Dec. 28, 2016
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State women's basketball team was unable to stop the sharp-shooting of Indiana in its Big Ten Conference opener, falling to the Hoosiers, 89-70, on Wednesday, Dec. 28 at the Bryce Jordan Center.
The loss snapped a six-game winning streak and a 7-0 start to the home slate for the Lady Lions as they move to 10-3 overall on the season and 0-1 in conference action. The Hoosiers improve to 11-3 overall and 1-0 in B1G play.
The Lady Lions are now 15-10 all-time in Big Ten Conference openers, 9-4 in B1G openers at home and 4-6 in conference openers in the Coquese Washington era.
Sophomore Teniya Page (Chicago, Ill.) surpassed double-digit scoring for the 12th time this season and 38th time in her career when she notched her 10th point of the contest on a free throw in the third quarter. Page's double-digit effort also marked the eighth-straight game that the sophomore guard has scored 10-or-more points, dating back to Nov. 24.
The Chicago, Ill. native ended the night with a game-high-tying 26 points to mark her sixth 20-point game of the season and match her total during her freshman season.
Junior Lindsey Spann (Laurel, Md.) now ranks eighth all-time in Lady Lion laurels after knocking down two 3-pointers and bringing her career total to 125 career 3-point makes. Spann notched 14 points to mark her 50th career contest with 10-or-more points and her eighth in the 2016-17 season.
Senior Peyton Whitted (Suwanee, Ga.) knocked down her 600th career point donning the blue and white in the first quarter with a jumper from the right elbow and ended the evening with four points for Penn State to bring her career total to 601.
Senior Kaliyah Mitchell (Stone Mountain, Ga.) ties for No. 24 all-time in career rebounds for the Lady Lions grabbing two rebounds against Indiana and bringing her career total to 583.
As a team, Penn State shot 42 percent from the floor and from beyond the arc, while Indiana shot an impressive 57 percent from the floor and from 3-point range with 12 treys.
Junior Tyra Buss led Indiana with 26 points, while Amanda Cahill notched a 20-point performance with four treys for the Hoosiers.
Turning Point
10:00 remaining in the second quarter
Indiana opened up the second quarter on a 7-0 run to take the lead for good and the Hoosiers extended the lead to 10 points, 35-25 with 6:51 left in the quarter on a long-range Karlee McBride 3-pointer.
Difference Makers
Penn State
- G Teniya Page -- Notched her eighth-straight double-digit scoring effort and sixth 20-point game of the season with a team-best 26 points, while dishing out three assists.
- G Lindsey Spann -- Dropped two 3-pointers to rank No. 8 all-time in career 3-point makes and scored 14 points for the Lady Lions.
- F Peyton Whitted -- Pulled down a team-high six rebounds coming in off the bench and scored four points.
Indiana
- Tyra Buss -- Scored a team-best 26 points, going 11-for-16 from the floor and 3-for-4 from the charity stripe.
- F Amanda Cahill --Chipped in 20 points for the Hoosiers with four 3-pointers on seven attempts. Added eight rebounds to tie for the game high.
- G Alexis Gassion -- Notched 14 points and pulled down a game-high-tying eight rebounds.
- Hot Shooting --Indiana shot 57.4 percent from the floor, making 35-of-61 shot attempts. Furthermore, the Hoosiers shots 57.1 percent from the 3-point line with 12 treys.
By Quarter
First Quarter
Indiana got things started right away off the tip off with a layup from Tyra Buss but Lindsey Spann responded for the Lady Lions with a 3-pointer on the left side of the arc to tie for eighth all-time in Lady Lion laurels. Both the Hoosiers and Penn State played a fast-pace contest with the Lady Lions taking a slight 13-12 lead into the media timeout after a Moore rebound and put back with 4:31 remaining in the quarter. The back-and-forth continued with the home team taking a two-point lead into the first break.
Penn State 22, Indiana 20
Second Quarter
Indiana opened the second quarter with seven-straight points before Spann cut the run with her second 3-pointer of the game. Following the trey, Buss took the ball down the floor and scored on a drive to the basket to give the Hoosiers a 29-25 advantage just two minutes into the quarter. Indiana worked its way to an 11-point lead before Page ended a three-minute scoring draught for Penn State with a basket. However, the Lady Lions were unable to work their way into a single digit deficit as Indiana responded on its next trip down the floor. An and-one basket from Buss with one-second left on the clock gave Indiana a 43-32 advantage heading into the half.
Indiana 43, Penn State 32
Third Quarter
Coming out of the break, Penn State could not find a way to stop the Hoosier offense, that went on a 7-0 run in 1:33 to extend its lead to 53-36 and force Coquese Washington to burn a timeout with 6:51 remaining in the third quarter. Penn State continued to struggle offensively, going five minutes with a field goal and allowing Indiana to work its way to a 64-41 lead with just over three minutes to play in the third quarter. Penn State worked to close the gap but Indiana continued to drain shots and take a comfortable 74-52 lead into the final 10 minutes of action.
Indiana 74, Penn State 52
Fourth Quarter
The two teams exchanged points to open the final quarter with the Lady Lion defense working hard to force Indiana to slow down its offensive pace. Penn State closed the game on an 8-4 spurt, including a 3-pointer from Jaida Travascio-Green (Lisle, Ill.).
Indiana 89, Penn State 70
Up Next
Penn State hits the road for a New Year's Eve contest at Rutgers. Tip off from Piscataway, N.J. is set for noon on Sunday, Dec. 31. Fans who cannot make it to the contest can catch all the action live on the Big Ten Network and on the airwaves of Penn State Radio Network.
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