UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State women's basketball team travels to Chicago Thursday night for a Valentine's Day showdown at Northwestern. Tipoff is slated for 8 p.m. ET.
FOLLOW ALONG
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OPENING TIPS
- The Lady Lions hit the road for their next two games, and four of their next five, beginning with a Valentine's Day showdown at Northwestern Thursday night.
- Senior Teniya Page recently became the first-ever Lady Lion to eclipse the 2,000 career points, 400 career rebounds and 400 career assists milestones.
- Four Lady Lions are averaging 9.5 or more points, led by Teniya Page's 19.7 ppg. Page's 19.7 ppg ranks second amongst all Big Ten players, and 24th in Division I.
IF PENN STATE BEATS NORTHWESTERN
- The Lady Lions would capture their 14th-straight win over the Wildcats and improve to 39-7 all-time against Northwestern.
- The Lady Lions would earn a win on Valentine's Day for the third-straight year.
- The Lady Lions would pick up their second road win of conference play.
SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN
- Northwestern enters Thursday's contest with a 14-10 overall record and 7-6 mark in conference play.
- The Wildcats have lost three of their last four games after starting the conference season 6-3.
- Northwestern is coming off a 73-64 overtime loss at Minnesota Sunday in its most recent game.
- Three Wildcats are averaging double-digit points, led by Lindsey Pulliam's 16.4 points per game. Abi Scheid follows with 11.5 points, while Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah has averaged 11.3 points and a team-best 11.3 rebounds per game.
AGAINST THE WILDCATS
- Penn State has won the last 13 matchups with the Wildcats and holds a 38-7 all-time advantage over Northwestern.
- The Lady Lions haven't lost to Northwestern since Feb. 24, 2008 when Penn State fell 70-58 on the road.
- Trailing by as many as 13 points with one minute left in the third quarter, Penn State battled back to outscore Northwestern 35-14 over the final 11 minutes of last season's contest and earn a 67-59 Big Ten victory at the Bryce Jordan Center on Feb. 14, 2018.
- Penn State led for the majority of the first half before Northwestern battled back to knot the score, 26-26, heading into the break. In a game that would see five ties and five lead changes, it wasn't until midway through the fourth quarter that the Lady Lions took the lead for good, earning them their 13th-straight victory over the Wildcats.
- Teniya Page led the Lady Lions with 22 points, while Amari Carter chipped in 17.
LOVE IS IN THE AIR?
- Penn State will be playing on Valentine's Day for the third-straight year.
- The Lady Lions have won their last two Valentine's Day contests.
- Penn State defeated Northwestern 67-59 last season at the Bryce Jordan Center after taking down Illinois 80-62 on the road in 2017.
A LEAGUE OF HER OWN
- Teniya Page is the first player in Lady Lion history to eclipse 2,000 career points, 400 career assists and 400 career rebounds.
- She reached the milestone on Feb. 6 at Ohio State when she dished her fifth assist of the game and 400th of her career.
- Page was just the second currently active Division I player who has accomplished all three feats. Central Michigan's Presley Hudson was the first currently active DI player to join the 2,000/400/400 club.
AN ELITE CLUB
- Senior guard Teniya Page became the sixth-ever Lady Lion to reach the 2,000 career point milestone on Feb. 3 against Iowa.
- Page joined the likes of former Penn State legends Kelly Mazzante (2,919 points), Maggie Lucas (2,510), Susan Robinson (2,253), Tyra Grant (2,044) and Kahadeejah Herbert (2,026) as the sixth member of the 2,000-point club.
- Her 2,043 career points are fifth all-time on the Penn State career scoring charts and 13th amongst all active Division I players. She is one point away from matching Tyra Grant's fourth-place mark of 2,044 points.
- The standout has already etched her names into several of Penn State's record books:
- Career minutes per game (35.6) - 2nd in Penn State history
- Career 30-plus point games (8) - 2nd in Penn State history
- Career free throws made (518) - 2nd in Penn State history
- Career scoring average (18.2 ppg) - 4th in Penn State history
CARTER ON THE CUSP OF 1,000
- Senior Amari Carter has tallied 904 career points to date, putting her 96 points away from the 1,000-point milestone.
- With six regular-season games left and one guaranteed postseason game (BTT Tournament), Carter will need to average 13.7 ppg through the final seven contests to hit the 1,000-point mark.
UP NEXT
- The Lady Lions remain on the road Sunday when Penn State heads to Minnesota for a 2 p.m. nationally-televised battle with the Gophers on the Big Ten Network.