Feb. 14, 2012
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UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - The No. 12/17 Penn State Lady Lions (20-5, 10-3) close out the road portion of their conference schedule when they visit No. 17/19 Purdue (19-6, 9-3) in a critical Big Ten matchup Thursday at 6 p.m. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network with Tom Hart and Mary Murphy describing play. This is the only meeting of the season between the Lady Lions and the Boilers.
TELEVISION: The game will air on the Big Ten Network with Tom Hart and Mary Murphy on the call.
RADIO/LIVE STATS: The game is on WRSC locally with Jerry Fisher and Brian Tripp calling the action. The audio feed and live stats are available at www.GoPSUsports.com.
LAST TIME OUT: The Lady Lions landed four players in double figures and saw all nine players score en route to a 77-63 win at Northwestern Sunday. Junior guard Alex Bentley led the Penn State effort with 18 points on a 7-for-12 effort from the field. Sophomore guard Maggie Lucas narrowly missed out on her first career double-double with 11 points to go along with a career-high tying nine rebounds and seven assists.
SCOUTING PURDUE: The Boilermakers are 19-6 overall and 9-3 Big Ten play, including an 8-0 start to the conference season. Brittany Rayburn paces the Purdue attack with a 14.3 scoring average to go along with 4.2 rebounds per outing. Courtney Moses also averages double figures for Purdue at a 10.4 clip, while Sam Ostarello adds 8.4 points and a team-best 8.2 rebounds per game.
ALL-TIME VS. THE BOILERS: The Lady Lions are 15-25 all-time against Purdue, but have lost 12 of the last 14 games against the Boilers. Penn State is 4-14 in games played in West Lafayette and have a six-game losing streak at Mackey Arena, dating back to Jan. 2, 2004. The Lady Lions snapped an 11-game losing streak to Purdue with a 73-61 victory in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament on March 4.
LAST TIME VS. PURDUE: The Lady Lions turned in a solid second half, led by 12 points from Julia Trogele, to overcome a halftime deficit and post a 73-61 win over Purdue in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament on March 3, 2011. The win snapped an 11-game slide against the Boilermakers, dating back to the 2004-05 season. Alex Bentley tallied 19 points with four steals. Zhaque Gray also reached doubled figures with 11 points, while Nikki Greene dominated the paint with eight points and 14 rebounds.
20-WIN MARK: The Feb. 12 win at Northwestern marked the win is the 20th of the season for the Lady Lions. It is the second-straight 20-win season and 24th overall for Penn State. The win also gave the Lady Lions 10 wins in conference play, marking the 13th time that Penn State has posted double-digit wins as a member of the Big Ten.
BENTLEY MOVES UP SCORING LIST: With 18 points at Northwestern Feb. 12, junior guard Alex Bentley moved past Amanda Brown (1,233; 2004-07) for 23rd place on Penn State's career scoring list. With 1,235 career points, Bentley needs three points to tie Kam Gissendanner (1,238; 2006-08) for 22nd spot and five points to tie Tina Nicholson (1,240; 1993-96) for 21st place.
LUCAS CLIMBS SCORING CHART: Sophomore guard Maggie Lucas jumped two places on Penn State's career scoring list with 11 markers against Northwestern Feb. 12. Lucas is 32nd on the career list after passing Rashana Barnes (1,024; 1999-02) and Helen Holloway (1,022; 1991-94) with her effort against the Wildcats. With 1,029 career points, Lucas needs 32 points to tie Nancy Kuhl (1,061; 1975-79) for 31st spot.
NEAR DOUBLE-DOUBLE: Sophomore Maggie Lucas narrowly missed her first career double-double with 11 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in the win at Northwestern Feb. 12. Lucas tied her career highs in rebounds and assists in the win. She also had seven helpers against Wisconsin (1/2/12) and had nine boards against Washington State (11/11/11).
ROAD WARRIORS: The Lady Lions picked up their ninth road win of the season with a 77-63 decision at Northwestern Feb. 12. The nine road victories are the most by a Penn State team since the 2003-04 team won nine contests away from the BJC.
PINK ZONE GAME TIME: The Penn State Lady Lions will host the Sixth Annual WBCA Pink Zone at Penn State game against Minnesota on Sunday, Feb. 26 at 2 p.m. The game will be televised live on the Big Ten Network.
Penn State returns to the BJC for its final two games against Ohio State on Monday, Feb. 20 in an ESPN Big Monday game. The game will be a "white out" and fans will get a Lady Lion car flag. Additionally, Penn State Alumni Association members can buy tickets for $5 for the Ohio State game. PSU closes out the regular-season with the Pink Zone game versus Minnesota on Sunday, Feb. 26. Single game tickets and PNC Flex Books are available by calling 800-NITTANY. PNC Flex Books are $99 and give fans 12 vouchers, including one for the Coaches vs. Cancer game and one for the Pink Zone game, which can be redeemed for Nittany Lion and Lady Lion Basketball tickets in any combination.
The 2012 WBCA Pink Zone at Penn State will take place on Sunday, Feb. 26 at 2 p.m. as the Lady Lions take on Minnesota in the Bryce Jordan Center. Last year, the Lady Lions donated nearly $200,000 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, J.C. Blair Memorial Hospital and Lewistown 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.