Jan. 3, 2010
EVANSTON, ILL. - The Penn State Lady Lions (10-4, 2-2) were on fire from the field, shooting a season-best 56.4% (31-for-55) on the way to a solid 88-68 win over Northwestern (11-4, 2-2) at Welsh-Ryan Arena Sunday afternoon. Senior Tyra Grant (Youngstown, Ohio) led four Lady Lions in double figures with 20 points for the 33rd career 20-point game.
Grant also dished out three assists and pulled down three rebounds. Freshman guard Alex Bentley (Indianapolis, Ind.) was 6-for-9 from the field on the way to 15 points, while senior Meredith Monroe (Olney, Md.) and freshman Marisa Wolfe (Ford City, Pa.) added 10 points apiece. Wolfe was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field as she set a career high in scoring. She also nabbed personal bests of three steals and four rebounds.
Playing in her hometown for the first time in her collegiate career, Zhaque Gray (Chicago, Ill.) knocked down a trio of three-pointers on the way to nine points. Sophomore Emily Phillips (South Bend, Ind.) added nine points and seven assists and Janessa Wolff (Park Rapids, Minn.) accounted for nine second-half points and four rebounds.
The Lady Lions drew first blood on a layup by Monroe, but Amy Jaeschke tied the game on NU's next possession with a pair of free throws. Gray drained a three-pointer to give the Lions a 5-2 advantage less than two minutes into the game. The squads swapped baskets before Northwestern scored four consecutive points to take their first lead of the game at 8-7 with 15 minutes remaining in the opening frame. However, the Lady Lions bounced back less than 30 second later with Gray's second three-pointer and a bucket by Phillips off of a Renee Womack (Lansdale, Pa.) steal to put Penn State ahead 12-8.
Northwestern retook the lead with a 5-0 run, but back-to-back steals and layups by Wolfe put the Lady Lions back in front by a 16-13 margin with less than 11 minutes to play. A layup by Jaeschke made it a one-point game. At the 12-minute media timeout, Grant entered the game for the first time and kicked off a 15-5 Penn State run with a pair of free throws and a scoop shot to give the Lady Lions a 31-20 lead with five minutes remaining. Grant accounted for eight points during the run, while Bentley added three tallies and Monroe and Nikki Greene (Diboll, Texas) chipped in two points each.
Following a Wildcat timeout, Northwestern scored six the game's next nine points to cut the Penn State lead to eight points (34-26) with less than four minutes remaining in the first half. The teams exchanged baskets for most of the rest of the period until the waning moments when Meshia Reed knocked down a three-pointer to send the squads into the locker room with Penn State leading 39-33.
Grant and Gray paced the Lady Lions in the opening half with nine points each, while Bentley added seven tallies and Monroe chipped in six markers. The Lady Lions shot 59.3% (16-for-27) from the field in the first half, including an 80% effort from three-point range. Jaeschke led all scorers with 13 points in the period.
The Lady Lions kept their momentum from the first half at the start of the second frame with buckets by Monroe and Bentley to extend the Penn State lead to 10 points (43-33) in the first minute. However, the Wildcats answered with six consecutive points to slice the Lady Lion lead to four points (43-49) with 17:22 remaining in the game. The teams continued to exchange scoring opportunities to keep the margin the same until a three-point play by Wolff and a layup by Phillips in transition gave the Lady Lions an 11-point lead (59-48) with 11 minutes on the clock.
Northwestern chipped away at the Lady Lion lead with four-straight points to make it a 59-52 game, but a jumper by Wolfe and a transition basket by Grant put Penn State back up by 11 (63-52) with 10 minutes remaining. The Wildcats continued to battle with a 5-0 run to cut the Penn State lead to six points (63-57), but the Lady Lions went on a 6-2 run to extend the lead back to 10 points thanks to five tallies by Bentley and two free throws by Wolff. The Wildcats scored five of the game's next seven points to make it a 71-64 game, but Penn State closed out the contest with 17-4 run, including 11 free throws to salt the game away.
GAME NOTES: Senior Tyra Grant did not start due to disciplinary reasons...Grant became the seventh player in school history to surpass the 1,700-point plateau...Grant turned in the 32nd 20-point game of her career with 20 tallies...Grant reached the 400-rebound mark for her career with three boards...Freshman Marisa Wolfe set career highs with 10 points and three steals and equaled her personal mark with four rebounds...The Lady Lions snap a two-game losing streak at Welsh-Ryan Arena and improve to 27-7 all-time against the Wildcats.
The Lady Lions return to the Bryce Jordan Center on Sunday, Jan. 10 against Indiana at noon. The Subway Full Court Four-Pack is available for the Indiana game. The deal includes four game tickets, four sodas and four vouchers for a 6" Subway sub at any State College location (BJC excluded) for just $40. Single-game tickets can be purchased by calling the Penn State ticket office at 814-865-5555.
The 2010 WBCA Pink Zone at Penn State will take place on Sunday, Jan. 24 at 1 p.m., as the Lady Lions take on Illinois in the Bryce Jordan Center. The game can be seen on www.bigtennetwork.com. The first three Pink Zone events have raised more than $80,000 for breast cancer awareness. This year's fundraising efforts will benefit the Mount Nittany Medical Center, Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute, Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition and the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund. For more information on the Pink Zone at Penn State, visit the official Pink Zone website at www.gopsusports.com/pinkzone.
The Lady Lions are on Twitter. Follow head coach Coquese Washington (@psucoachquese), sports information contact Kris Petersen (@ladylionsid) and the Lady Lions and assistant coaches (@pennstatewbb) to get the inside scoop. The Lady Lions are also on Facebook. Search Lady Lion Basketball and become a fan.