March 2, 2011
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UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - The Penn State Lady Lions (22-8, 11-5) will begin their quest for their first Big Ten Tournament title since 1996 when they head to Indianapolis for the conference tourney this weekend. Penn State, which earned the second seed in the tournament with an 11-5 record in Big Ten play, will meet No. 7 Purdue at 11:30 a.m. on Friday at Conseco Fieldhouse. The Lady Lions earned a first round bye in the Big Ten Tournament for the first time since 2006-07 when the Lady Lions were the #5 seed and faced Illinois in the quarterfinals.
TELEVISION: The quarterfinal game against Purdue will be televised live on the Big Ten Network with Tom Hart and Vera Jones calling the action.
RADIO/GAMETRACKER: The game is on the Penn State Sports Network and on ESPN 1450 locally with Jerry Fisher calling the action. The audio feed and link to GameTracker are available at www.GoPSUsports.com.
SCOUTING PURDUE: The Boilermakers finished the season 19-10 overall and 9-7 in conference play. Brittany Rayburn paces the Purdue offense with a 14.2 scoring average and 1.7 assists per game. Freshman guard Courtney Moses has been solid for the Boilers, averaging 12.1 points and 3.4 assists per game, while Drey Mingo is also averaging double figures at an 11.5 per game clip.
ALL-TIME VS. THE BOILERMAKERS: The Lady Lions are just 14-25 all-time against Purdue, including a pair losses this season with a 79-69 loss in West Lafayette Jan. 20 and a 51-49 decision at the BJC Feb. 24. The Boilermakers have won the last 11 games in the series, dating back to the 2004-05 season. The teams have met four times in the Big Ten Tournament with Purdue winning three of those contests. They last met in Indianapolis in the 2004 Championship game with Purdue winning 59-58.
SCOUTING INDIANA: The Hoosiers finished 9-19 overall and 3-13 in Big Ten play after dropping 13 of their last 14 games. Jori Davis is the marquee player for Indiana as she averages team bests of 19.4 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. She has also been to the free throw line a conference-best 218 times. Hope Elam also averages double digits for the Hoosiers with an 11.1 per game mark, while Whitney Lindsay chips in 9.9 tallies per outing.
ALL-TIME VS. THE HOOSIERS: The Lady Lions are 27-9 all-time against Indiana, including the season sweep of the Hoosiers this season. Penn State posted an 80-77 come-from-behind win in Bloomington Feb. 13 and earned an 82-69 win in University Park Jan. 23. The teams have met four times in the Big Ten Tournament with the Lady Lions claiming three wins. The last time these squads faced off in the postseason was in the 2004 quarterfinals with the Lady lions posting a 79-66 win.
LAST TIME OUT: In front of the ninth-largest crowd for a women's game in Bryce Jordan Center history (11,288), the Lady Lions had a solid second half to post a 66-56 win over Northwestern in the Fifth Annual WBCA Pink Zone at Penn State game. Making her first career start, freshman guard Maggie Lucas tied Kelly Mazzante's Penn State single-season record for three-pointers after netting her 102nd triple of the season on the way to a team-best 21 points. Lucas also dished out a career-high four assists and had a pair of steals. Junior guard Zhaque Gray was 3-for-6 from long range and finished with 12 points, while sophomore Mia Nickson just missed out on a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds.
POSTSEASON HONORS: After posting its best Big Ten campaign since 2003-04, the Penn State Lady Lions were rewarded by having four different players be honored with Big Ten postseason awards. Guard Maggie Lucas (Narberth, Pa.) leads the selections after winning both the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Big Ten Sixth Player of the Year. Additionally, sophomore guard Alex Bentley (Indianapolis, Ind.) garnered first team All-Big Ten honors for the first time in her career, while senior guard/forward Julia Trogele (Devon, Pa.) and sophomore center Nikki Greene (Diboll, Texas) were honorable mention choices. Lucas was also an All-Big Ten choice (second - media; third - coaches). Greene was also named to the Big Ten All-Defensive team.
NINTH-LARGEST CROWD: The Lady Lions welcomed the ninth-largest crowd in women's basketball history to the Bryce Jordan Center as 11,288 fans turned out to watch the Fifth Annual WBCA Pink Zone at Penn State on Feb. 27. It is the largest crowd to watch the Lady Lions since 15,177 turned out to watch Penn State face the Wildcats on Feb. 20, 2005.
