Feb. 19, 2013
Illinois Game Notes (2/20/13) | Watch | Listen |
Tickets! | Promotions | LadyLions.com
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - The #7/9 Penn State Lady Lions (21-3, 11-1 Big Ten) begin their final home stand of the season when they host Illinois (15-9, 8-4) at the Bryce Jordan Center on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The first 2,000 fans will receive a Mia Nickson Wind-Up Walker, the final in the series of five senior wind-up walkers. It's also the final Dollar Dog Night of the season.
GIVEAWAY: The first 2,000 fans will receive a Mia Nickson Wind-Up Walker, the final in the series of five senior wind-up walkers.
PROMOTIONS: It's Dollar Dog Night at the Bryce Jordan Center for the final time in 2013!
LIVE WEBSTREAM: A live webstream of the game is available on the BTDN on Penn State All-Access or BTN.com for a fee.
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. A link to the audio feed and GameTracker are available at www.GoPSUsports.com.
TV: The game will be rebroadcast as a "Student U" production on Thursday, Feb. 21 at 9:30 a.m. on the Big Ten Network.
LAST TIME OUT: The Lady Lions landed four players in double figures, led by Maggie Lucas' 21 points, en route to an 81-69 win at Iowa on Feb. 14. Lucas connected on a trio of three-pointers as she posted her 11th 20-point performance of the season and 42nd of her career. Ariel Edwards provided a spark off of the bench, going 5-for-7 from the field and free throw line en route to 15 points in 18 minutes. Alex Bentley was also solid with 14 points with four assists and four steals, while Mia Nickson was the final Lady Lion in double figures with 11 points to go with eight rebounds.
SCOUTING ILLINOIS: The Fighting Illini are 15-9 overall and 8-4 in Big Ten play, including wins in five of their last six contests. Illinois has its best Big Ten record since 1999-00. Karisma Penn is the "do everything" leader for the Illini, averaging a double-double at 18.9 points and 10.1 rebounds per game to go along with 2.3 blocks and 2.9 steals. Adrienne GodBold has also been solid this season for the Illini, averaging 18.3 points in 12 games played, while Amber Moore (13.2) and Ivory Crawford (13.1) are also contributing double figure scoring marks.
ALL-TIME VS. THE ILLINI: The Lady Lions are 28-14 all-time against Illinois, including a 15-2 mark in games played in Happy Valley. The Lady Lions have won their last five games against the Fighting Illinis, including a 71-65 win in the only meeting between the teams last year. Penn State has won its last 10 games against Illinois, dating back to 1998. The Illini last won at PSU on Feb. 1, 1998.
LAST TIME VS. ILL: The Lady Lions used to gritty performance to battle a tough Illinois team to the end and managed to come away with the 71-65 win in Champaign on Jan. 19, 2012. Maggie Lucas was a perfect 10-for-10 from the field en route to a game-high 19 points. Alex Bentley also reached double figures with 15 points, four assists and a pair of steals, while Nikki Greene added 10 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.
NICE BIG TEN START: The Lady Lions started conference play with a 11-1 record for the first time since the 2002-03 season, which also started 11-1. Additionally, the Lady Lions were undefeated through their first seven conference games for the first time since 2004-05.
LUCAS MOVING UP BIG TEN THREES LIST: With a trio of three-pointers at Iowa on Feb. 14, junior guard Maggie Lucas moved into sole possession of fourth place on the Big Ten's all-time three-pointers list. She broke a tie with Iowa's Lindsey Meder (261; 1999-02) for fourth position with her effort against the Hawkeyes. With 264 career threes, Lucas needs six triples to tie Ohio State's Caity Matter (270; 2001-05) for third place. PSU's Kelly Mazzante holds the Big Ten record with 357 makes from beyond the arc.
NICKSON ON BOARDS LIST: With eight caroms at Iowa on Feb. 14, senior Mia Nickson moved into 24th place on Penn State's career rebounds list with 569 caroms. With her performance against Iowa, Nickson moved past Kelly Mazzante (563; 2001-04) for 24th spot. Nickson needs 14 rebounds to tie Kim Calhoun (583; 1993-96) for 23rd place.
LUCAS ON ALL-TIME SCORING LIST: Junior Maggie Lucas is in eighth place Penn State's career scoring list with her 21-point performance at Iowa on Feb. 14. The 21 tallies push Lucas past teammate Alex Bentley (1,663) and Lisa Shepherd (1,663; 1998-01) for eighth place. Lucas' career total is now at 1,669 points and she is 56 point behind Angie Potthoff (1,725; 1993-97) for seventh place.
AB CLIMBING CAREER SCORING CHART: Senior point guard Alex Bentley tallied 14 points at Iowa on Feb. 14 to tie Lisa Shepherd (1,663; 1998-01) for ninth place on Penn State's career scoring chart. Bentley has 1,663 career points and is chasing teammate Maggie Lucas (1,669) by six points for eighth place and needs 62 tallies to tie Angie Potthoff (1,725; 1993-97) for seventh place.
LUCAS ON SEASON THREES CHART (AGAIN): With a trio of three-pointer at Iowa on Feb. 14, junior guard Maggie Lucas moved into a tie for sixth place on Penn State's single-season three-pointers list (70), equalling the mark set by Lisa Shepherd and Chrissy Falcone, both in 1999-00. Lucas needs 12 triples to tie her own mark of 82 three-pointers made in the 2011-12 campaign for fifth place. Lucas is on the list for the third time in her career, joining Kelly Mazzante as the only players on the list three or more times. Lucas owns the school record for triples in a season with 112 as a freshman in 2010-11.
BEST START SINCE 1999-00: With a 21-3 record, the Lady Lions are off to their best 23-game start since the 1999-00 squad started 26-3. That team went on to win the Big Ten regular-season title and advanced to the only Final Four in school history.
Penn State closes out its home schedule with its annual Pink Zone game and Senior Day against Michigan Sunday. Fans will get a pink silicon bracelet, while supplies last and $3 of each single game ticket sold will go to the Pink Zone fundraising efforts. Prior to the game, the Lady Lions will recognize their five seniors. Penn State closes out the regular-season with road games at Minnesota on Feb. 28 at 9 p.m. (ET) and Nebraska on March 3 at 6 p.m. (ET), both of which can be seen on the Big Ten Network. 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.