Nov. 13, 2009
PHILADELPHIA, PA. - Senior Tyra Grant (Youngstown, Ohio) registered her first career double-double with 25 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Penn State Lady Lions (1-0) to a season-opening 71-61 win at Drexel (0-1) Friday night. The Lady Lions win their season opener for the fourth consecutive season and are now 34-12 all-time in the first game of the year.
Grant turned in a solid performance, going 10-for-11 from the free throw line, en route to her 27th career 20-point game. She also registered a career-best and game-high 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals. Her 11 rebounds surpass her career previous mark set Xavier on Nov. 15, 2007.
Junior Janessa Wolff (Park Rapids, Minn.) also reached double digits for the Lady Lions with 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting and five rebounds. Fellow junior Julia Trogele (Devon, Pa.) accounted for eight points, all in the second half, and seven rebounds, while senior Meredith Monroe (Olney, Md.) tied her career high with eight points and pulled down five rebounds. Sophomore Emily Phillips (South Bend, Ind.) also had a career night with six points and four assists.
The Lady Lions started solid offensively as they took an 8-3 lead by the first media timeout. After a subpar performance in the exhibition game against IUP Sunday, Grant shook off the rust and scored four points early. The second basket of the game by CAA Player of the Year Gabriela Marginean cut Penn State's lead to three (8-5) at the 15:23 mark, but the Lady Lions bounced back with a 7-2 run to take a 15-7 lead with 13 and a half minutes left in the opening frame.
After an exchange that kept the Lady Lion lead at eight (17-9), Penn State went on an 8-2 run led by four points from Wolff and steal and layup by Gray to extend the lead to 25-11 with eight and a half minutes left in the first half. Following a pair of Drexel free throws, the Lady Lions pushed their lead to 20 points (35-15) with a 10-2 run. Grant started the run with a three-pointer, followed by a jumper by Monroe. Nikki Greene (Diboll, Texas) made the front-end of a two-shot foul her two shots. On the ensuing rebound, Penn State corralled the rebound and Alex Bentley (Indianapolis, Ind.) found Greene underneath for the layup. Monroe completed the run with a rebound and layup at the 3:15 mark.
The Lady Lion offense stumbled over the final three minute of the half, allowing Drexel to go on a 10-0 run and cut the Penn State lead to 35-25 at the break. Grant led the way for the Lady Lions with 12 points in the first half, while Monroe added eight tallies and Wolff chipped in six points. Marginean paced Drexel with eight points and three steals.
Drexel opened the second half with a basket by Marginean before Grant converted on a four-point play to extend the Penn State lead to 39-27 with 18:35 left in the game. After another Marginean bucket, the Lady Lions got back-to-back scores from Phillips and Wolff to make it a 14-point game (43-29) with 17 minutes left. However, the Dragons would not go without a fight as they scored 10 consecutive points to cut the Lady Lion lead to 43-39 with 12:40 remaining in the game.
Grant stopped the Drexel run with a driving layup and Wolff added to the lead with a basket of her own to extend the lead to eight (47-39) with 10:56 remaining. After a three-pointer by Drexel, Trogele sandwiched a jumper and two free throws around a pair of Dragon freebies to drained a jumper to push the lead back to seven (51-44) with nine and a half minutes left.
Marisa Wolfe (Ford City, Pa.) scored her first collegiate point and Trogele added another basket to extend Penn State's lead to 54-44 with 7:23 on the clock. However, Drexel reeled off five-straight points to cut the Lady Lion lead in half (54-49) with just under five minutes left. Grant and Marginean exchanged baskets to keep the lead at five before the Lady Lions went on a 6-0 run to extend their lead to 11 (62-51) with 1:51 remaining. Renee Womack (Lansdale, Pa.) started the run with a jumper and Grant made four consecutive free throws to close out the spurt. The squads exchanged baskets and free throws the rest of the way to secure the win for the Lady Lions.
GAME NOTES: The Lady Lions are now 3-0 against Drexel...PSU is 34-12 in season opener and have won their last four openers...Senior Tyra Grant posted her first career double-double with 25 points and a career-high 11 rebounds...Junior Janessa Wolff pulled down her 300th career rebound...Sophomore Emily Phillips set a career high with six points. Her previous mark was five against Michigan (1/4/09)...Senior Meredith Monroe tied her career high with eight points (all in the first half)...Freshman Nikki Greene registered her first career blocked shot at the 19:08 mark of the first half...Greene scored her first collegiate point on a free throw with 4:29 left in the opening frame and added her first career basket on the very next offensive play with a layup off of a pass from Alex Bentley...Freshman Marisa Wolfe scored her first collegiate point with a free throw in the second half.
The Lady Lions open their home schedule against NJIT on Sunday at 2 p.m., at the Bryce Jordan Center. Penn State fans that attend the Indiana football game can use their football ticket to take advantage of a buy one ticket, get one free ticket promotion for the game against the Highlanders. Single-game tickets can be purchased by calling the Penn State ticket office at 814-865-5555.
The 2010 WBCA Pink Zone at Penn State will take place on Sunday, Jan. 24 at 1 p.m., as the Lady Lions take on Illinois in the Bryce Jordan Center. The game can be seen on www.bigtennetwork.com. The first three Pink Zone events have raised more than $80,000 for breast cancer awareness. This year's fundraising efforts will benefit the Mount Nittany Medical Center, Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute, 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.
The Lady Lions are on Twitter. Follow head coach Coquese Washington (@psucoachquese), sports information contact Kris Petersen (@ladylionsid) and the Lady Lions and assistant coaches (@pennstatewbb) to get the inside scoop. The Lady Lions are also on Facebook. Search Lady Lion Basketball and become a fan.