Feb. 14, 2010
WEST LAFAYETTE, IND. - The Penn State Lady Lions (15-10, 7-8) led by four points with just under eight minutes left, but only managed to score five points in the final 7:51 on the way to a 63-59 loss at Purdue (14-12, 9-6) Sunday. The Boilermakers scored nearly half of their points (29) from the free throw line, while the Lady Lions, who have lost their last six games, only made 14 shots from the charity stripe.
Freshman Alex Bentley (Indianapolis, Ind.) registered her third career 20-point effort with 20 tallies on 8-of-14 shooting. She also added four assists and three steals. Senior Tyra Grant (Youngstown, Ohio) accounted for 18 points, five rebounds, two steals and a block. Grant is now 80 points away from becoming the fourth Lady Lion to reach the 2,000-point plateau.
The Lady Lions sprinted out to a 4-0 lead in the first minute on a press-breaking layup by Bentley and a layup by Julia Trogele (Devon, Pa.) off of a Bentley pass. The Boilermakers scored the game's next three points before Zhaque Gray (Chicago, Ill.) pushed the Penn State lead back to three points (6-3) on a transition basket with 15:58 left.
Jodi Howell made two of her three free throw attempts to cut the Penn State lead to a single point, but Grant responded with a three-pointer to push the lead back to 9-5 with 13:37 on the clock. After an exchange of scores and a pair of Brittany Rayburn free throws, a 6-0 spurt by the Lady Lions via a Grant three-point play and Bentley three-pointer gave the Penn State a 17-9 advantage with 9:22 left in the half. Rayburn's jumper with just under nine minutes left in the half snapped a 2-for-11 start from the field for the Boilermakers and made it a 17-11 game.
Penn State went ice cold from the field, allowing the Boilermakers go on a 10-0 run to take a 21-17 lead with 3:37 left in the half. On the ensuing Penn Sate possession, a pair of Grant free throws snapped a six-minute scoreless drought for the Lions and cut the Purdue lead in half (21-19). Following a Rayburn basket, Janessa Wolff (Park Rapids, Minn.) drained a hook shot and Bentley converted on a layup attempt in transition to even the score at 23-23.
The teams swapped three-point scores on a FahKara Malone three-pointer and an old-fashioned three-point play by Trogele to keep the game tied with less than a minute to play. With 31 seconds left, Chelsea Jones made one of her two free throw attempts to give the Boilers a 27-26 advantage, but the Lady Lions responded with two freebies by Wolff with seven seconds on the clock to give Penn State a 28-27 lead at the break.
Grant led the Lady Lions with eight points and two steals, while Bentley added seven points, four assists and a pair of steals. Wolff contributed six points and two blocks off of the bench in the opening frame. The Lady Lions shot just 28.1% (9-32) from the field in the opening half.
Bentley started the second half on the right foot with a three-pointer to give the Lions a 31-27 lead, but Purdue responded with the game's next four points to even the score at 31-31 with 18:29 remaining. Grant drained her second three-pointer of the game and Meredith Monroe (Olney, Md.) hit both of her free throw attempts to push the Lions ahead 36-31 with 17:30 left in the game.
The Boilers went on a 10-1 run to take a 41-37 lead with just under 15 minutes left in the game. The teams exchanged scoring opportunities until a three-point play by Gray and a three-pointer by Grant gave the Lady Lions a 49-46 lead with 11:23 on the clock. However, Purdue responded by scoring the game's next four points to take a one-point lead at 50-49 with nine minutes to play.
Bentley went on a personal 5-0 run to push the Lady Lions to a 54-50 lead with just under eight minutes left, but Purdue bounced back with a 10-0 run of their own to surge ahead 60-54 with 54 seconds remaining. Grant was fouled on a three-point attempt, but only made two of her shots from the charity stripe to make it a four-point game (60-56) with 31 seconds left. On the ensuing possession, Rayburn was fouled and converted on both tries to extend the lead back to six with 20 seconds on the clock. She added another freebie with five seconds left. The Lady Lions were held without a field goal for the final 7:51 of the game until Bentley hit a three-pointer with one tick on the clock.
The Lady Lions return home to face Michigan on Thursday, Feb. 18 at 6:30 p.m. It will be Beach Day in the Bryce Jordan Center with fans wearing a Hawaiian shirt will get in for $5. 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.