Nov. 13, 2012
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UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - The #9/9 Penn State Lady Lions (1-0) will face an early-season road test when they head to #16/13 Texas A&M (0-1) Wednesday night at 8 p.m. (ET). The game will air live on Fox Sports-Southwest and Fox College Sports-Atlantic (Comcast channel 262 in the State College area). This is just the second overall meeting between the Lady Lions and the Aggie with Texas A&M claiming a win in the first contest.
TELEVISION: The game will air live on Fox Sports-Southwest and Fox College Sports-Atlantic (Comcast channel 262 in the State College area). Bob Licht will provide the play-by-play call and Brenda VanLengen will serve as the color analyst.
RADIO: The game is on the Penn State Sports Network and WRSC 1390 locally with Jerry Fisher calling the action. The audio feed and live stats are available at www.GoPSUsports.com.
LAST TIME OUT: The eighth-ranked Lady Lions used a 14-0 run to close out the first half in a 72-61 victory over the Howard Bison Sunday. Junior guard Maggie Lucas led the way for the Lady Lions with 25 points, her 32nd career 20-point game. Senior Mia Nickson recorded her 11th career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds coming on 6-of-10 shooting, while senior point guard Alex Bentley tallied 14 points, six rebounds, four assists and seven steals.
SCOUTING TEXAS A&M: The Aggies dropped their season opener to #9 Louisville, 47-45, on a last minute shot. Kelsey Bone paced Texas A&M with a double-double via 14 points and 12 rebounds. Kristi Bellock added seven points and seven boards, while Karla Gilbert chipped in seven points and 11 rebounds against the Cardinals.
ALL-TIME VS. THE AGGIES: The Lady Lions lost the only previous meeting with Texas A&M, 61-57, in a Thanksgiving tournament in Malibu in 2008. Penn State challenged the #8/5 Aggie before coming up short. The Lady Lions are 22-29 all-time against current SEC opponents.
LAST TIME VS. TAMU: Tyra Grant had 22 points and six steals and the Lady Lions rallied from as many as 15 down in the second half in a tough 61-57 loss to #8/5 Texas A&M in the Timeout 4 HIV/AIDS Tournament on Nov. 28, 2008. Brianne O'Rourke had a solid all-around game with 14 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals, while Julia Trogele added 12 points on 6-of-12 shooting and six rebounds.
GREENE HOMECOMING: One of the advantages to playing Texas A&M in College Station is to allow senior center Nikki Greene to play in front of some of her hometown family and friends. Greene's hometown of Diboll, Texas is just 125 miles (or approximately two and a half hours) from College Station.
SEASON OPENING Ws: Penn State has won its last seven season opener after a 72-61 decision over Howard on Nov. 11. The Lady Lions are a perfect 6-0 in the first game of the season under head coach Coquese Washington. Overall, Penn State is now 37-12 all-time in season openers.
LUCAS HITS 20 TO START THE YEAR: Junior guard Maggie Lucas was 9-for-17 from the field en route to 25 points in the season-opening win over Howard. It was Lucas' 32nd game with 20 or more points in her career. Lucas also surpassed the 1,200-point mark in the win over the Bison.
MIA DOUBLES UP: Senior foward Mia Nickson notched her 11th career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Howard Nov. 11. Nickson was 6-for-10 from the field and made both of her free throw attempts in the victory.
TORI TIES CAREER MARK: Sophomore foward/center Tori Waldner tied her career high with six points, all of which came from the free throw line, in the victory over Howard Nov. 11. She also pulled in six rebounds and rejected on shot in just 12 minutes of action. This is the fifth time in Waldner's career that she has tallied six points in a game.
THEFT BY A BENTLEY: Senior guard Alex Bentley nabbed seven steals, including six in the first half, to move into a tie for 10th place on Penn State's career steals chart. Bentley is now tied with Tanya Garner (1987-91) on the all-time list with 223 thefts. Bentley's seven steals were one off of her career high of eight, set against Nebraska on Dec. 30, 2011.
NON-CON HOME WINNING STREAK: The Lady Lions have won their last eight non-conference home games, dating back to the 2010-11 season. Penn State last lost a home non-conference game against Drexel on Dec. 21, 2010. The streak is tied for the ninth-longest in school history.
The Lady Lions return home to face Lafayette on Sunday, Nov. 18 at 2 p.m. for Kids Day and YMCA Day. Kids will take over the BJC by partaking in various jobs on game day and the Lady Lions will host a kids clinic postgame for kids that register by emailing their information (names and ages) to psuladylions@gmail.com by Saturday, Nov. 17. YMCA members can show their card at the ticket office on game day and can get $5 off per ticket. Additionally, fans that show their ticket from the Penn State-Indiana football game will receive a buy one ticket, get one free offer for the day. The Lady Lions are also helping the Penn State football team Stuff the Blue Bus for the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank and will offer fans that bring a canned good to the game a $5 ticket.
Single game tickets for the Lady Lions are on sale now. Tickets are $15 and $12 for adults and seniors and $9 and $7 for youth (12 and younger). Lady Lion Basketball season tickets are still available by calling 1-800-NITTANY. Season tickets are $99 for adults and $50 for youth (12 and under), this includes a Nittany Lion Kids Club Membership for 2012-13. The PNC Flex Books are available again this year for $99. The Flex Book gives fans 12 vouchers, 10 that can be redeemed in any combination for Nittany Lion and Lady Lion Basketball tickets throughout the year and two extra vouchers for the Nittany Lions' Coaches Vs. Cancer game and the Lady Lions' Pink Zone game.
The 2013 Pink Zone at Penn State will take place on Sunday, Feb. 24 as the Lady Lions take on Michigan in the Bryce Jordan Center. Last year, the Lady Lions donated a record $203,000 to 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.pennsylvaniapinkzone.org.
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.