Dec. 12, 2010
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UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - The Penn State Lady Lions (9-2) used a solid shooting performance and stingy first-half defense for a convincing 95-41 win over Maine (1-7) Sunday at the Bryce Jordan Center. Freshman guard Maggie Lucas (Narberth, Pa.) posted her fifth 20-point game of the season with 22 tallies to lead the Lady Lion charge.
Lucas was 8-for-12 from the field, including four three-pointers. She also pulled in four rebounds, had two steals and dished out two assists. Sophomore center Nikki Greene (Diboll, Texas) tallied her fourth double-double of the season with 12 points and 14 rebounds. She also recorded three blocks and tied her career high with four steals.
Junior guard Zhaque Gray (Chicago, Il.) scored 13 points with four assists, while redshirt sophomore Mia Nickson (Ashburn, Va.) narrowly missed her second career double-double with 10 points, nine rebounds and four assists.
The Lady Lions controlled the game from the outset with a 10-2 run to open the game with four different scorers contributing to the effort. Following a pair of Black Bear free throws, Penn State scored the game's eight points, including four from Bentley and two apiece from Lucas and Marisa Wolfe (Ford City, Pa.) to take an 18-4 lead with just over 13 minutes remaining in the half. The Black Bears, who started 1-for-21 from the field, made their first shot from the field at the 12:56 mark with a three-pointer to make it an 18-7 margin.
Penn State continued to stay hot from the field with a 17-0 run thanks to two three-pointers by Lucas, five points by Gray and three-pointers by Julia Trogele (Devon, Pa.) and Bentley to take a 35-7 lead with 7:30 remaining in the half. Following a three-pointer by Maine's Katelyn Vanderhoff, the Lady Lions closed out the half with a 14-3 run to take a 49-13 lead into the break.
Lucas was 5-for-8 from the field on the way to a game-high 13 points, while Bentley added nine points and a pair of assists. Nickson was also solid in the opening frame with eight points, seven rebounds and a career-best four assists. Maine shot just 6.9% (2-for-29) from the field and gained most of its points from the free throw line where the Black Bears were 7-for-8.
The Black Bears scored first in the second half, but Penn State went on a 22-3 run to push the lead to 53 (71-18) with 13 minutes left in the game. Greene found her comfort zone during the run with six points, while Wolfe added five tallies. The Lady Lion defense held strong for the remainder of the game as Maine could only get within 47 points the rest of the way.
GAME NOTES: The Centre and Blair County Special Olympics basketball teams played an exhibition at halftime and were introduced by Sue Paterno to open the game ... The game will be shown as a "Student U" broadcast on the Big Ten Network on Mon., Dec. 13 at 3:30 p.m. ... With her 12 point and 14 rebound performance, Nikki Greene posted her fourth double-double of the season and her fifth overall for her career ... Mia Nickson had a career-high four assists ... The Lady Lions had their sixth game with 95 points or more this season. The last time Penn State had six or more games with 95 or more points was the 1992-93 season, when it eclipsed the feat in seven games ... The Lady Lions had 42 bench points today, the sixth time Penn State has had 40 or more bench points in a game ... Maine is the second team (Rider) to shoot less than 20% from the field against Penn State this season ... The nine non-conference wins are the most since 2007-08, when the Lady Lions also had nine ... PSU has seven games with 10 three-pointers or more this season, a feat which has not been accomplished this decade (most is four three-point games by the 2000-10 team) ... Penn State improves to 1-0 against Maine and 7-1 against America East teams, including two of those wins coming this season against Hartford and Maine.
The Lady Lions will break for a week for exams and will be back in action on Sun., Dec. 19 versus Delaware at the BJC. The first 200 fans will receive a Big Ten backpack. PSU continues its seven-game homestand on Tues., Dec. 21 versus Drexel as part of a men's and women's doubleheader, beginning at 5 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.