Nov. 28, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - When the game you are playing in is a part of a "challenge", you can expect that your opponent isn't going to be a walkover. The Lady Lions will hit the road for their third straight game on Thursday, Nov. 29 when they take their talents to South Beach a Big Ten/ACC Challenge matchup with Miami (Fla.).
The Lady Lions are off to a 5-0 mark for the second time under head coach Coquese Washington and will be looking to start a season with a 6-0 record for just the sixth time in school history. The Blue and White have passed a pair of major road tests already this season, defeating No. 16/13 Texas A&M and winning a pair of games away from home last weekend in California.
Tale of the Tape
The floor inside the BankUnited Center might need some resurfacing after Thursday night's contest between these two high scoring offenses. Penn State enters the contest averaging 75 points a game, while Miami averages nearly 73 points in their five contests.
The similarities don't end there, as both teams have similar per-game averages in a multitude of statistical categories. Both teams limit the opposition to less than 60 points, force 22 or more turnovers, hand out over 13 assists and claim around 12 steals per contest.
The only major discrepancies on the stat sheet would be Miami's plus-seven rebounding margin to Penn State's plus-two and the Lady Lions .333 three-point field goal percentage to just .296 from behind the arch for the Hurricanes.
Happy Birthday to the Mayor
Talia East is kind of a big deal around campus and her head coach refers to her as the mayor of Penn State, but on Nov. 28 you can just call her birthday girl. It can get tiring being such a high-profile person on one of the nation's largest campuses, but just imagine the `happy birthday' exclamations that she will receive around Happy Valley.
The charismatic post player has an infectious smile that complements her tenacious style of play and her head coach loves her attitude, both on and off the court.
"Her personality is outstanding," said Washington. "She is fun. She keeps everybody laughing and keeps the team in stitches. You love being able to coach those type of players. But she also brings some toughness. She is not afraid to give the hard foul and she is going to get in there and rough it up with the other team's (post players). She will get in there and get those tough rebounds, she will block shots and play good physical defense."
M-V-P, M-V-P
When head coach Coquese Washington told the media that the Lady Lions trip to the west coast was a business trip, junior Maggie Lucas dusted off her hard hat before heading west. The 5-foot-10 sharpshooter filled up the stat sheet to the tune of 25.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.5 steals per game in two games in The Golden State. Those numbers were good enough to help the Blue and White claim the tournament title with wins over Detroit and Cal State Northridge and earn her the distinction of most valuable player at the Radisson Chatsworth Thanksgiving Tournament.
Those numbers were also good enough to earn the junior Big Ten Player of the Week recognition for the first time this season and second in her career. Lucas also earned the award after posting a double-double in a victory over then No. 8/11 Ohio State last season.
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