Feb. 7, 2012
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UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - The No. 18/21 Penn State Lady Lions (18-5, 8-3) continue their push in the race for the Big Ten title when they host Wisconsin (8-15, 4-7) Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Bryce Jordan Center. Thursday is Dollar Dog Night where all hot dogs will be $1 at BJC concession stands. As always, Penn State students get in for free with ID. The Lady Lions will also honor Maggie Lucas (Narberth, Pa.) pregame for becoming the third sophomore in school history to reach the 1,000-point plateau.
PROMOTIONS: Thursday is Dollar Dog Night. All hot dogs will be $1 at Bryce Jordan Center concession stands.
RADIO/LIVE STATS: The game is on the Penn State Sports Network and ESPN Radio 1450 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: Junior guard Alex Bentley connected on a three-pointer with 38.9 seconds left to lift the No. 19/21 Penn State Lady Lions to a 68-65 win at Minnesota Sunday. Additionally, sophomore guard Maggie Lucas, who finished with 10 points, became the third sophomore and 34th player overall in Penn State history to reach 1,000 career points. Junior Mia Nickson was 5-for-9 from the field and 10-for-12 from the free throw line en route to a season-high 20 points and nine rebounds.
SCOUTING WISCONSIN: The Badgers are 8-15 overall and 4-7 in Big Ten play, but are coming off back-to-back losses to Iowa and Ohio State after a three-game winning streak. UW connected on a school-record 12 three-pointers in the loss at OSU Monday night. Taylor Wurtz paces the Wisconsin attack as she leads the team in scoring (16.4), rebounding (7.5) and steals (1.4). She tallied 17 points in the first meeting with the Lady Lions. Anya Covington and Morgan Paige account for 10.0 points apiece on the year for the Badgers.
ALL-TIME VS. THE BADGERS: The Lady Lions are 26-10 all-time against Wisconsin, but the Badgers have won five of the last eight games. Penn State is tough in home games against the Badgers with a 15-2 mark. The Lady Lions earned an 82-49 win in Madison in the first meeting of the season on Jan. 2.
LAST TIME VS. UW: The Lady Lions connect on 52.3% (34-65) of its shots on the way to an 82-49 win at Wisconsin Jan. 2. Sophomore Maggie Lucas accounted for a game-high 18 points with a career-best seven assists and a steal to pace Penn State. Junior post player Mia Nickson posted her first double-double of the season and seventh of her career with 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting and a season-high 14 rebounds.
ROAD WARRIORS: The Lady Lions picked up their eighth road win of the season with a 68-65 comeback win in Minnesota Feb. 5. The eight road victories are the most by a Penn State team since the 2003-04 team won nine contests away from the BJC.
LUCAS REACHES 1,000: Sophomore guard Maggie Lucas became the third sophomore and 34th player overall in Penn State history to reach the 1,000-point plateau with 10 tallies at Minnesota Feb. 5. She joins Kelly Mazzante (47 games) and Susan Robinson (53 games) as the only Lady Lions to get 1,000 points as a sophomore. Lucas reached the milestone in 58 career games, making her the 11th-fastest player in the 30-year history of the Big Ten to tally 1,000 points.
GREENE MOVING UP CHARTS: Junior center Nikki Greene continues to steadily moving up the career charts after pulling in nine rebounds at Minnesota Feb. 5. Greene now has 650 career rebounds and sits in 17th place on Penn State's career boards chart. With her effort against the Gophers, Greene passed Maren Walseth (645; 1998-01) and Jess Brungo (649; 2001-04) on the career chart. She needs 22 rebounds to tie Helen Darling (672; 1997-00) for 16th place. Additionally, Greene is in sixth place on the Penn State career blocks list with 163 rejections. She needs nine blocks to move into the Top 5 all-time.
WALDNER EQUALS CAREER MARK: For the fourth time this season, freshman post player Tori Waldner equaled her career high with six points in the win at Minnesota Feb. 6. Waldner came into the game and sparked the Lady Lions with back-to-back jumpers to end a 10-plus minute field goal drought in the first half.
20 TALLIES FOR MIA: Junior post player Mia Nickson was 10-for-12 from the free throw line, including a pair of freebies to ice the game, en route to a 20-point performance at Minnesota Feb. 5. It was the fifth career 20-point game for Nickson and first this season. Additionally, Nickson narrowly missed a double-double with nine rebounds.
BENTLEY CLIMBS THEFTS LIST: With six steals at Minnesota Feb. 5, junior guard Alex Bentley moved into 14th place on Penn State's career steals chart with 189 career thefts, passing Annie Troyan (187; 1981-83) for the spot. Bentley needs seven steals to tie Brianne O'Rourke (196; 2006-09) for 13th place.
The Lady Lions close out the road portion of its regular-season schedule with a pair of games at Northwestern (Feb. 12) and at Purdue (Feb. 16). Both games will air on the Big Ten Network. Penn State returns to the BJC for its final two games against Ohio State on Monday, Feb. 20 and for the Pink Zone game vs. 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.