Feb. 13, 2017
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -The final road trip of the regular seaosn begins with a trip to the Prairie State for an 8 p.m. tipoff between the Penn State women's Basketball program and Illinois inside the State Farm Center. The Lady Lions and Fighting Illini will be available on the Penn State Radio Network and via BTN2go.com.
Follow Along
- Fans can follow along with Tuesday's game on Twitter (@PennStateWBB), or via live stats, live video or live audio with the links to the right.
Inside the PDF
- Seniors Kaliyah Mitchell, Sierra Moore and Peyton Whitted all reached the 10-point mark on Senior Day vs. Purdue, with Mitchell posting her third double-double of the season. MORE ON PAGE 16 & 17
- Ranking No. 14 in the NCAA, redshirt freshman Amari Carter sits No. 2 in the Big Ten in assist-to-turnover ratio. MORE ON PAGE 3, 12 & 30
- Sophomore Teniya Page registered a career-high 32 points on Feb. 1 at Ohio State, canning six 3-pointers and going 10-of-10 from the free throw line. MORE ON PAGE 8, 14 & 36
- True freshman Jaida Travascio-Green continues to move up the freshmen 3-pointers made charts after hitting No. 40 vs. Purdue. MORE ON PAGE 3, 13 & 50
- Penn State has twice tied the school record for fewest turnovers in game and posted three-straight games with 10-or-fewer turnover for the first time in program history from Jan. 16-23, 2017. 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
Series Notes
- Penn State and Illinois will meet for the 49th time in program history. MORE ON PAGE 5
- The Lady Lions are 33-15 all-time against the Fighting Illini, with Penn State holding a slim 11-10 edge in Champaign.
- Penn State has won 10 of the last 11 meetings, including an 82-66 decision earlier this season on Jan. 29, 2017.
- They Lady Lions rallied from a double-figure deficit in the fourth quarter to win in Champaign during the regular season in 2015-16.
Scouting Illinois
- Illinois enters the matchup with an 8-17 overall record and a 3-9 mark in Big Ten play. The Fighting Illini are in the midst of seven game losing streak.
- The Fighting Ilini are shooting a Big Ten-best 78.2 percent from the free throw line, a mark that ranks No. 8 nationally. However, their free throws attempted (293) and free throws made (229) totals are No. 13 in the conference.
- At 14.2 turnovers per game, Illinois ranks No. 5 in the Big Ten and No. 56 nationally. They are one of eight Big Ten schools with a positive turnover margin (+0.8), joining Penn State (+2.6).
- Sophomore Alex Wittinger leads the Big Ten and is No. 17 nationally with 61 blcoked shots, while also pacing the team in scoring (15.1 ppg) and rebounding (8.6 rpg).
- Freshman Brandi Beasley is also averaging in double-figures at 13.1 points per game, while ranking No. 2 in the BIg Ten and No. 62 nationally with 35.4 minutes per game.
- Beasley is also adding a team-best 4.1 assists per game and 1.7 steals per contest.
- Petra Holesinska is the third Illini in double-digits, sitting at 10.0 points per game in 25 contests..
Last Five Games
- Penn State is 4-1 in its last five games, including three-straight victories. That record also includes an 82-66 victory over Illinois at the Bryce Jordan Center on Jan. 29.
- Penn State is averaging just 12.6 turnovers per game in the last five games, however, the Lady Lion's turnover margin is just plus-0.2 during that span.
- The scoring margin over the last five games is plus-6.8 in favor of the Lady Lions, with Penn State outscoring the opposition 76.8-70.0 over the last five.
- Teniya Page is averaging a team-best 22.2 points per game, while tying for the team-lead with 23 assists over the last five games.
- Page has also hit 86.5 percent of her shots from the free throw line, going 32-of-37 in the last five games.
- Sierra Moore continues to have a solid senior season, averaging 12.4 points per game in the last five games.
- Kaliyah Mitchell leads the team with 7.4 rebounds per game in that span.
Last Time Out -- at Penn State 79, at Purdue 73 (Feb. 11, 2017)
- Kaliyah Mitchell posted her third double-double of the season and 10th of her career with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
- With her 10 rebounds, Mitchell passed Maren Walseth (645, 1998-2001) and Jess Brungo (649, 2001-04) to move into No. 18 on the all-time rebound charts.
- Peyton Whitted posted her sixth double-digit scoring game of the season with 11 points versus Purdue.
- Sierra Moore was one of four Lady Lions to reach double-digit, scoring 13 points for her 15th double-figure scoring game of the season.
- Moore scored her 600th points while wearing the Blue and White, moving her Penn State scoring total to 601 points in 55 career games.
- Teniya Page produced her ninth-straight double digit scoring game and 47th of her career with 24 points.
- With 24 points versus Purdue, Page passed Carla Coleman (921, 1992-95) for No. 40 on the women's basketball career scoring charts. She now has 948 career points.
- Page added to her accomplishments as she also passes Lynn Dougherty (219, 1989-92) for No. 24 on the career assist charts. He ended the game with 221 career helpers.
- Jada Travascio-Green moved into No. 5 on the freshman 3-pointers made charts with her 39th and 40th makes of the year, passing Tyra Grant (39, 2006-06).
- Penn State committed a school-record-tying six turnovers vs. Purdue, marking the seventh time in school history -- and third time in the last two season -- the team committed just six missteps in the game.
- Penn State made 27-of-34 free throws in the game, both season highs and the most since hitting 27-of-35 vs. Ohio State on March 7, 2014 in the Big Ten Tournament. .
Last Meeting - at Penn State 82, Illinois 66 (Jan. 29, 2017)
- Sierra Moore led Penn State and tied her Big Ten career high with 19 points, going 7-for-9 from the free throw line and 6-of-9 from the field.
- Teniya Page logged her 200th career assist with six assists in the contest to bring her career total to 204.
- Page is now tied with Tyra Grant (2006-10) for No. 28 in Lady Lion history with 204 career helpers.
- Page produced her 18th double-digit game of the season and 43rd of her career with 12 points.
- Kaliyah Mitchell follows Page's lead and picks up her seventh double-digit game of the year and 35th of her career with 16 points of the afternoon.
- Mitchell moved into a tie for No. 21 in all-time Lady Lion rebounds, pushing her career total to 621 with six boards for the Blue and White vs. Illinois.
- Amari Carter locked in her 11th game this season with 5-or-more assists, tallying a team-high eight helpers.
- Carter also turned the ball over just twice in the game, marking her 10th game this season with at least five assists and two-or-fewer turnovers.
- Penn State won the tip off for the 15th time in the 2016-2017 season.
- The Lady Lions were able to force Illinois into 16 turnovers, scoring 21 points off miscues.
- Penn State's bench outscored Illinois's reserves, 35-11, and held a 19-5 edge on the boards.
- Penn State out-rebounded the Fighting Illini 43-35.
- For the eighth time this season, the Lady Lions shot 45 percent or better from the field, shooting 46.6 percent from the floor.
Next Up
With just two games remaining after tonight's contest at Illinois, Penn State will tangle with Michigan State in East Lansing, Mich. on Wednesday, Feb. 22 before closing out the regular season at home vs. Michigan for the annual Play4Kay benefiting Pink Zone contest on Feb. 26.