Jan. 16, 2017
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State women's basketball team earned its ninth victory at the Bryce Jordan Center and 12th of the season with a 76-46 victory over the Badgers of Wisconsin in a Big Ten Conference game Monday, Jan. 16.
Penn State (12-6, 2-4 B1G) scored 70-or-more points for the 11th time this season and for the first time since it picked up a 71-58 victory over Iowa at the Bryce Jordan Center, Jan. 3. The 30-point win is the largest in Big Ten play since an 83-53 win over Minnesota on Jan. 26, 2014.
Four Lady Lions notched double-digit scoring efforts with Lindsey Spann (Laurel, Md.) leading the way with 17 points on the night. Spann moved to No. 37 on the all-time scoring list for the Lady Lions, notching her 975th career point on free throws in the first quarter. The redshirt-junior guard recorded her 10th contest in the 2016-17 season and 52nd career contest with 10-or-more points. Furthermore, Spann dropped three 3-pointers to notch her 21st career game with three-or-more treys.
Also notching double-digit scoring for Penn State was Teniya Page (Chicago, Ill.), who scored 11 points, while Jaida Travascio-Green (Lisle, Ill.) and Sierra Moore (Hanover, Pa.) added 10 apiece.
Senior Kaliyah Mitchell (Stone Mountain, Ga.) notched her 600th career rebound in the first quarter against the Badgers and ended the night with nine rebounds, while scoring eight points for the Blue and White.
Defensively, Penn State forced Wisconsin into 23 turnovers and scored 25 points off Badger mistakes. The Lady Lions committed just six miscues of its own, tying the school record for fewest in a game. It is the sixth time in school history Penn State has had just six turnovers in a game, last coming at Nebraska on Feb. 2, 2016.
The Lady Lions scored 23 fast break points compared to Wisconsin's six, while the Penn State bench outscored the Badgers 36-15.
Cayla McMorris was the lone double-digit scorer for Wisconsin with 13 points, while Avyanna Young notched seven points and pulled down seven rebounds.
Turning Point
With 3:36 left in the second quarter
Penn State found its offensive groove late in the second quarter, using a 6-0 run to take a slight six-point lead over the Badgers. The advantage turned into 10 before the teams headed to locker room as the Lady Lions would hold onto the double-digit advantage for the remainder of the contest.
Difference Makers
Penn State
- G Lindsey Spann -- Dropped three 3-pointers and scored a team-best 17 points, moving her into No. 37 on the career scoring charts with 991 points.
- F Kaliyah Mitchell -- Scored eight points and pulled down a team-best nine rebounds. Moved her career total to 608 caroms to become the 22nd Lady Lion with at least 600 rebounds.
- G Amari Carter -- Dished out a team-best five assists and added five rebounds. Did not commit a turnover in the game to mark her 11th game this season with at least five assists and fewer than two turnovers.
- Double-Figure Scorers -- Sierra Moore, Teniya Page and Jaida Travascio-Green joined Spann in double-figures on the evening for Penn State.
- Forcing Turnovers -- The Lady Lions forced 23 turnovers and scored 25 points off Wisconsin miscues.
- Bench Contribution -- Penn State saw its bench score 36 points on the evening and had 11 players reach the scoring column.
Wisconsin
- G Cayla McMorris -- Scored a team-best 13 points on 6-for-9 shooting from the floor.
- F Avyanna Young -- Added seven points on 3-for-5 shooting and added a team-best seven rebounds.
- G Kendra Van Leeuwen -- Dished out a team-best five assists.
By Quarter
First Quarter
After scoring the first basket of the game, the Lady Lions fell behind, as Wisconsin was able to shoot 6-for-7 from the floor and take a 13-8 lead into the first break with 4:40 remaining in the first quarter. Penn State went 3-for-3 from the field following the media timeout and worked its way to a 15-15 score on a Teniya Page jumper. Wisconsin responded with a 3-pointer but Page took the ball down the floor and drained a trey of her own to tie the game at 18-18 with 44 seconds left to play.
at Penn State 18, Wisconsin 18
Second Quarter
The two teams exchanged baskets to open up the second quarter with neither team being able to gain an edge over the other with five minutes to play in the half. The Lady Lion found a groove out of the media timeout to take a 28-22 advantage capped off by one free throw from Sierra Moore. After a free throw, Lindsey Spann dropped a fast break jumper on her next trip down the court to give Penn State the 33-26 advantage and force a Wisconsin timeout with 1:17 left to play in the half. With 30 seconds left to play, Amari Carter (Washington D.C.) converted on the three-point play making her first free throw before grabbing her own rebound on the miss and giving Penn State the 10-point lead, 36-26, going into the locker room.
at Penn State 36, Wisconsin 26
Third Quarter
Jaida Travascio-Green scored the first points of the second half with a 3-pointer that would eventually lead to an 8-1 Penn State run and extend the Lady Lion lead to 45-27 with just under five minutes to play in the third quarter. A Badger timeout proved to be in vein as Spann dropped her second 3-pointer of the game out of the break to extend the Lady Lion lead to 21. Penn State continued to roll offensively, extending its lead to 58-34 by the end of the third quarter.
at Penn State 58, Wisconsin 34
Fourth Quarter
Penn State did not hold back in the fourth quarter, going on a 7-0 run taking a 32-point lead, 67-35, and forcing a Wisconsin timeout with 5:02 left to play. Despite a slight lull in scoring in the final minutes, the Lady Lions were able to hold Wisconsin to just 43 points and secure its 12th victory of the season.
at Penn State 76, Wisconsin 46
Up Next
The Nittany Lions are back in action Thursday, Jan. 19 against Nebraska inside the Bryce Jordan Center. Tip off against the Cornhuskers is slated for 7 p.m. The game will be featured on BTN Plus and the airwaves of the Penn State Radio Network.