Jan. 28, 2017
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -The Penn State women's basketball program will take to the court against Illinois on Sunday (Jan. 29) inside the Bryce Jordan Center.The Lady Lions are going to White Out the BJC on Sunday, so all fans are asked to wear white to the contest versus the Fighting Illini and tickets are still available by calling 1-800-NITTANY.
Promotions
- National Girls Women in Sports Day: Stop by one of the Penn State women's athletic teams tables on the concourse to meet some of our student-athletes
- Alumni Weekend: Join us as we welcome back former Lady Lions during our alumni weekend
- White Out the BJC: Wear white and grab your white shaker at the door
- Autographs: Entire Team
Follow Along
- Fans can follow along with Sunday's game on Twitter (@PennStateWBB), or via live stats, live video or live audio with the links to the right.
Inside the PDF
- Ranking No. 9 in the NCAA, redshirt freshman Amari Carter is No. 3 in the Big Ten in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.14. MORE ON PAGE 3, 12 & 30
- Sophomore Teniya Page and junior Lindsey Spann have done something no other duo in Penn State history have every accomplished. MORE ON PAGE 14
- True freshman Jaida Travascio-Green continues to move up the freshmen 3-pointers made charts after reaching the 30-make mark at Indiana. MORE ON PAGE 3, 13 & 50
- Penn State has posted three-straight games with 10-or-fewer turnover, marking the only time in program history that has occurred. MORE ON PAGE 15
- In the classroom, the quartet of Sarah McMurtry, Kaliyah Mitchell, Lindsey Spann and Peyton Whitted all earned Dean's List honors in the fall semester. MORE ON PAGE 17
- Penn State became the 16th program in NCAA women's Division I basketball to earn 900 program wins on Nov. 13 vs. Saint Peter's. MORE ON PAGE 15 & 18
Series Notes
- Penn State and Illinois will meet for the 48th time in program history. MORE ON PAGE 5
- The Lady Lions are 32-15 all-time against the Fighting Illini, with Penn State holding a 16-3 edge in Happy Valley.
- The first meeting came on Dec. 6, 1986, with Illinois winning, 80-77 in Champaign, Ill.
- Penn State has won eight of the last nine meetings, including both contests last season.
- They Lady Lions rallied from a double-figure deficit in the fourth quarter to win in Champaign during the regular season in 2015-16 and claimed a 75-66 decision in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament.
Scouting Illinois
- Illinois enters the game with an 8-13 overall mark and a 3-5 record in the Big Ten. After starting Big Ten play with a 3-2 mark, the Fighting Illini has dropped each of its last three contests, including two on the road.
- The Fighting Illini lead the Big Ten and rank No. 17 nationally with a 77.3 percent clip at the free throw line. Illinois is 194-of-251 from the charity stripe this season.
- Illinois sits No. 4 in the Big Ten and No. 43 nationally with just 14.0 turnovers per game. Against Maryland, the Orange and Blue had just 16 missteps. In B1G play, Illinois is only turning the ball over 13.6 times per game.
- Alex Wittinger leads the team in scoring average (15.3), rebound average (8.5) and blocked shots per game (2.4). She shoots 48.8 percent from the field and 80.0 percent from the free throw line this season.
- Wittinger's 2.4 blocks per game lead the Big Ten and rank No. 24 in the NCAA entering the game.
- Brandi Beasley is the only other Illinois player averaging in double-figures on the season with 11.8 points per game.
- Petra Holesinska has elevated her scoring efforts in Big ten play, averaging 12.0 points per game in conference play, starting all eight games.
Last Five Games
- Penn State is 2-3 in it's last five games, with two wins at home and three losses on the road during that span.
- Two of the three losses came by six points, falling at No. 3/3 Maryland, 89-83, and at Indiana, 72-66, in close contests.
- The Lady Lions have handled the basketball with impeccable precision, turning it over just 11.2 times per game, including three-straight games with 10-or-fewer turnovers entering the contest with the Fighting Illini.
- The limiting turnovers have enabled Penn State to own a plus-6.4 turnover margin in the last five games.
- The trio of Teniya Page (16.8 ppg), Lindsey Spann (11.6 ppg) and Amari Carter (10.2 ppg) are all averaging in double figures during the last five contests.
- Carter has added 20 assists to just five turnovers.
- Seniors Peyton Whitted and Kaliyah Mitchell are tied atop the rebounding charts with 4.8 boards per game in the last five contests.
- Mitchell has added nine blocked shots and nine steals to go along with 6.6 points per game in that span..
Last Time Out -- at Indiana 72, Penn State 66 (Jan. 23, 2017)
- Teniya Page scored a game-high 22 points to account for her eighth 20-point game in 2016-17 and 14th of her career.
- Page made nine field goals, including a 3-of-6 mark from 3-point range.
- Sierra Moore logged her 11th double-figure scoring game of the season with 11 points to move past the 600-point mark for her career.
- On her 23rd birthday, Moore moved her career scoring total to 602 points.
- Moore tied with Peyton Whitted for team-high with six rebounds.
- Kaliyah Mitchell and Lindsey Spann each chipped in nine points off the bench.
- Mitchell logged three blocked shots on the night, moving her season total to 17, which is one shy of her career high.
- Spann also added a team-best four assists, leading the team in that category for the third time this season and 20th time in her career.
- With one make from 3-point range, Jaida Travascio-Green became just the eighth freshmen in Penn State history to connect on 30 3-pointers as a rookie.
- Penn State only committed 10 turnovers in the game, marking the third-straight contest with 10-of-fewer turnovers.
- Penn State's bench outscored the Indiana reserves, 24-9, in the game to mark the 17th time in 20 games the PSU bench owned the edge in scoring.
- With six blocked shots at Indiana, Penn State now has 21 blocked shots over the last three games.
Last Meeting - Penn State 75, Illinois 66 (Big Ten Tournament; March 2, 2016)
- Teniya Page moved into No. 4 on the Penn State freshman points list after scoring 18 points. She passed Tyra Grant (452, 2006-07) and moved her season total to 455 tallies.
- Page connected on 6-of-7 shots from the free throw line to push her 2015-16 total to 105 made free throws, which made her just the fourth freshman in program history to eclipse the 100 made free throws mark.
- Page handed out a career-high nine assists, pushing her season total to 127 helpers and moving her up to No. 5 on the freshman charts. She passed Helen Darling (119, 1996-97) and Alex Bentley (125, 2009-10) on the night.
- Page made her 30th start of the season vs. Illinois, making her the ninth freshman in school history to reach the 30-start mark.
- With her three made 3-pointers, Lindsey Spann became the 14th Lady Lion to reach the 100 career made 3-pointers mark.
- Peyton Whitted pulled down nine rebounds to move her season total to 242 boards, which was tied with Julia Trogele (2010-11) for No. 25 on the single season charts.
- Kaliyah Mitchell became the 32nd player in Penn State history to eclipse the 500-rebound mark in a career after grabbing five rebounds vs. Illinois.
- The 18 assists for Penn State was the second highest total of the season (19, Fordham).
- With seven turnovers, the Lady Lions posted their eighth game of the season with 10 or fewer turnovers.
Next Up
- Penn State will play its next two games on the road, heading to Ohio State for a 7 p.m. tipoff on Wednesday, Feb. 1, followed by a 2 p.m. contest at Northwestern on Sunday, Feb. 5.