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No. 22/17 Lady Lions Cruise Past the Badgers, 82-49
Lucas tallies career high seven assists to go with game-best 18 points
MADISON,
WIS.— Coming off of a season-low shooting percentage, the #22/17 Penn
State Lady Lions (11-3, 1-1 Big Ten) rebounded to connect on 52/3%
(34-65) of its shots on the way to an 82-49 win at Wisconsin (4-10,
0-2) Monday afternoon. The Lady Lions moved the ball well with 26
assists on 34 baskets. Sophomore Maggie Lucas (Naberth, Pa.)
accounted for a game-high 18 points with a career-best sevenassists and
a steal to pace Penn State.
Junior post player Mia Nickson
(Ashburn, Va.) posted her first double-double of the season and seventh
of her career with 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting and a season-high 14
rebounds, including eight on the offensive glass. Junior Nikki Greene
(Diboll, Texas) also reached double figures with 14 points and seven
rebounds. With two blocks on the game, Greene became the sixth player
in school history with 150 blocks. Junior Alex Bentley (Indianapolis,
Ind.) chipped in eight points, eight assists and four steals, while
senior Zhaque Gray (Chicago, Ill.) added eight tallies.
With
Wisconsin leading 5-4, Bentley kicked off an 8-0 Penn State run with a
jumper just inside the three-point line. Talia East (Philadelphia, Pa.)
capped the run with a layup off of a great pass from Lucas to make it
13-4 with 14:37 left in the half. However, the Badgers responded with
an 11-0 run to establish a 15-13 lead just over two minutes later.
Lucas’
first three-pointer of the game jump-started the Penn State offense and
led to a 14-0 run and a 27-15 Lady Lion lead with eight minutes
remaining. Greene accounted for seven points during the run, including
an old-fashioned three-point play. Following a 5-0 spurt by the
Badgers, the Lady Lions closed the half on a 13-5 run to take a 40-25
lead at the break.
Lucas led all scorers with 10
first-half points to go along with four assists and two rebounds.
Bentley added six points, six assists and two steals, while Greene
chipped in seven points and five rebounds in the opening frame. The
Lady Lions connected on 48.3% of their shots from the field in the
first half.
The Badgers scored the first four points of
the second half, but Penn State responded with a 9-0 spurt that
featured four points from Nickson, a three-point play by Greene and a
bucket by Bentley to establish a 20-point lead (49-29) with less than
16 minutes left. Wisconsinscored four of the next six points to pull
within 18, but the Lady Lions clicked off a 9-0 run to push the lead to
27 (60-27) with just over 12 minutes on the clock. The Lady Lions
continued to keep up the intensity and the Badgers would not get closer
than 25 points in the final 12 minutes.
GAME NOTES: Junior
Nikki Greene became the sixth player in school history with 150 career
blocks (150) … Junior Alex Bentley (380) moved into 11th place on Penn
State’s career assists list, passing Corinne Gulas (379) … Sophomore
Maggie Lucas dished out a career-high seven assists, surpassing her
previous mark of five, accomplished twice earlier this season … Junior
Mia Nickson posted her first double-double of the season and seventh of
her career with 10 points and 14 rebounds … All 10 Lady Lions scored
for the seventh time this season, but it is the first time that 10
players have accomplished the feat (all other times were with nine
player) … Greene tied her season high with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting
… Freshman Tori Waldner tied her career high with six points, equaling
themark she set against North Carolina.
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