Jan. 21, 2010
MADISON, WIS. - After being shutout in the first half, senior Tyra Grant (Youngstown, Ohio) scored 14 second-half points to push the Penn State Lady Lions (14-4, 6-2) to a 54-43 victory over Wisconsin (15-5, 5-4) Thursday night at the Kohl Center. The win snaps a three-game losing streak for the Lady Lions in the Kohl Center and give Coquese Washington a career-high 14 wins. Wisconsin shot just 28.1% from the field on the game.
Grant filled up the stat sheet with 14 points, five rebounds, one block and two steals. Junior Julia Trogele (Devon, Pa.) added 13 points, five rebounds and three assists, while freshman Alex Bentley (Indianapolis, Ind.) added 12 points and three helpers to round out the double-digit scorers for Penn State. Junior Janessa Wolff (Park Rapids, Minn.) was a spark off of the bench for the Lady Lions with six points and a game-high nine rebounds.
The Badgers took the early 4-2 advantage before the Lady Lions went on a 9-0 run to take the lead. Bentley started the run with a transition basket and then a beautiful behind the back pass to Trogele for a three-pointer. Nikki Greene (Diboll, Texas) made the first of two free throw attempts, but had the second wiped out by a lane violation before Trogele capped the run with a three-pointer to give the Lady Lions an 11-4 lead with 11:27 left.
After a nearly six-minute scoring drought for Wisconsin, the Badgers went on a 9-2 run to even the game at 13-13 with eight and a half minutes remaining. However, the Lady Lions responded a 5-0 spurt on a Bentley jumper and a three-pointer by Zhaque Gray (Chicago, Ill.) to move ahead 18-13 with less than four minutes remaining in the opening frame. The Badgers would score five of the final eight points of the half with the lone Penn State basket coming on a Gray three-pointer to give Penn State the 21-18 lead at the break.
Trogele paced the Lady Lions with eight points, while Gray added six tallies. Wolff pulled in a game-high six first-half rebounds. The second-leading scorer in the Big Ten, Grant was held scoreless in the opening frame. Alyssa Karel led Wisconsin with seven points. Neither team shot better than 30% in the first half.
Wisconsin scored the first three points of the second half to even the game at 21-21 with 16:47 left on the half. Grant tallied her first points of the game with a layup on the ensuing Penn State possession to put the Lady Lions ahead again. The Badgers responded with a layup by Ashley Thomas as the 30-second shot clock expired to even the game. The Lady Lions scored the game's next four points with a basket by Bentley and a hook shot by Wolff to move ahead 27-23 with 12:12 left in the game. Wisconsin scored six of the next 10 points with Grant accounting for the four Penn State tallies to make it a 31-29 game with nine minutes left.
A three-point play by Wolff jump-started a 9-0 Lady Lion run to put Penn State head by 11 points with less than seven minutes to play. Trogele drained her third triple of the game, Bentley added a jumper and Wolff made one of two free throws to finish off the run. The squads swapped scoring opportunities over the next several minutes until a Grant layup stretched the Penn State lead to 13 points (46-33) with 11:43 on the clock.
The Badgers has one final push in them as they went on a 10-2 run to pull within five points (48-43) with two and a half minutes left. Following a miss on the offensive end and with all of the momentum on Wisconsin's side, Grant drew a charge on Lin Zastrow to give possession back to Penn State. Grant drained a jumper in traffic and Trogele and Grant each nailed a pair of free throws down the stretch as the Lions scored the final six points for the 54-43 win.
GAME NOTES: The win snaps a three-game losing streak at Wisconsin...Penn State is now 25-8 all-time against the Badgers...The 14 wins for Penn State are the most under head coach Coquese Washington...Julia Trogele surpassed the 400-point mark for her career with 13 tallies...Trogele had a career-high three three-pointers in the win.
The Lady Lions return to the Bryce Jordan Center on Sunday, Jan. 24 for the Fourth Annual WBCA Pink Zone at Penn State against Illinois at 1 p.m. Penn State will donate $2 from every single-game ticket sold to the Pink Zone to the fundraising cause. 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 hold several camps throughout the summer. There is a Lady Lion Basketball Camp available for girls of all ages, ranging from shooting camp to elite camp. The 2010 Lady Lion Basketball Camp schedule is as follows: Shooting Camp (June 13-15), Elite Camp (June 20-22), Skills Camp (June 20-23), Total Package Team Camp (June 24-26) and Games Galore Team Camp (August 6-8). For more information on Lady Lion Basketball Camps, please visit psusportscamps.com and click on Lady Lion Basketball Camp.
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.