Nov. 23, 2010
Caribbean Challenge Game Notes (11/25-27/10)
Photo Gallery from the Caribbean Challenge
The Penn State Lady Lions (4-0) travel to Mexico for the first time in program history when it competes in the Caribbean Challenge. Penn State will face Utah (2-1) on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. (Eastern), Wisconsin-Green Bay (3-0) on Friday at 2:30 p.m. (Eastern) and Hartford (1-3) on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. (Eastern). All four teams in the tournament reached the postseason last year. There are three Big Ten teams (Penn State, Iowa and Purdue) competing in this year's Caribbean Challenge. The Hawkeyes and Boilermakers are in the two-game tournament.
RADIO: The Utah and Green Bay games will be on the Penn State Sports Network and on ESPN 1450 locally with Jerry Fisher calling the action. The Hartford game will be on WRSC in State College. The audio feed for all three games is available at www.GoPSUsports.com.
SCOUTING UTAH: The Utes are 2-1 on the season and are coming off of a close loss to #3 Stanford on Nov. 19 (62-53). Janita Badon leads Utah with a 12.0 scoring average, while Taryn Wicijowski is nearly averaging a double-double with 10.7 points and 9.0 rebounds per outing.
ALL-TIME VS. THE UTES: This will be the first-ever meeting between the Lady Lions and Utah. Penn State is 5-1 all-time against teams from the Mountain West Conference. The Lady Lions have faced UNLV (1-0), New Mexico (2-0), San Diego State (2-0) and TCU (0-1).
SCOUTING GREEN BAY: The Phoenix are a perfect 3-0 on the season with a pair of wins over Big Ten teams Minnesota (79-75) and Wisconsin (69-43). Adrian Ritchie paces the Green Bay offense at 16.7 points per game, while Celeste Hoewisch is also averaging double figures at a 16.3 per game clip.
ALL-TIME VS. THE PHOENIX: This will be the first-ever meeting between the Lady Lions and Wisconsin-Green Bay. Penn State is 4-0 all-time against teams from the Horizon League. The Lady Lions have faced Cleveland State (1-0), Detroit (1-0) and Youngstown State (2-0).
SCOUTING HARTFORD: The Hawks are 1-3 on the season after a victory over Sacred Heart. Daphne Elliott is Hartford's leading scorer at 9.3 points per game, while Ruthanne Doherty accounts for 6.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per outing.
ALL-TIME VS. THE HAWKS: This will be the first-ever meeting between the Lady Lions and Hartford. Penn State is 5-1 all-time against teams from the America East. The Lady Lions have faced Boston University (3-1), New Hampshire (1-0) and Stony Brook (1-0).
TOURNAMENT HISTORY: The Lady Lions are vying for their 27th regular-season tournament title. Penn State is 121-48 all-time in 74 regular-season tourneys. The Lady Lions claimed the Dead River Company Classic in Orono, Maine last season with wins over Buffalo and Holy Cross.
LAST TIME OUT: The Lady Lions continued their solid shooting from the field, making 50% (24-57) of their shots from the field and 66.7% (6-9) from three-point range, en route to a dominating 78-48 win over SEC foe South Carolina (2-2) Nov. 21. Senior Julia Trogele notched her second-straight double-double and the sixth of her career with a personal-best 19 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore Alex Bentley added 14 points, four rebounds and two steals, while freshman Maggie Lucas chipped in 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting with two steals.
LUCAS WINS FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK: Maggie Lucas was selected as the Big Ten Freshman of the Week for the week-ending Nov. 21 after averaging 13.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 steals in two wins for the Lady Lions. The rookie guard is the fourth different Lady Lion (Alex Bentley, Nikki Greene, Marisa Wolfe) to win Freshman of the Week honors since the award's inception last season. Lucas continued her rock solid start for the Lady Lions with a pair of double-digit scoring performances last week. In the win over Oakland, she scored eight of Penn State's final 11 points in regulation, including a reverse layup with 8.4 seconds left to tie the game at 87-87 and for overtime. Lucas accounted for 13 points, three rebounds and three assists against OU. In Sunday's win over SEC foe South Carolina, Lucas was 5-for-8 from the field, including 2-for-3 from three-point range, on the way to 14 points. She also chipped in one assist and two steals.
ANOTHER DOUBLE UP: Senior guard/forward Julia Trogele notched her second-straight double-double and the fourth of her career with 19 points and 10 rebounds against South Carolina Nov. 21. Trogele was 5-for-8 from the field and 7-for-9 from the free throw line as she registered a career-high 19 tallies.
TRIPLE THREAT: The Lady Lions have been on target from long range this season. Through three games this year, Penn State has made 34 three-pointers. At this time last season, the Lions had connected on just 11 shots from beyond the arc. It took PSU 10 games to make 34 shots from three-point range. Individually, junior Zhaque Gray is on fire from deep, canning 17 shots. Gray made 23 three-pointers in her entire sophomore season.
Upon returning from Mexico, the Lady Lions will travel to Boston College of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Thurs., Dec. 2 before returning home to meet Texas Tech in the inaugural Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge on Sunday, Dec. 5 at 2 p.m. 2010-11 Lady Lion Basketball Single-game tickets are available by calling 814-863-1000 or 800-NITTANY. The PNC Flex Books are available again this year for $99. The Flex Book gives fans 12 vouchers, including one for the Coaches vs. Cancer game and one for the Pink Zone game, that can be redeemed for Nittany Lion and Lady Lion Basketball tickets in any combination.
The 2011 WBCA Pink Zone at Penn State will take place on Sunday, Feb. 27 at noon as the Lady Lions take on Northwestern in the Bryce Jordan Center. The game can be seen on the Big Ten Network. Last year, the Lady Lions donated more than $80,000 for breast cancer causes. This year's fundraising efforts will benefit the Mount Nittany Medical Center, Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute, Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition, the Kay Yow Cancer Fund and J.C. Blair Memorial Hospital. For more information on the Pink Zone at Penn State, visit the official Pink Zone website at www.gopsusports.com/pinkzone. The WBCA Pink Zone at Penn State is also on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pinkzoneatpennstate.
The Lady Lions are on Twitter. Follow sports information contact Kris Petersen (@ladylionsid) and the Lady Lions and coaches (@pennstatewbb) to get the inside scoop. The Lady Lions are also on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pennstateladylions.