Feb. 27, 2008
Game Notes vs. Ohio State (2/28/08)
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - The Lady Lions (13-15, 4-12) close out their regular-season home schedule against #18/22 Ohio State on Thursday at 7 p.m., at the Bryce Jordan Center. Thursday is the last chance for fans to see senior Kam Gissendanner (Clairton, Pa.) in regular-season action at the BJC. It is also Code Blue for the women's basketball team where the first 200 Penn State students to sign in at the table in the Southwest corner will receive a Code Blue shirt.
The Lady Lions will also take time to say thank you to their loyal fans with Fan Appreciation night. There will be several prizes and giveaways handed out throughout the evening. Penn State student can enter to participate in the halftime contests for a free semester of books, courtesy of Lady Lion head coach Coquese Washington.
The contest can be heard on the Penn State Sports Radio Network with Jerry Fisher (play-by-play) and Chris Morelli (analyst) describing play. Locally the game will air on the radio on WMAJ. The audio feed and a link to GameTracker are available at www.GoPSUSports.com.
The Lady Lions are 30-16 all-time and 17-10 in Big Ten contests against the Buckeyes. However, Penn State has lost the last eight match-ups with OSU. The Buckeyes picked up an 89-53 win over the Lady Lions on Jan. 28. Three of the last six meeting between these teams have been decided by two points or less, including two at the Bryce Jordan Center. Penn State is 15-4 all-time against Ohio State at home.
The last time the Lady Lions squared off with Ohio State, the Buckeyes shot 58.2% from the field, including a 67% effort in the first half, on the way to an 89-53 win at Value City Arena on Jan. 28. Tyra Grant (Youngstown, Ohio) had a good performance in her home state with 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Brianne O'Rourke (Pittsburgh, Pa.) also reached double figures with 12 tallies and four assists.
Freshman Julia Trogele (Devon, Pa.) chipped in a career-high 10 points, including a 6-for-6 effort from the free throw line, in the Feb. 24 loss at Northwestern. The rookie guard/post player stands second on Penn State's freshman season free throw percentage chart with a 94.7% mark from the charity stripe, behind Adrienne Squire's perfect 10-for-10 freshman campaign. Sophomore guard Meggan Quinn (Red Lion, Pa.) played a career-high 23 minutes against the Wildcats, which led to career marks in rebounds (3), assists (4) and steals (1). She also added six points in the loss.
Gissendanner has led the team in scoring in six of the last seven games and is averaging 16.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.4 blocks per game during that span. She has raised her season scoring average more than a full point per game to 12.6, which is second on the team and 13th in the Big Ten.
The Buckeyes are tied atop the Big Ten standings with an 11-5 conference record and 20-7 overall mark. Freshman Jantel Lavender is in the Top 10 in the conference in scoring (17.2), rebounding (9.6), field goal percentage (.510) and blocked shots (1.0). Marscilla Packer and Ashlee Trebilcock are also averaging double figures for OSU at 14.7 and 10.6 points per game, respectively.
The Lady Lions close out the regular-season at Indiana on Sunday, Mar. 2 at 4 p.m., before heading off to the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis. The Big Ten office will release the official bracket on Sunday, Mar. 2, following the day's final game.
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