Feb. 1, 2017
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
COLUMBUS, Ohio. -- The early momentum belonged to the Penn State women's basketball team and despite a career night from sophomore Teniya Page (Chicago, Ill.), Ohio State was able to come away with an 87-72 decision on Wednesday night inside the Schottenstein Center.
Penn State pushed out to an early lead behind a Sierra Moore (Hanover, Pa.) layup and a 3-pointer by Page to make it 5-2 with 8:02 to play. From there, Ohio State reeled off a 19-2 run over the next four minutes to build a double-digit lead they would never relinquish.
Page had another huge game for Penn State in her young career, posting her fourth career 30-point game with a career-high 32 points. Her four 30-point games are tied for No. 4 all-time at Penn State, trailing Kelly Mazzante (27), Maggie Lucas (7) and Kahadeejah Herbert (6). Page connected on eight field goals -- including a career-high-tying six 3-pointers -- and made all 10 shots from the free throw line.
An overall solid night from Moore produced eight points, a team-best nine rebounds, four assists and two steals. The senior hit on 4-of-5 shots and only had one turnover in 26 minutes on the court
Amari Carter (Washington D.C.) added seven points, four assists and four steals, while pulling down seven rebounds. Carter moved into the top-10 on the freshman assist charts in the game and pushed her season total to 100 helpers. She passed Tanisha Wright (97, 2001-02) and sits tied with Tina Nicholson (1992-93) in the No. 10 spot on the rookie list.
Penn State owned the rebounding advantage, 40-38, and each team committed 18 turnovers in the contest. Ohio State shot 48.4 percent from the field (30-of-62), while Penn State hit 37.7 percent of its shots (26-of-69). Ohio State knocked down 11 3-pointers to Penn State's nine in the game.
While only Page reached double-figures for Penn State, Ohio State saw three players with 10-plus points, led by Kelsey Mitchell with 23 tallies. Stephanie Mavunga pulled down a game-high 11 boards to go along with 11 points and Sierra Calhoun hit five 3-pointers and added two free throws for a 17-point effort.
Turning Point
With 3:51 left in the first quarter
Back-to-back baskets from Kelsey Mitchell pushed Ohio State's lead to double-digits, 21-7, and the Lady Lions were never able to pull it back to a single-digit margin. A 3-pointer from Mitchell with 4:22 to play made it 19-7 and her ensuing layup after a Penn State turnover pushed the lead to 21-7.
Difference Makers
Penn State
- G Teniya Page-- Scored a career-high 32 points, including a career-high-tying six makes from 3-point range. Connected on 10-of-10 shots from the free throw line. Also had three rebounds, one assist and one steal in 28 minutes on the court.
- G Sierra Moore -- Stuffed the stat sheet with eight points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals. Shot 4-of-5 from the field in the contest.
- G Amari Carter -- Scored seven points, came away with seven rebounds, adding four assists and four steals. Moved her season total to 100 assists, ranking No. 10 on the freshman assist charts.
Ohio State
- G Kelsey Mitchell -- Scored 23 points and added five assists.
- G Sierra Calhoun -- Made 5-of-6 shots from 3-point range and added two free throws for 17 points.
- F Stephanie Mavunga -- Pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds and added 11 points.
By Quarter
First Quarter
After Penn State took a 5-2 lead, Ohio State went on a 19-2 run to open up a 14-point lead, a spurt which included eight points from Sierra Calhoun. A Lindsey Spann (Laurel, Md.) 3-pointer broke the streak and Penn State owned a 8-5 edge to close the quarter trailing by 11. The two teams combined for seven made 3-pointers, with Teniya Page connecting on a pair and Spann hitting once from distance. The 26 points by Ohio State are the most scored by a Penn State opponent in the opening frame this season.
at #14/14 Ohio State 26, Penn State 15
Second Quarter
Penn State trimmed the lead to nine points with a 6-4 spurt to open the second quarter, but Ohio State pushed the lead back to 14 tallies, 35-21, with a pair of Kelsey Mitchell free throws and another Calhoun 3-pointer. Neither team was able to do much during the final four minutes of play, but the Buckeyes were able to push the lead to 15 points after 20 minutes of play thanks to a pair of Tori McCoy layups, including an and-1 with 9-seconds left in the half.
at #14/14 Ohio State 44, Penn State 29
Third Quarter
Ohio State pushed its lead to 23 points with an 8-0 spurt to open the third quarter, before a Jaylen Williams (Easton, Mass.) layup got Penn State on the board to make it 52-31 with 6:50 to play. A Page 3-pointer got the deficit to 17 points, 54-37, with 5:49 to play. The Buckeyes pushed the lead to 24 points on a Mitchell and-1 play. From there, the Lady Lions used a 14-5 run to cut the advantage to just 15 points at the end of the quarter, 68-53. A Kaliyah Mitchell (Stone Mountain, Ga.) half-court heave at the buzzer connected, but the shot came after the horn and was waved off.
at #14/14 Ohio State 68, Penn State 53
Fourth Quarter
The beginning of the fourth quarter was much like the start of the third quarter, with Ohio State using a 12-3 run to bolster their lead to 24 points. A Jaida Travascio-Green (Lisle, Ill.) 3-pointer was the only PSU points for the first three minutes of the quarter, but with the score at 80-56, a quick 6-0 spurt brought the lead back to 18 points. The two teams traded baskets down the stretch, with Penn State closing the final margin to 15 points on an Amari Carter layup with 33-seconds remaining.
at #14/14 Ohio State 87, Penn State 72
Up Next
Penn State hits closes out a two-game road swing with a trip to Northwestern on Sunday, Feb. 5. The Lady Lions and Wildcats will tip off at 3 p.m. ET inside Welsh-Ryan Arena.