chart.