March 2, 2018
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INDIANAPOLIS -- The Penn State women's basketball team saw their stay at the 25th Big Ten Tournament come to a close on Thursday (March 1) evening as it fell to Michigan, 77-48, at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
The Lady Lions were unable to overcome an early deficit to the Wolverines as the Michigan defense kept Penn State to its lowest scoring first half of the season. The 20 points equaled Penn State's lowest output in any half this season, as it also scored 20 points vs. Louisiana Tech in the second half on Nov. 24, 2017.
Junior Teniya Page (Chicago, Ill.) led the Penn State offense with 12 points, but suffered through foul trouble for most of the second half. Scoring her 10th point of the contest in the fourth quarter, Page extended her double-digit scoring streak to 16- games, while also marking the 23rd time this season and 77th time in her career in which she scored 10-or-more points. The 16-game streak in double-figures is a career-long streak for Page, besting her 15-game spurt to end the 2016-17 campaign.
Junior Jaylen Williams (Easton, Mass.) netted seven points for the Lady Lions and blocked a career-high six shots on the defensive side of the ball. The six swats are a Penn State Big Ten record, besting Jacquelynn Shook's five blocks vs. Ohio State in 2002. Furthermore, her six rejections are the most since Talia East had seven blocks against Purdue on Jan. 12, 2014.
The six blocked shots moved Williams up one spot on the career charts, jumping Tanisha Wright (61; 2002-05) for No. 21 all-time at Penn State. Her season total of 44 blocks also rank No. 21, as she passed the quintet of Tori Waldner (39; 2013-14), Nikki Greene (39; 2012-13), Tina Henry (42; 1992-93), Shook (42; 2001-02) and Jessica Brungo (43; 2002-03).
Sophomore Amari Carter (Washington, D.C.) recorded her 23rd multi-steal game of the season with three on the day and added five points and three rebounds to her stat line for Penn State
Junior De'Janae Boykin (Springdale, Md.) and freshman Alisia Smith (Lansing, Mich.) contributed six points each to the Blue and White scoring effort, while Williams and Boykin brought down a team-high four rebounds apiece.
Hallie Thome led all scorers on the night with 22 points, while Katelynn Flaherty dropped 21 points on the night with five 3-pointers. Akienreh Johnson was the final double-digit scorer of the night for Michigan as she scored 13 points for the Maize and Blue.
Turning Point
With 3:31 left in the first quarter
Michigan sparked an 8-0 run on the Lady Lions, going up 13-4. Penn State would battle back to bring itself within five but the early deficit was too much as Michigan would maintain its lead for the remainder of the game to earn the victory.
Difference Makers
Penn State
- G Teniya Page -- Scored a team-high 12 points and dished out three assists.
- F Jaylen Williams --Netted seven points while blocking a game-high and career-best six shots.
- G Amari Carter -- Scored eight points and added three steals and three assists.
- Points In Paint --Penn State scored 26 points in the paint.
Michigan
- F Hallie Thome -- Dropped a game-high 22 points and was one rebound shy of a double-double with nine boards.
- G Kaitlyn Flaherty -- Scored 21 points with five 3-pointers.
- Points in the Paint -- Netted 40 of its 77 points in the paint.
- Key Putbacks -- Had 17 points off of offensive rebounds.
First Quarter
Michigan was the first to light up the scoreboard after two minutes of scoreless action as Thome made the and-one layup before Penn State scored on its next trip down the floor on a pull-up jumper from Carter. Siyeh Frazier (Detroit, Mich.) ended a nearly three-minute scoring drought with a layup to make it 5-4, but Michigan scored eight-straight points to push the lead to nine, 13-4. A two minute scorless streak ended on a Frazier layup with 3:13 to play and a steal by Frazier and pass ahead to Boykinfor the layup on the opposite end of the floor brought Penn State within five, 13-8, with 1:50 to play. Each team added one final basket to close out the quarter with Michigan holding onto the 15-10 lead following the first 10 minutes of action.
Michigan 15, Penn State 10
Second Quarter
Penn State came within three on a huge Page drive into the lane but Michigan quickly brought its lead back to five with a layup of its own a minutes later. The Wolverines used an offensive put back by Thome with 4:32 left in the half to take a 22-14 advantage into the media timeout. Michigan put together a 6-0 run over a minute span to take its largest lead to that point, 30-16, forcing Penn State to use a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Page made one free throw, but the Wolverines responded with their fourth-straight basket from the floor to extend the lead to 15. The Penn State defense dialed in to force a turnover following a Williams's block and Page rushed the ball down the floor with seven second on the clock and drained a trey with just two seconds remaining the half to cut the Michigan lead to 12 heading into halftime.
Michigan 32, Penn State 20
Third Quarter
The Wolverines were the first to score to open the second half of play and went on a 9-0 run over a 2:32 span to extend its lead to 47-26 with just under five minutes to play in the third quarter. Smith snapped a two minute scoring drought for Penn State, making two free throws with 1:45 remaining, cutting the Michigan lead to 18. The Lady Lions were unable to find a make from the floor in the remaining minutes of the quarter heading into the final 10 minutes of play trailing 53-33.
Michigan 55, Penn State 33
Fourth Quarter
Michigan continued to build on its lead in the final quarter, going on a 7-0 run with five minutes to play, forcing Penn State to call a timeout to slow the pace of the game. The Lady Lions could not overcome the deficit, falling 77-48 to the Wolverines.
Michigan 77, Penn State 48
Up Next
Penn State ends its stay at the Big Ten Tournament with a 16-15 overall record. The Lady Lions will await their postseason fate, as berths will be handed out on Monday, March 12.
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