Dec. 31, 2009
CHAMPAIGN, ILL. - The Penn State Lady Lions (9-4, 1-2) struggled to find their rhythm offensively in a 69-60 loss at Illinois (9-3, 1-1) Thursday afternoon. Senior guard Tyra Grant (Youngstown, Ohio) led three Lady Lions in double figures with 17 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Freshman Nikki Greene (Diboll, Texas) equaled her career high with 12 points that included a 3-for-4 effort from the field and a 6-for-8 mark from the free throw line. She also pulled in seven rebounds and blocked a pair of shots. Fellow freshman Alex Bentley (Indianapolis, Ind.) also reached double-digits with 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting, while junior Julia Trogele (Devon, Pa.) pulled in a team-best eight rebounds.
The Lady Lions started the game on fire with a bucket by Bentley off of the tip off just four seconds into the game and another Bentley hoop 30 seconds later in transition to take a 4-0 lead in the first minute of play. The Illini responded with a pair of scores to even the game a 4-4 with less than 18 minutes remaining in the half. The game remained tied as the teams exchanged baskets over the next two minutes.
Following a Grant bucket to give Penn State a 12-10 lead, Illinois went on a 12-2 run to take a 22-14 lead with 10:43 left in the half. After the squads swapped scores, Grant went on a personal 5-0 run to make it a 24-21 game with less than nine minutes remaining. However, the Illini would score the game's next three points to push their lead back to six points (27-21) with six on the clock.
Grant snapped a three-minute scoreless drought for Penn State with a layup off of a great pass by Bentley, but the Illini responded with back-to-back buckets to take a 31-23 lead with less than four minutes left in the opening frame. The Lions scored the final four points of the half to slice the Illinois lead to four points (31-27) heading in to the break.
Grant led all scorers with 15 points in the first half, while Bentley added six tallies and two assists. The Lady Lions turned the ball over 15 times in the opening frame, which resulted in nine Illini points. Jenna Smith accounted for 12 points to lead Illinois.
The Illini came out on fire in the second half, putting together a 7-2 run to take a 38-29 lead with 17 minutes left in the game. Meredith Monroe (Olney, Md.) ended the Lions' three-minute field goal drought with a basket, but Illinois responded with a three-point play by Karisma Penn to take a 10-point lead (41-31) with just under 16 minutes to play.
Penn State climbs back into the game with a pair of free throws by Grant and a bucket by Monroe to make it a six-point game (41-35), but Lacey Simpson drained a three-pointer to push the Illini lead back to nine points. Following a layup by Monroe, Illinois used a 9-0 run to take control of the game with a 53-37 lead with 12 minutes remaining.
Illinois' lead held firm over the next five minutes until Greene laid the ball in and Zhaque Gray (Chicago, Ill.) drained a three-pointer to cut the lead to 11 points (62-51), but the Lady Lions could not gain any more ground until an 8-0 spurt in the final two and a half minutes as the Illini secured the nine-point win
The Lady Lions remain in the state of Illinois to face Northwestern on Sunday, Jan. 3. Penn State returns to the Bryce Jordan Center on Sunday, Jan. 10 against Indiana at noon. 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.