Jan. 26, 2010
Check Out These Lady Lion Basketball Promotions
Coming off of a success WBCA Pink Zone at Penn State event and their first national ranking in five years, the Lady Lions (15-4, 7-2) return to the Bryce Jordan Center hardwood Thursday night against Purdue (10-10, 5-4) at 7 p.m. The Penn State-Purdue series has always been hotly contested and this year is no different with the Lady Lions having won their last six games and 10 of their last 11 and the Boilers fresh off an upset win over No. 4 Ohio State Monday night. AT&T customers can buy a ticket to Thursday's game for just $8. Thursday is also the Code Blue game for Penn State students. The first 100 Penn State students will receive a Code Blue t-shirt.
PROMOTIONS: It's AT&T night at the Bryce Jordan Center; AT&T customers can buy a ticket to Thursday's game for just $8. Thursday is also the Code Blue game for Penn State students. The first 100 Penn State students will receive a Code Blue t-shirt.
RADIO/TV/WEB: The game is on the Penn State Sports Network with Jerry Fisher and Kellie Goodman calling the action. The game can be heard on ESPN Radio 1450. The audio feed is available at www.GoPSUsports.com. The contest will also be available on BigTenNetwork.com via a live video stream for $2.99. The game will be rebroadcast as a Student U production on the Big Ten Network on Fri., Jan. 29 at 10:30 a.m.
LAST TIME OUT: The Lady Lions used the emotion of the 8,471 fans and 285 breast cancer survivors in the crowd to hold off a late Illinois charge for a 70-66 win in the Fourth Annual WBCA Pink Zone on Jan. 24. The Lady Lions moved the ball well against the Illini, tallying 19 assists on 23 baskets. Freshman Alex Bentley had a career-high 19 points to go along with five rebounds, six assists, two blocks and two steals in the best all-around performance of her career. Senior Tyra Grant also reached double figures for Penn State with 15 tallies, a career-best nine assists, five rebounds and a steal, while freshman Nikki Greene narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds.
SCOUTING PURDUE: The Boilermakers are 101-0 overall and 5-4 in Big Ten play, but are coming off of a 63-61 upset win over No. 4 Ohio State Monday night. Brittany Rayburn leads a balanced Purdue attack with a 14.8 scoring average. Jodi Howell is a threat for beyond the arc, connecting on 40.2% of her shots. She is second on the team in scoring at an 8.4 clip. FahKara Malone is third in the Big Ten in assists (4.2) and second in steals (2.7).
ALL-TIME VS. THE BOILERS: The Lady Lions are 14-21 all-time against the Boilermakers, but are 9-6 in home games. The Lady Lions have dropped their last seven games to Purdue, including a 69-51 loss at home on Feb. 19, 2009 and a 59-48 loss at Mackey Arena on Jan. 15, 2009. In the 69-51 loss at home, Julia Trogele narrowly missed a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds.
LAST TIME VS. PURDUE: The Lady Lions ran into a balanced Purdue scoring attack on the way to a 69-51 loss at the Bryce Jordan Center Thursday night. Julia Trogele narrowly missed a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds. She also added two assists and two steals in the loss. Tyra Grant led the Lady Lions with 14 points to go along with six rebounds and a steal.
RECORD-BREAKING PINK ZONE: The preliminary fundraising total for the Fourth Annual WBCA Pink Zone at Penn State is $66,446.24 for the four Pink Zone charities with a few outstanding fundraising efforts still ongoing. The Pink Zone at Penn State benefits Mount Nittany Medical Center, Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute, Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition and the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund. The Lady Lions also hosted a record 285 breast cancer survivors on Jan. 24.
LIONS IN THE POLL: The Lady Lions returned to the Associated Press Poll for the first time since 2004-05 with a No. 23 ranking in the Jan. 25 poll. Penn State is also receiving votes in USA Today Coaches Poll for the first time since the 2007-08 season. The Lions are the first team receiving votes with 25 tallies. Coquese Washington becomes the 27th coach in AP poll history to play for a Top 25 team and coach at Top 25, joining former Lady Lion Terry Williams-Flournoy (PSU/Georgetown) and her former boss Muffet McGraw (St. Joseph's/Notre Dame).
GRANT TO 1,800 & GIVES A HELPING HAND: With 15 points against Illinois on Jan. 24, senior guard Tyra Grant became sixth player in school history to reach the 1,800-point mark for her career. She joins Kelly Mazzante, Susan Robinson, Kahadeejah Herbert, Tanisha Wright and Suzie McConnell as the only Lady Lions to accomplish the feat. Grant also registered another career mark against the Illini with a personal-best nine assists. She surpasses her previous high of six helpers, which occurred on two occasions, most recently against Ohio State on Feb. 28, 2008.
ALEX ALRIGHT: Freshman guard Alex Bentley was 7-for-15 from the field on the way to a career-high 19 points in the Pink Zone win over Illinois on Jan. 24. The rookie had one of her best all-around performances with five rebounds, six assists, two steals and a personal-best two blocks in the win. Bentley's previous career high was 16 points against NJIT in the second game of the season.
WOLFE FROM DOWNTOWN: Freshman forward Marisa Wolfe showed that she has skills from beyond the arc as she drained her first two collegiate three-point attempts in the Jan. 24 win over Illinois. She finished the game 2-for-3 from three en route to six points. This is not Wolfe's first foray into three-point shooting, she won the 2009 Cager Classic Team three-point contest in high school.
BIG TEN Ws: Just nine games into the Big Ten Conference season, the Lady Lions have surpassed their number of conference wins for all of last season with their seventh victory over Illinois on Jan. 24. The seven Big Ten wins are the most for the Lions since the 2006-07 season when Penn State went 7-9. The win was also the sixth consecutive overall for the Lady Lions, marking the longest winning streak since 2004-05.
DONATE ONLINE TO PINK ZONE: Fans can now donate online to the WBCA Pink Zone at Penn State fundraising efforts. Go to www.GoPSUsports.com/pinkzonedonate to join the fight against breast cancer.
The Lady Lions travel to Michigan (Sun., Jan. 31) and Michigan State (Thurs., Feb. 4), before returning to the Bryce Jordan Center for a Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 7) meeting with No. 4/6 Ohio State at 1 p.m. The Ohio State game is a Subway Full Court Four Pack game where fans can get four tickets, four sodas and a voucher for four 6" Subway subs (offer not valid the BJC Subway) for $40. 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 took place on Sunday, Jan. 24 when the Lady Lions take on Illinois in the Bryce Jordan Center. The first three Pink Zone events have raised more than $80,000 for breast cancer awareness. This year's fundraising efforts will benefit Mount Nittany Medical Center, Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute, Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition and the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund. For more information or to donate online to 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.