March 2, 2008
BLOOMINGTON, IND. - Senior Kam Gissendanner (Clairton, Pa.) posted her fifth double-double with 24 points and 11 rebounds in her final regular-season game, but it was not enough to propel the Lady Lions (13-17, 4-14) as Indiana (17-13, 10-8) handed Penn State a 79-67 loss on Sunday afternoon. The Lady Lions have lost 11-straight games to finish out the regular-season and will face Michigan in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday at noon at Conseco Fieldhouse.
The Lady Lions were short-handed to start the day, as they had to do without the services of fourth-leading scorer Mashea Williams (Erie, Pa.) who was sidelined with a broken nose. Sophomore guard Tyra Grant (Youngstown, Ohio) accounted for 13 points to go along with five rebounds and three assists. Freshman post Janessa Wolff (Park Rapids, Minn.) was a perfect 6-for-6 from the field en route to a 12-point, five-rebound performance off the bench, while junior guard Brianne O'Rourke (Pittsburgh, Pa.) added seven points, eight assists and three rebounds.
Indiana scored the first nine points of the game until O'Rourke stole the ball and found a streaking Gissendanner for the lay-up and the first Lady Lion basket of the game with 15:30 on the clock. Five straight points by Nikki Smith made it a 12-point lead (14-2) for the Hoosiers with just under 15 minutes left in the half.
The Lady Lions tightened the defense and found their offensive stride as they went on a 10-2 run to slice the Indiana lead to four points at 16-12 with just under 12 minutes to go in the first frame. Meggan Quinn (Red Lion, Pa.) was a sparkplug during the run, scoring five points, while Grant added three tallies and Wolff had a basket of her own. Back-to-back baskets by Kim Roberson brought the Hoosier lead up to 21-12 before Grant answered with a three-pointer to cut it back to six tallies.
Following an exchange of baskets, Indiana went on a 9-2 run to establish a 32-19 lead with six minutes to play in the half. The squads remained even for much of the rest of the half until five straight points by Gissendanner in the final minute of the half cut the Lady Lion deficit to just nine points (42-33) heading into halftime.
The Lady Lions did not take advantage of their opportunities as they missed an uncharacteristic six free throws in the opening half. Gissendanner paced Penn State in the first frame with 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting and Grant added 10 tallies. Smith (14 pts.) and Roberson (13) cause the Lady Lion defense trouble in the opening half.
The second half started on a sluggish note for both teams as there was only four points scored by each team in the first five minutes of the second half. The Hoosiers scored the next five points of the game to extend the lead to 12 points at 51-37 with 14:32 to play. The squads swapped baskets on the next few possessions before the Lady Lions got back-to-back baskets by Wolff to slice the deficit to 11 points (56-45) with 11:26 on the clock.
Following one Whitney Thomas free throw, Gissendanner knocked down a three-pointer to make it a nine-point game at 57-48 with just over 10 minutes to play. However, the Lady Lions went on a five-minute field goal drought, which allowed Indiana to pull out to a 68-49 lead with five minutes remaining. A three-pointer by Grant and lay-up by O'Rourke pulled the Lady Lions within 14 tallies (68-54) until Smith drained a three-pointer and Jamie Braun connected on a lay-up to extend it to a 73-54 game with under three minutes remaining.
The Lady Lions made a valiant effort down the stretch nine points in the final 1:20 of the game, but it was not enough as Indiana earned the 79-67 win.
The Lady Lions will now head off to the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis. The Lady Lions will be the 10th seed in next week's Big Ten Tournament and will unofficially face the seventh-seeded Michigan Wolverines. The Big Ten office is expected to announce the official bracket following Sunday's final game.