March 5, 2014
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UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - After winning their third-straight Big Ten regular-season title, the #11/11 Penn State Lady Lions (22-6, 13-3 Big Ten) head to Indianapolis in search of a Big Ten Tournament Championship this weekend. Penn State is the top seed in the tournament and will open play against #8 seed Ohio State, who defeated #9 seed Northwestern in the first round. The Lady Lions' quarterfinal contest will be played at noon on Friday and will air live on the Big Ten Network.
TV: The Big Ten Network will air the first three rounds of the tournament (Thursday-Saturday) and ESPN2 will carry the Championship game.
RADIO: The game is on the Penn State Sports Network and WRSC 1390 locally with Jerry Fisher and Julia Trogele calling the action. The audio feed is available at www.GoPSUsports.com.
LADY LIONS AT THE BIG TEN TOURNAMENT: The Lady Lions are 25-17 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament and claimed the first two tourney crowns in 1995 and 1996. Last season, Penn State topped #9 seed Ohio State, before falling to #4 seed Michigan State in the semifinals. Penn State is 13-3 all-time in the quarterfinal round of the Big Ten Tournament. The Lady Lions are 5-6 in the Big Ten Tournament under Coquese Washington, but have won at least one game each of the last four years. PSU is also 3-1 in quarterfinal games under Washington. The Lady Lions are 24-15 in Big Ten Tournament games played in Indianapolis.
TOP SEED IN THE BTT: Penn State will serve as the top seed in the Big Ten Tournament for the third consecutive season. It is the seventh time in program history that the Lady Lions are the top seed (1995, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2012, 2013, 2014). The Lady Lions are 10-5 when they are the #1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. PSU won the title in 1995 as the top seed.
BIG TEN THREE-PEAT: With a 77-62 win over Michigan on March 1, Penn State clinched a share of its third-straight Big Ten regular-season title with a 13-3 record in conference play. This is the first time school history that the Lady Lions have won three consecutive conference regular-season titles (Big Ten or Atlantic 10). The Lady Lions join Ohio State (2005-10 and 1982-87) and Iowa (1987-90) as the only Big Ten teams to win three or more consecutive Big Ten titles. Penn State has won eight overall regular season crowns (1994, 1995, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2012, 2013, 2014). The Lady Lions earned the No. 1 overall seed in the Big Ten Tournament for the seventh time in program history (1995, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2012, 2013, 2014).
SCOUTING #8 SEED OHIO STATE: The Buckeyes finished the regular-season 15-17 overall and 5-11 in Big Ten play. Ameryst Alston leads Ohio State with a team-best 18.2 scoring average to go along with 3.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Raven Ferguson is also averaging double figures at a 10.9 per game clip. She also pulls in 5.5 rebounds per outing. Darryce Moore has been solid in the post for the Buckeyes, accounting for 7.9 points and a team-best 5.8 rebounds per game.
ALL-TIME VS. THE BUCKEYES: The Lady Lions are 36-21 all-time against Ohio State, including wins in the last five contests. PSU is 5-5 in Big Ten Tournament games against the Buckeyes, including a 76-66 win in the quarterfinals last season. The Lady Lions swept the two-game series for the second-straight season with a 66-42 win in Happy Valley and a 74-54 win in Columbus.
LAST TIME VS. OSU: The Lady Lions dominated the second half with a solid defensive effort on the way to a 74-54 win at Ohio State on Feb. 9. Maggie Lucas moved into fifth place on the Big Ten's career scoring chart with 23 points via a 9-for-14 effort from the field. Talia East continued her solid play inside with 12 points, eight rebounds and two blocks, while Dara Taylor added 12 points, four rebounds and six assists in the win.
SCOUTING #9 SEED NORTHWESTERN: The Wildcats are 15-14 overall and 5-11 in Big Ten play heading into the Big Ten Tournament. Nia Coffey paces the balanced Wildcat attack as she leads the team in scoring (15.2) and rebounding (8.1). Maggie Lyon accounts for 13.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. She has drained a team-best 57 shots from three-point range. Christen Inman also averages double figures at a 12.0 per game clip, while Lauren Douglas adds 11.9 points and 5.1 rebounds per outing.
ALL-TIME VS. THE WILDCATS: The Lady Lions are 32-7 all-time against Northwestern, including wins in the last eight contests. Penn State is 2-0 against the Wildcats in Big Ten Tournament meetings. PSU swept the season series with a 79-75 win in Evanston and an 82-73 victory in University Park.
LAST TIME VS. NU: Senior guard Maggie Lucas connected on five three-pointers en route to 26 points to lead the Lady Lions to an 82-73 win over Northwestern on Feb. 20. Junior Tori Waldner had one of the best performances of her collegiate career with a personal-best 14 points. She pulled in nine rebounds and tied her personal best with five blocked shots. Senior Ariel Edwards was quiet early, but had back-to-back three-point plays to spark her to 15 points with six rebounds, three assists and two steals. Fellow senior Dara Taylor rounded out the list of Lions in double figures with 11 points to go with seven rebounds and four assists.
BIG TEN STATS TITLES: The Lady Lions led the Big Ten in rebounding margin in conference games with a +8.6 advantage on the boards. This is the second time in the last three years that Penn State has led the conference in that category and the third time since joining the conference in 1993-94. In addition to 2011-12, the Lady Lions also led the league in rebounding margin in 1998-99. Senior guard Maggie Lucas led the conference in free throw percentage with a .947 mark in Big Ten games. She is the fifth Lady Lion to lead the league in free throw percentage, joining Helen Holloway (1993-94), Jess Strom (2002-03), Adrienne Squire (2005-06) and Julia Trogele (2010-11). The Lady Lions also had a solid showing in the Big Ten stats, finishing second in scoring offense, scoring margin and field goal percentage defense. Individually, Lucas was second in league play in scoring (21.8) and Dara Taylor was second in steals (2.8).
LUCAS IN A LEAGUE OF HER OWN: Senior guard Maggie Lucas has knack for scoring and when she is scoring from the free throw line, she does it at a high clip and as such, she is in the midst of doing something that no NCAA Division I player (men's or women's), no WNBA player and no NBA player have ever accomplished. Lucas is the only player in NCAA Division I, WNBA and NBA history to average 20 or more points with a free throw percentage of 95.5% or better. The closest to accomplishing the feat was Appalachian State's Donald Sims in 2010, who averaged 20.4 points and shot 95.1% from the free throw line. The only players in all of college basketball to average better than 20 points and shoot better than 95.5% from the charity stripe are Division III athletes Korey Coon (22.0 ppg, 96.3%) of Illinois Wesleyan and Ryan Junghans (20.0 ppg; 95.9%) of Hood College. This note is courtesy of BTN researcher, Ryan Kelley.
For the 15th time, Penn State will host the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament First and Second Rounds on March 23 and 25, 2014. All-session tickets are $30 for adults and $17 for youth and students. There is also an all-session group rate for groups of 20 or more of any age at $20 per package. Fans can purchase tickets by calling 1-800-NITTANY or visiting the Penn State athletics ticket office between the hours of 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
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.