March 16, 2017
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -The Penn State women's basketball program host Ohio in the opening round of the 2017 Women's National Invitational Tournament on Friday, March 17 inside the Bryce Jordan Center. The Lady Lions and Bobcats will tipoff at 7 p.m. and the game will air on the Penn State Radio Network and via BTN2go.com.
Follow Along
- Fans can follow along with Penn State's WNIT contest vs. Ohio on Twitter and Instagram (@PennStateWBB), or via live stats, live video or live audio with the links to the right.
Inside the PDF
- Sophomore Teniya Page has moved herself into the conversation of elite players at Penn State in just 59 career games played, moving past a pair of major milestones. MORE ON PAGE 9, 11, 12, 13 & 57
- The trio of Page, Jaida Travascio-Green and Lindsey Spann became the second trio of teammates to hit 40-plus shots from 3-point range in the same season vs. Michigan. MORE ON PAGE 18
- Graduate student Sierra Moore is enjoying a fine senior season, averaging 10.2 points per game. MORE ON PAGE 9, 15 & 54
- Penn State owns a 9-2 mark vs. its opening round pod of the WNIT. The Lady Lions are 1-0 vs. Ohio, 5-2 agaisnt Georgetown and 3-0 vs. Fordham. MORE ON PAGE 4, 5 & 6
- Sophomore Teniya Page and senior Kaliyah Mitchell each earned All-Big Ten honors from the Big Ten Conference coaches and media. Page earned first team honors and Mitchell was an honorable mention selection. MORE ON PAGE 11, 18 & 23
- Ranking No. 16 in the NCAA, redshirt freshman Amari Carter sits No. 3 in the Big Ten in assist-to-turnover ratio. MORE ON PAGE 9, 16 & 51
- 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 21 & 22
- 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 19
WNIT Notes
- Penn State will play in the Women's National Invitational Tournament for the third time in program history, owning a 4-1 record. MORE ON PAGE 2
- The Lady Lions won the inaugural WNIT in 1998, defeating Baylor in Waco, Texas, 59-56, to claim the title.
- Penn State has played its first round opponent, Ohio, just once in program history, a season-opening victory to begin the 1986-87 season. MORE ON PAGE 5
- If Penn State were to advance past the first round, the Lady Lions would face either Georgetown or Fordham. The Lady Lions have faced each of those teams in the past two regular season. MORE ON PAGE 5, 6 & 7
Scouting Ohio
- Ohio posted a 22-9 overall record and a 12-6 mark in the Mid-American Conference. The Bobcats defeated Illinois, 80-68, and fell to Michigan, 69-46, in the non-conference slate.
- The Bobcats are dominant in the turnover margin department, sitting No. 18 nationally at plus-5.9. That total leads the MAC and is aided by 12.7 missteps per game, a total that is No. 20 nationally and tops in the Mid-American Conference.
- Also leading to the 22 wins is a top-50 field goal percentage defense. Ohio limits its opponents to a 37.0% clip from the field, which sits No. 46 in the NCAA entering the postseason.
- Quiera Lampkins leads the team with 19.8 points per game, a total that sits No. 24 nationally.
- The 146 free throws made by Lampkins rank No. 24 nationally, as do her 186 attempts. Her 78.5% clip from the charity stripe is among the best in the country.
- Jasmine Weatherspoon is rejecting 1.86 shots per game, which ranks No. 57 nationally.
- Weatherspoon also leads the team with 7.4 rebounds per game.
Last Five Games
- Penn State is 3-2 in its last five games, including a pair wins on its home floor and a road win at Illinois.
- Two of Penn State's three wins came by six points or fewer, with the other an 18-point win at Illinois. Penn State defeated Purdue, 79-73, and topped No. 24/25 Michigan, 76-75, in its annual Play4Kay benefiting Pink Zone game.
- The Lady Lions have been taking care of the basketball, committing just 11.2 turnovers per game over the last five contests.
- The rebound margin continues to be in favor of the Blue and White, owning a 42.4-37.0 edge on the boards. The plus-5.4 advantage is nearly two full rebounds higher than Penn State's season average of plus-3.6.
- Sophomore Teniya Page is leading the way with a 23.0 scoring average. She is adding 6.3 rebounds per game and 3.0 assists per contest, as well.
- Graduate student Sierra Moore ranks No. 2 on the squad with 14.0 points per game over her last five contests.Moore is also adding a team-best 8.0 rebounds during that span, with 20 of her 40 rebounds coming on the offensive end.
- Junior Lindsey Spann is chipping in 9.4 points per game over the last five games, shooting 9-of-10 from the free throw line.
- Freshman Amari Carter has 16 assists to just nine turnovers, adding 6.6 points and 3.2 rebounds to a full stat sheet over that span.
Last Time Out -- Minnesota 70, Penn State 64 (March 2, 2017)
- With her first basket of the game, sophomore Teniya Page joined the exclusive 1,000-point club in just her sophomore season.
- The Chicago, Ill. native, became just the fourth Penn State sophomore to reach 1,000 points. She joined a club that includes Kelly Mazzante, Maggie Lucas and Susan Robinson -- all who reached 2,000 points for their careers.
- Page set a Penn State Big Ten Tournament record with 35 tallies. Her 35 points bested Mazzante's 34 points against Wisconsin on March 3, 2002
- Furthermore, the 35 points are tied for the third-most points ever scored in a Big Ten Tournament game in the history of the event.
- The 35 points are also the most scored by a player in a losing effort in Big Ten Tournament history.
- Page moved up two spots on the career scoring charts, passing Helen Holloway (1,022, 1991-94) and Rashana Barnes (1,24, 1999-2002), and is seated at No. 36 with 1,033 career points.
- Furthermore, Page's 35 points mark her fifth career 30-point game, which ranks No. 4 all-time at Penn State. It was her fourth such effort of the season, the most since Mazzante accounted for nine 30-point contests in 2002-03.
- Graduate student Sierra Moore posted her first double-double of the season and fourth of her career with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
- Of Moore's 11 rebounds, nine of them were of the offensive variety.
- Redshirt-freshman Amari Carter handed out five assists to move into a tie for No. 6 on the freshman season assists charts with Alex Bentley. Carter now has 125 helpers, equaling Bentley's total from the 2009-10 campaign.
- In the game, senior Peyton Whitted moved past the 700 point mark for her career. Her four points give her 703 career tallies. She added three rebounds to her total.
- Penn State set a school standard for rebounds in a Big Ten Tournament game with 50 caroms.
- Of Those 50 boards, an equal amount came on the offensive and defensive glass. The 25 offensive rebounds are the most in a game since grabbing 29 offensive rebounds against Ohio State on Feb. 20, 2012.
Last Meeting - at Penn State 92, Ohio 63 (Dec. 2, 1986)
- The two teams met for the first time to open Penn State's 1986-87 campaign on Dec. 2 inside Rec Hall.
- Vicki Link led all scorers with 20 points and Lisa Faloon chipped in 18 points.
- Suzie McConnell added 12 points and 12 assists in the contest.
- Lisa Lambert tallied ten points and added a game-high eight rebounds.
- Laura Hughes and Adrie DeVries chipped in with eight points apiece.
- Shelly Caplinger scored eight points and handed out seven assists in her collegiate debut.
- Lisa Salters and Bethany Collins each contributed four points.
- For Ohio, Kathy Detillion and Kim Walton led the way with nine points apiece.
- The Lady Lions shot 51 percent for the game, compared to 36 percent for the Bobcats.