BIG TEN STATS TITLES: The Lady Lions posted a .412 three-point field goal percentage to lead the Big Ten for the third time overall and the first time since 2002-03. Additionally, senior Julia Trogele paced conference play with an .881 free throw percentage. She is the first Lady Lion to lead the league in free throw shooting since Adrienne Squire shot .919 from the charity stripe in 2005-06. Freshman guard Maggie Lucas netted a Big Ten-best 3.3 three-pointers per game to become the second Penn State player to lead the conference in triples. She joins Kelly Mazzante, who accomplished the feat three times.
BEST BIG TEN FINISH SINCE 2004: Penn State's win over Northwestern, coupled with Wisconsin's loss to Ohio State, meant that the Lady Lions finished in sole possession of second place. It is highest finish for a Penn State team since the 2003-04 squad won the Big Ten title.
CENTURYS WORTH OF THREES: With three three-pointers in the regular-season finale against Northwestern, freshman guard Maggie Lucas became just the third player in Big Ten history to have 100 three-pointers in a season, joining former Lady Lion Kelly Mazzante and Big Ten record-holder Caity Matter of Ohio State. Lucas needs five three-pointers to break Matter's record of 106 triples set in 2002-03.
BIG TEN WINS: With a 66-56 win over Northwestern Feb. 27, the Lady Lions picked up their 11th Big Ten win of the year. Penn State's 11 wins are the most wins in conference play since the 2004-05 squad won 13 contests.
HOME WINS: The Lady Lions picked up their 13th home win of the season with a 66-56 decision over Northwestern Feb. 27. With the 13 home wins, the Lady Lions have their most home wins since the 2002-03 squad was a perfect 16-0 at the Bryce Jordan Center.
LUCAS FROSH AWARD #8: Penn State Lady Lion guard Maggie Lucas finished out the regular season in style with her conference-record eighth Big Ten Freshman of the Week award after averaging 15.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.0 steals for the week-ending Feb. 27. In Thursday's tough two-point loss to Purdue, Lucas tallied 10 points to go along with four rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals. Lucas was stellar in the regular-season finale win over Northwestern Sunday as she posted her 12th 20-point game of the season with 21 tallies on 7-of-13 shooting, including a trio of three-pointers. In her first career start, Lucas handed out a career-best four assists to go along with a pair of steals.
LUCAS TIES PSU SEASON THREES RECORD: Freshman guard Maggie Lucas tied Kelly Mazzante for first place on Penn State's season three-pointers with three treys versus Northwestern on Feb. 27. In 30 games, Lucas as 102 three-pointers, which ties the record Mazzante set during the 2001-02 season. Additionally, Lucas is 12th on the Lady Lions' career three-pointers chart.
LUCAS FOR 20 TALLIES: Freshman guard Maggie Lucas reached the 20-point plateau for the third-straight game and 12th time in her young career with 21 tallies versus Northwestern Feb. 27. Lucas has the most 20-point games by a Penn State freshman since Kelly Mazzante, who holds the Penn State freshman season scoring record (529 pts.), had 10 20-point efforts in her rookie season.
Penn State will be hosting the first and second round of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament on Saturday, March 19 and Monday, March 21. Tickets are available in all-session packages or as single-session tickets. Tickets can be purchased by calling 814-865-5555 or visiting the Bryce Jordan Center ticket office.
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.
2011 Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament Schedule
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Game 1: No. 7 Purdue vs. No. 10 Indiana, 2 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network
Game 2: No. 6 Wisconsin vs. No. 11 Illinois, 25 minutes following Game 1, Big Ten Network
Game 3: No. 8 Northwestern vs. No. 9 Minnesota, 25 minutes following Game 2, Big Ten Network
Friday, March 4, 2011
Game 4: No. 2 Penn State vs. Game 1 Winner, 11:30 a.m. ET, Big Ten Network
Game 5: No. 3 Michigan vs. Game 2 Winner, 25 minutes following Game 4, Big Ten Network
Game 6: No. 1 Michigan State vs. Game 3 Winner, 6 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network
Game 7: No. 4 Iowa vs. No. 5 Ohio State, 25 minutes following Game 6, Big Ten Network
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Game 8: Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner, 5 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network
Game 9: Game 6 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner, 25 minutes following Game 8, Big Ten Network
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Game 10: Game 8 Winner vs. Game 9 Winner, 3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2