Jan. 19, 2017
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State women's basketball team notched its second-straight Big Ten Conference victory with an 86-69 win over the Cornhuskers of Nebraska on Thursday, Jan. 19 at the Bryce Jordan Center.
Junior Lindsey Spann (Laurel, Md.) became the 37th member of the 1,000-point club, scoring 14 points against the Cornhuskers. The Laurel, Md. native is the first Lady Lion since Ariel Edwards (2010-14) accomplished the feat in her senior season. Moreover, the junior guard is 1-of-18 members of the 1,000-point club to have also dished out 200 assists in her career, currently sitting at 1,005 points and 204 assists in three seasons.
The Lady Lions (13-6, 3-4 B1G) shot 46 percent from the floor, while making at least seven 3-pointers for the third-straight game. Penn State also turned the ball over only 10 times. Coupled with a six-turnover effort on Jan. 16, the Lady Lions posted back-to-back games with 10-or-fewer turnovers for the first time since 2004 when it turned the ball over nine times each vs. Minnesota and at Ohio State.
Sophomore Teniya Page (Chicago, Ill.) reached the 800-point mark with a 3-pointer in the second quarter and ended the evening with a team-high 18 points. The sophomore reached the milestone in just her 49th game as a Lady Lion and marked her 16th game scoring 10-or-more points in the 2016-17 season and 41st of her career. Moreover, Page notched her 23rd career game in which she tallied at least 10 points and four assists, ending the night with a team-high five helpers.
Freshman Jaida Travascio-Green (Lisle, Ill.) knocked down the 27th, 28th and 29th 3-pointers of her career in the game, moving her to No. 8 all-time in the Penn State freshman season 3-point field goals made list. The Lisle, Ill. native ended the game with 10 points for the Lady Lions, including three makes from beyond the arc, marking the first time in her career she has posted back-to-back double-figure scoring games.
Senior Peyton Whitted (Suwanee, Ga.) added 14 points on the night to notch her fourth game of the 2016-17 season with a double-digit scoring, while bringing down a team-best seven rebounds.
For the second-straight game and third time in the 2016-17 season, the Penn State bench scored 30-or-more points, notching 37 against Nebraska. Defensively, the Lady Lions forced Nebraska into 16 turnovers, scoring 22 points off of miscues. Senior Kaliyah Mitchell (Stone Mountain, Ga.) swatted a career-high four shots and added four rebounds to nine points, while also swiping two steals. In addition to Mitchell's four blocks, Ashanti Thomas (Lexington, Ky.), Travascio-Green and Whitted all added one block apiece.
Jessica Shepard notched a double-double for Nebraska with 20 points on the night and 12 rebounds before fouling out. Rylie Cascio Jensen added 15 points for the Cornhuskers.
Turning Point
With 3:31 left in the third quarter
Following a free throw from Thomas, Travascio-Green dropped back-to-back 3-pointers to spark an 8-0 Penn State run and allow the Lady Lions to take a 63-52 lead into the final 10 minutes of play.
Difference Makers
Penn State
- G Lindsey Spann -- Knocked down her 1,000th career point in the fourth quarter to produce her 53rd career double-digit scoring game with 14 points.
- G Teniya Page -- Led Penn State in scoring for the 10th time in the 2016-17 season with 18 points. Dished out a team-best five assists to mark the 11th time in her career she has led the team in scoring and assists.
- G Jaida Travascio-Green -- Scored 10 points and marked the fifth contest of her career with 3-or-more 3-pointers, knocking down three against Nebraska. Along with her 10 points vs. Wisconsin (1/16), she posted back-to-back double-digit scoring games for the first time in her career.
- F Peyton Whitted -- Brought down a team-best seven rebounds and added 14 points.
- F Kaliyah Mitchell -- Had a career-high four blocks and added nine points, four rebounds and two steals.
- Bench Points -- For the second-straight contest and third time this season, the Lady Lions bench contributed 30-or-more points, scoring 37 points against the Cornhuskers.
Nebraska
- F Jessica Shepard -- Scored a team-best 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds .
- G Rylie Cascio Jensen -- Notched 15 points for the Cornhuskers, going 7-for-7 from the charity stripe.
By Quarter
First Quarter
The Penn State zone defense forced a lull in scoring for Nebraska and allowed it to take a 9-4 lead with 6:38 to play in the first quarter. Coming out of the media timeout, Nebraska notched three points to knot the score at 9-9 before the Cornhuskers closed out the first quarter on 5-for-5 shooting to take a 18-17 lead into the second 10 minutes of play.
Nebraska 18, Penn State 17
Second Quarter
The Lady Lions opened the second quarter shooting 3-for-3, including an and-one play from Teniya Page to take the slight 27-25 advantage early on. Penn State's hot shooting from the floor continued, while Nebraska shot 1-for-5 from the floor on its next six tries and trailed Penn State 39-34 with less than 50 seconds to play in the half. The Lady Lions extended their lead to five points on a pair of Page free throws, 41-36, heading into the locker room at halftime.
Penn State 41, Nebraska 36
Third Quarter
The Lady Lions struggled out of the halftime break, suffering a small scoring draught before a jumper from Peyton Whitted put the lead back into Penn State's hands, 45-44, with 6:20 to play. The two teams continued to play each other tight as the game was tied at 50-50 before Ashanti Thomas dropped in one free throw and the Lady Lions grabbed the rebound on the second to add three more points on a Jaida Travascio-Green trey. Following two misses on the opposite end of the court, Travascio-Green drained her third 3-pointer of the game to force a Nebraska timeout. The Lady Lions added six points, including a last second drive from Page to take an 11 point lead into the final 10 minutes of action.
Penn State 63, Nebraska 52
Fourth Quarter
Penn State worked its way to a 15-point lead, 70-55, when Spann knocked down the 1,000th point of her career with a jumper on the right elbow with 6:49 remaining in the contest. The points from Spann sparked the Lady Lion offense as they shot 6-for-7 from the floor to extend its lead to 79-60 with 4:40 remaining. Penn State maintained at least a 15-point lead in the remaining minutes, despite a brief scoring draught, to take an 86-69 victory over Nebraska.
Penn State 86, Nebraska 69
Up Next
Penn State heads to Bloomington, Ind. for a Monday, Jan. 23 rematch against the Hoosiers. Tip off is slated for 7 p.m. and will be featured on the Big Ten Network. The Lady Lions will be looking for a win over Indiana after dropping an 89-70 decision in Happy Valley earlier this season.