Jan. 29, 2013
Wisconsin Game Notes (1/31/13) | Watch | Listen |
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UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - The #7/8 Penn State Lady Lions (17-2, 7-0 Big Ten) close out the first half of the conference season by traveling to Wisconsin (9-11, 1-6) for a conference contest on Thursday at 8 p.m. (ET). The Lady Lions are riding an 11-game winning streak, which is the third-longest active streak in NCAA Division I behind Baylor and Notre Dame. Penn State has also won 14 consecutive Big Ten games, which is a school record.
RADIO/LIVE STATS: The game is on WRSC 1390 locally with Jerry Fisher and Brian Tripp calling the action. A link to the audio feed and GameTracker available at www.GoPSUsports.com.
WEBSTREAM: A live webstream is available on the BTDN on Penn State All-Access for a fee. The feed can be accessed through GoPSUsports.com's All-Access or on video.btn.com.
TV REPLAY: The game will be re-aired as a "Student U" broadcast on Friday, Feb. 1 at 10:30 a.m. on the Big Ten Network.
LAST TIME OUT: The Lady Lions rallied from an 11-point deficit early in the second half on the way to a 71-56 win at Ohio State Sunday. Senior center Nikki Greene continued her solid play with her fourth double-double of the season and 13th of her career with 11 points and 13 rebounds. Junior guard Maggie Lucas scored 14 of her team-high 18 points in the second half and also added four rebounds, two assists and one steal. Senior guard Alex Bentley chipped in 16 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals in the win.
SCOUTING WISCONSIN: The Badgers are 9-11 on the year and 1-6 in conference play. Morgan Paige leads Wisconsin with a 16.4 scoring average to go along with 31 assists and 18 steals on the year. Jacki Gulczynski also accounts for double figures at 11.3 points per game, while Cassie Rochel leads the team with 8.2 rebounds per game. The Badgers are without senior Taylor Wurtz, who was averaging 12.6 points and 7.0 rebounds, after a season-ending back injury.
ALL-TIME VS. THE BADGERS: The Lady Lions are 28-10 all-time against Wisconsin. However, Penn State is just 9-8 in road games versus the Badgers, but is just 2-4 in the last six contests played at the Kohl Center. The Lady Lions earned an 84-40 on Jan. 17 to extend their win streak over the Badgers to three games after a season sweep last year.
LAST TIME VS. UW: The Lady Lions jumped out to an 11-0 lead and never looked back in an 84-40 wire-to-wire victory over Wisconsin Jan. 17. Leading the way for the Lady Lions was senior Nikki Greene, who scored 23 points to go along with 14 rebounds for her 12th career double-double. Senior Alex Bentley was one of four Lady Lions who scored in double figures, as she chipped in 14 points to go along with six steals and five assists. Juniors Maggie Lucas and Ariel Edwards tallied 11 and 10 points, respectively.
GREENE SPORTS DOUBLE-DOUBLE: Senior center Nikki Greene registered her fourth double-double of the season and 13th of her career with 11 points and 13 rebounds at Ohio State on Jan. 27. The game-high 13 rebounds also mark the sixth consecutive double-digit rebounding performance for Greene.
EAST JOINS BLOCKS LIST: With a pair of rejections at Ohio State on Jan. 27, junior forward/center Talia East moved into the Top 20 in Penn State history in blocks. With 48 career rejections, East is tied with former teammate Julia Trogele (48; 2008-11) for 19th place and passes Jacquelynn Shook (47; 2001-02) for 20th spot. She needs 13 blocks to tie Tanisha Wright (61; 2002-05) for 18th place.
BEST START SINCE 1993-94: With a 17-2 record, the Lady Lions are off to their best start since the 1993-94 season. The 1993-94 squad won 18 consecutive games to start the season and went 22-2 in their first 24 games. That team tied for the Big Ten regular-season title with a 16-2 conference record and won the inaugural Big Ten Tournament before advancing to the Elite Eight.
STREAKING: The Lady Lions are riding an 11-game winning streak after a 71-56 win at Ohio State on Jan. 27. The streak is the sixth longest streak in school history and is the third-longest active streak in NCAA Division I.
RECORD-BREAKING B1G STREAK: Penn State has won a school record 14 consecutive Big Ten regular-season games, dating back to last season. The streak breaks the previous school mark for consecutive Big Ten wins of 13 over the 1992-93 and 1993-94 seasons. The Lady Lions last lost in Big Ten play on Jan. 29, 2012 at Michigan State. The overall school record for consecutive conference victories is 16 as the 1990-91 squad won 14 straight Atlantic 10 games and the 1992-93 team won its first two games as a member of the Big Ten (PSU did not play in a conference in 1991-92) to account for the record.
BIG TEN START: With a 71-56 win at Ohio State Jan. 24, the Lady Lions moved to 7-0 in conference play. It was the first time since the 2004-05 season that Penn State has won it's first four games. The 2004-05 squad opened league play with a 7-0 mark.
THEFT BY A BENTLEY: With a two-steal performance at Ohio State Jan. 27, senior guard Alex Bentley moved into a tie for fifth place place on Penn State's all-time steals chart, tying Kelly Mazzante (289; 2001-04). Bentley has 289 career thefts and needs four steals to tie Tina Nicholson (293; 1993-96) for fourth place all-time.
NICKSON ON BOARDS LIST: With four caroms at Ohio State Jan. 27, senior Mia Nickson moved into 25th place on Penn State's career rebounds list with 535 caroms. With her performance against Ohio State, Nickson broke a tie with Lorraine McGirt (531; 1983-85) for 25th spot. Nickson needs 28 rebounds to tie Kelly Mazzante (563; 2001-04) for 24th place.
The Lady Lions return home on Monday, Feb. 4 to face Purdue in a Big Monday battle on ESPN2. The Purdue game will be Centre County Women's Resource Night and fans that bring an item off of the CCWRC's needed items list will receive $5 off their ticket. Fans are also encouraged to wear blue to show their support of survivors and victims of child sexual abuse. Additionally, the first 2,000 fans will receive a Nikki Greene Wind-Up Walker, the third in the series. Go to www.GoPSUsports.com/promotions/wbb.html for complete promotions information.
Single game tickets for the Lady Lions are on sale. Tickets are $15 and $12 for adults and seniors and $9 and $7 for youth (12 and younger). 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.