Jan. 10, 2014
By Tyler Feldman, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Despite accumulating three fouls uncharacteristically quick in the first half, Maggie Lucas delivered some timely shooting to help lead Penn State back from an early 12 point disadvantage to an eventual six point victory, 82-76, at Illinois.
Playing on the road in the Big Ten is not an easy task. That was made clear to Coquese Washington, her coaching staff and her Lady Lions as they faced a 17-5 deficit eight minutes into their bout against Big Ten foe Illinois at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Ill. on Thursday.
"Whenever you play on the road, it's always a difficult environment, and you have to be mentally tough," said Penn State assistant coach Kia Damon. "I think we got down in a hole pretty early in the game. We didn't have our normal scoring opportunities, but the girls continued to attack."
However, it was 2013 Big Ten Player of the Year, Maggie Lucas, who overcame foul trouble to lead the Lady Lions to victory. Lucas tallied 24 points, converting on four three-pointers, including a perfect 10-for-10 from the charity stripe.
"Maggie is always clutch," said Damon. "She picked up three quick fouls, which is unusual. I think there have only been a handful of games in her career where she picked up that many fouls in the first half. But with her time on the bench, and then at halftime, she was able to collect her thoughts, be more poised, and have a laser-sharp focus on what she needed to do in the second half to be more effective."
Lucas executed a simple flick of the wrist and a hand in the cookie jar to spark the comeback. Down by seven with 7:22 remaining in the first half, the sharp-shooting senior cashed in a three-pointer from well beyond the arc to cut Illinois's lead to 23-19.
From that point forward, Penn State was able to control the tempo, especially in transition and the Lady Lions went on to end the first half on an 8-2 run to head into the locker-room down only one, 32-31.
In the second half, Lucas and the Lady Lions stayed hot, leading by 19 points at one point, 77-58. Lucas was like a microwave, providing instant scoring for her team. Her 17-second half points certainly helped the Blue and White get out to a commanding lead.
Lucas has compiled quite the statistical career at Penn State, so, to no surprise, she found herself in even more Lady Lion record books after her performance last night.
For the third time this season, Lucas was perfect from the foul line when attempting at least 10 shots. With her perfect 10-for-10 from the charity stripe, Lucas became just the eighth player in Lady Lion history to attempt 500 free throws in a career, moving into seventh place on the all-time list with 503 attempts.
Additionally, by finishing 4-for-11 from downtown, Lucas moved into second place on the Big Ten career three-point field goals attempt list with 768.
Other notable difference makers included senior Ariel Edwards and freshman Peyton Whitted. Edwards notched her second-career double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Whitted set career-highs with 9 points and 10 boards.
Be that as it may, the Lady Lions lost their double-digit lead, and nearly the game, when the Illini finished the game on a zestful 15-3 run. Such an ending provided the Lady Lions with an important takeaway from the contest.
"The positive that we can take away are once we are able to maintain and hold onto the lead we can be very dangerous," said Damon. "That is a great strength of our team and that takes a lot of mental fortitude to do that. We just have to stay true to the things in our game plan. So I think the main thing is that we have to start the game strong and finish the game strong."
The Lady Lions will look to start and finish strong when they travel back home and take on No. 20/21 Purdue in their Big Ten home opener this Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Bryce Jordan Center.