March 22, 2013
NCAA Tournament 1st & 2nd Round Notes
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UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - The third-seeded Penn State Lady Lions (25-5, 14-2 Big Ten) will begin their NCAA Tournament in a familiar place with a first round match-up against No. 14 seed Cal Poly (21-10, 13-5 Big West) on Sunday at 5:15 p.m. (ET) in Baton Rouge, La. The game will be televised on ESPN2 and ESPN3. It is the second-straight season that Penn State has played its opening weekend in Baton Rouge. Last year, PSU defeated UTEP and LSU to advance to the Sweet 16.
The Penn State-Cal Poly contest will be the first game of a doubleheader with No. 6 seed LSU (20-11, 10-6 SEC) facing No. 11 Green Bay (29-2, 16-0 Horizon) 25 minutes after the conclusion of the first game on ESPN2. The winner of each game will face off in a second round matchup on Tuesday at 9:30 p.m.
TV: The game will appear regionally on ESPN2, but can be seen in its entirety on ESPN3.com with Tom Hart and Krista Blunk on the call.
RADIO/LIVE STATS: The game is on the Penn State Sports Network and ESPN 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.
LADY LIONS AND THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: The Lady Lions are making their 24th NCAA Tournament appearance and third consecutive berth. Penn State is one of only 11 teams to earn 24 or more NCAA Tournament bids. The Lady Lions are 29-23 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. Penn State's No. 3 seed is the highest since the Lady Lions were the #1 seed in the East region in the 2004 NCAA Tournament. That team lost in the Elite Eight to UConn in Hartford. This is Penn State's fourth time playing in the state of Louisiana for the NCAA Tournament with two trips to Ruston, La. in 1999 and 2001 and a trip to Baton Rouge last season.
BENTLEY EXCELS IN NCAA TOURNEY: Senior guard Alex Bentley has been solid for the Lady Lions in the NCAA Tournament, recording three 20-point games in five career contests. She is averaging 17.0 points, 4.0 assists and 1.8 steals in five NCAA Tournament games.
SCOUTING CAL POLY: The Mustangs finished the regular season 21-10 overall and 13-5 in Big West play. Cal Poly earned the Big West automatic bid for its first NCAA Tournament appearance in the 39-year history of the program. The Mustangs topped Pacific to win the Big West Tournament. Molly Schlemer paces the Mustangs in both scoring (13.0 ppg) and rebounding (7.2 rpg). The 2013 Big West Player of the Year also has a team-best 20 blocks on the year. Ariana Elegado averages 12.3 points per contest and has connected on 72 shots from three-point range this season, while Brittany Woodard rounds out the double-digit scorers, averaging 10.0 points.
ALL-TIME VS. THE MUSTANGS: This will be the first ever match-up between the Lady Lions and Cal Poly. Penn State is 5-0 all-time against teams from the Big West. The Lady Lions defeated Big West member Cal State Northridge by a count of 85-73 earlier this season to win the Radisson Hotel Thanksgiving Tournament in Northridge.
SCOUTING LSU: The Lady Tigers were an at-large selection to the NCAA Tournament with 20-11 overall record and a 10-6 mark in SEC action. Theresa Plaisance, who is averaging 17.4 points and 8.3 rebounds to go along with 82 blocks, leads LSU. Danielle Ballard has chipped in 12.1 points to go along with a team-leading 93 steals and Jeanne Kenney leads the team in assists, averaging 4.2 helpers per contest.
ALL-TIME VS. THE LADY TIGERS: The Lady Lions are 4-2 all-time against LSU. Penn State is 1-1 all-time against the Lady Tigers in Baton Rouge, winning the most recent match-up by a score of 90-80 on March 20, 2012 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Lady Lions are 1-0 all-time vs. LSU in the NCAA Tournament. Penn State is 23-27 all-time against SEC opponents.
LAST TIME VS. LSU: Penn State picked up a 90-80 victory over the Lady Tigers on March 20, 2012 in the NCAA Tournament Second Round in Baton Rouge. Maggie Lucas knocked down five three-pointers and was 11-for-11 from the free throw line en route to 30 points, 19 of which came in the first half. Ariel Edwards was second on the team with 15 points, while Mia Nickson posted a double-double with 15 points and 10 boards. Alex Bentley also reached double figures, adding 10 points and five steals in the win.
