Feb. 8, 2018
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IOWA CITY, Iowa -- In basketball, the road can be unkind and on Thursday (Feb. 4) evening inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena, the Penn State women's basketball team did everything it could to erase a 18-point third-quarter Iowa lead in a narrow 80-76 loss to begin a two-game Big Ten road swing.
The Lady Lions (14-11, 5-7 B1G) trailed by as many as 18 points with 9:13 to play in the third quarter and rallied from 12 points down in the fourth quarter, doing everything but taking the lead, as the Hawkeyes (19-6, 7-5 B1G) held on for the conference win. Penn State owned a 42-31 scoring edge in the second half, but Iowa made just enough shots down the stretch to hold overcome two five-minute scoring droughts.
Three Lady Lions finished in double-figures, led by Teniya Page's (Chicago, Ill.) 29th career 20-point effort. Page tallied 23 points, including a 4-of-4 effort at the free throw stripe to move her into a tie for No. 11 on the career free throws made list with 349 makes from the charity stripe with Amanda Brown (2003-07).
Of Page's 23 points, 13 came in the fourth quarter -- including all four free throws. She added three assists, two steals and one rebound.
Amari Carter (Washington, D.C.) reached double-figures for the 21st of the season and 30th of her career with 16 points and Jaida Travascio-Green (Lisle, Ill.) had 13 points for her 19th double-digit scoring game of the season and 24th of her career.
Carter jumped into No. 24 on the career assist charts with a team-best four assists, moving her career total to 227 and passing Carol Fultz (224; 1981-84). Carter added three rebounds and two steals.
For Iowa, Megan Gustafson led the way with 33 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists -- all game-high efforts. Chase Coley hit 9-of-11 shots from the field and was 6-of-6 from the free throw line for 24 points to go along with seven rebound and three assists.
Turning Point
With 2:35 left in the second quarter
After Penn State trimmed a double-digit Iowa lead to eight points with 2:59 to play on a 3-pointer from Jaida Travascio-Green in the second quarter, but a Chase Coley layup on an assist from Amanda Ollinger sparked a 9-2 run to close the quarter and give the Hawkeyes a 15-point edge entering halftime.
Difference Makers
Penn State
- G Teniya Page -- Led Penn State with 23 points. Added three assists and two steals.
- G Amari Carter -- Scored 16 points with four assists and two steals. Added tow boards.
- G Jaida Travascio-Green -- Netted 13 points, including three 3-pointers. Had five rebounds and one steal.
- Limiting the TO -- Posted just nine turnovers for the fifth single-digit turnover game of the season.
- Creating the TO -- Penn State forced 20 Iowa turnovers and collected 12 steals, the sixth time this season it forced 20-plus turnovers and 13th game with double-digit steals.
Iowa
- C Megan Gustafson -- Led Iowa with 33 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists. Hit 13-of-19 shots and 7-of-8 free throws.
- F Chase Coley -- Hit 9-of-11 shots from the field and was 6-of-6 from the free throw line for 24 points. Added seven rebounds and three assists.
- Helping Hand -- Iowa handed out 26 assists in the game, including seven each from Gustafson and Makenzie Meyer.
First Quarter
Iowa opened the game with a 3-pointer from Alexis Sevillian and Coley added another bucket to give the home team a quick four-point edge, which eventually led to a 10-4 spurt by the Hawkeyes to prompt a Penn State timeout. The lead eventually swelled to 12 points, 16-4, after two points from Amanda Ollinger and three-straight buckets from Hannah Stewart. A Kamaria McDaniel (Inkster, Mich.) 3-pointer ended a four-minute scoring drought for Penn State and made it 16-7 with 1:48 to play. Iowa then pushed its lead to 14 points, 23-9, with a 7-2 burst before Page hit a jumper and then got a steal and assist on a Travascio-Green basket as time expired.
at Iowa 23, Penn State 13
Second Quarter
It was a high-scoring second quarter for both sides, but Iowa was able to expand its lead by owning a 26-21 edge. The Lady Lions quickly cut the Hawkeyes double-digit lead to just five points with an 8-5 run to start the frame, including a 3-pointer from Travascio-Green, but the Hawkeyes quickly answered with a 9-3 burst to push the lead to 11 points, 34-23, with 5:30 to play. The two teams exchanged baskets for the middle four minutes of the frame, before Iowa closed on a 9-2 run to end the quarter and take the double-digit lead into the locker room.
at Iowa 49, Penn State 34
Third Quarter
Penn State closed the gap in the third quarter, owning a 20-13 scoring edge to pull within eight points at the end of the third 10-minute period. After Iowa pushed its lead to 18 points, 58-40, on a pair of Coley free throws with 5:04 to play, Penn State reeled off a 14-4 run to close the half and head into the final break of the game trailing 62-54. During the closing scoring run, Carter tallied eight points, Smith added four and Travascio-Green chipped in a pair. Gustafson had the four Hawkeye points over the final five minutes.
at Iowa 62, Penn State 54
Fourth Quarter
Penn State again started the quarter strong, scoring five of the first seven points to make it a five-point game, 64-59, with 8:46 to play in the contest. After Iowa moved its lead to 12 points, 75-63, with 5:51 to play in the fourth quarter, Penn State used a 10-0 run to make it a two-point game with 2:56 to play, 75-73. After Iowa hit three-of-four free throws over the next minute to push the score to 78-73 in favor of the home team. Page connected from 3-point range to make it a two-point game again, 78-76, with 35 ticks left, but a Gustafson layup pushed the lead to four points and Penn State's final shot was no good.
at Iowa 80, Penn State 76
Up Next
Penn State continues its road swing with a trip to Minnesota for a Sunday, Feb. 11 contest. The 4 p.m. ET tipoff between the Lady Lions and Golden Gophers will air live on the Big Ten Network, as well as on the airwaves of the Penn State Radio Network.