SCOUTING GREEN BAY: The Phoenix finished the regular season 29-2 overall and a perfect 16-0 in Horizon League action. Green Bay garnered the Horizon League automatic bid by winning the conference tourney to claim its fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament bid and eighth in 10 years. The Phoenix have won 24-straight games, which is the fourth-ranked win streak in Division I. Adrian Ritchie leads the way for Green Bay, averaging 14.2 points per game to go along with 5.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.6 steals. Sarah Eichler (11.5), Stephanie Sension (10.1) and Lydia Bauer (10.0) round out the double-figure average scorers for the Phoenix.
ALL-TIME VS. THE PHOENIX: The Lady Lions are 0-1 all-time against the Phoenix, suffering a 79-74 setback back in 2010. Penn State is 5-1 all-time against teams from the Horizon league. The Lady Lions defeated Horizon League member Detroit earlier this season, 80-72, on Nov. 23, 2012.
LAST TIME VS. UWGB: The Lady Lions dropped a 79-74 loss to the Phoenix on Nov. 26, 2010 at the Caribbean Challenge in Riviera Maya, Mexico. Julia Trogele had a career-high six steals in the contest, while Alex Bentley narrowly missed her first career double-double with 16 points and nine assists to go along with four steals. Zhaque Gray was 5-for-8 from three-point range en route to a team-high 17 points. She also had three rebounds and two assists on the day. Maggie Lucas came off of the bench to score 11 points, including eight in the final two minutes of the game.
BENTLEY WINS POMEROY AWARD: Senior guard Alex Bentley was selected as the 2013 recipient of the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award, which is presented annually by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, to the nation's outstanding female collegian 5-8 and under who has excelled both athletically and academically. She is the third Lady Lion to win the honor, joining Suzie McConnell (1988) and Helen Darling (2000) as Penn Staters to win the award. Penn State is the only school to have three Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award winners.
NATIONAL POSTSEASON HONORS PILING UP: Senior guard Alex Bentley and junior guard Maggie Lucas have been named to the WBCA All-Region 6 team. The pair is now eligible for the 10-member WBCA All-America team, which will be announced at the Final Four in New Orleans. The All-Region honor is the second for Bentley, who was a WBCA honorable mention All-American last year. Additionally, Lucas is one of 15 finalists for the John R. Wooden Award, it was announced by the Los Angeles Athletic Club. Lucas is the lone representative of the Big Ten on the Wooden list. Selected by the Wooden Award National Advisory Board, the final ballot is made up of 15 student-athletes who have proven to their universities that they are making progress toward graduation and maintaining at least a cumulative 2.0 GPA.
LUCAS NAMED TO ALL-TOURNEY TEAM: Junior guard Maggie Lucas was named to the Big Ten All-Tournament team for her efforts in the 2013 tourney. Lucas averaged 20.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals in two tourney games. She also connected on 52.6% of her shots from beyond the arc, including a 7-for-13 effort against Michigan State in the semifinals. She tallied 23 points and pulled in nine rebounds against the Spartans. In the quarterfinal round, Lucas had 18 points, two rebounds and two steals against Ohio State.
THREE CONSECUTIVE 25-WIN SEASONS: With a 76-66 win over Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals, the Lady Lions notched their 25th win of the season. This is the third consecutive season that Penn State has reached the 25-win mark and the 13th 25-win campaign in program history. This is only the second time in program history that the Lady Lions have posted three consecutive 25-win seasons, joining the 1993-94, 1994-95 and 1995-96 campaigns
COQUESE NAMED USA BASKETBALL ASSISTANT COACH: Head coach Coquese Washington has been selected to be an assistant coach for the USA Basketball Women's World University Games Team this summer. She will serve with the team's head coach Sherri Coale of Oklahoma and assistant coach Brian Giorgis of Marist during the World University Games, which will be played July 8-15 in Kazan, Russia. This is her first coaching position with USA Basketball, but she served on the USA Basketball Women's Junior National Team Committee from 2009-12.
STARTING RECORD TURNS GREENE: By earning the starting nod in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals against Michigan State on March 9, Nikki Greene tied Kelly Mazzante for the school record for consecutive games started with her 129th start. Greene is tied with Nebraska's Linsdsay Moore (129) for the second-longest active streak in the nation. They trail Texas Tech's Monique Smalls (132) for the top spot among active players. Additionally, with a start in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Greene will tie Mazzante's school record for career games started (130).
STELLAR SCORING TANDEM: Junior guard Maggie Lucas and senior guard Alex Bentley are the only two players in school history to play together and each score 1,700 career points. The only other duo in school history to each finish their career with 1,700 or more points is Kelly Mazzante and Tanisha Wright. However, Wright did not reach the 1,700-point mark until her senior year and Mazzante graduated. Lucas is seventh all-time in scoring with 1,810 points, while Bentley is eighth with 1,754 tallies.
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