|
Lady Lions Fall to Top Seed UConn in NCAA Sweet Sixteen
Nickson leads the Lady Lions offensively with 19 points
KINGTON,
R.I.; March 25, 2012 — The No. 4 seed Penn State Lady Lions (26-7,
13-3) suffered a 77-59 loss to No. 1 seed Connecticut (32-4, 13-3 Big
East) on Sunday evening in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament.
The loss marks the end of the Lady Lions season that saw Penn State win
the Big Ten regular-season title and advance to the Sweet Sixteen for
the first time since 2004.
Junior Mia Nickson (Ashburn,
Va.) was solid in the interior for the Lady Lions with 19 points and
five rebounds. Sophomore Maggie Lucas (Narberth, Pa.) added 15 points
and three assists. Lucas finishes the season with 642 to finish second
on the Penn State sophomore season scoring list behind Kelly Mazzante
(872) and fifth on the program’s single-season scoring chart. Junior
Alex Bentley (Indianapolis, Ind.) tallied 11 points, while sophomore
Talia East (Philadelphia, Pa.) snared 10 rebounds. The 59 points scored
were the fifth-most given up by UConn this season.
The
Huskies grabbed a 6-2 lead to start the game before fouling Bentley who
hit two at the foul line to close the gap to two, 6-4. UConn followed
with a 10-2 run for a 14-4 lead and sent Penn State to the bench for a
timeout. East followed the timeout with a layup, but two UConn buckets
sandwiching a Nickson basket kept the Huskies leading by 10, 18-8, a
little less than five minutes into the half.
UConn
continued to charge moving ahead by 14, 24-10, by the 11:23 mark. The
Lady Lions fought back with a 9-0 run, including three-pointers from
Lucas and senior Zhaque Gray (Chicago, Ill.), to come within five,
24-19. After a Husky timeout, UConn’s Tiffany Hayes hit a jumper.
However, Caroline Doty fouled Nickson who made two free throws to bring
Penn State back within five, 26-21.
The Lady Lions fell
behind by double-digits, 33-23, after a 7-2 Husky run. Despite a three
from UConn’s Bria Hartley, Penn State was within nine, 36-27, thanks to
baskets from sophomore Ariel Edwards (Elmont, N.Y.) and Bentley with
just over three minutes left in the half. Five points from UConn had
the Lions falling behind by 14, 41-27. Nickson prevented another Husky
run with a jumper, but a PSU foul sent UConn’s Hayes to the line where
she made both shots giving UConn a 43-29 lead to close out the first
half.
At the end of the first half, Nickson led the Lady
Lions with nine points, while Lucas had seven and Bentley had six. East
was Penn State’s leading rebounder with five.
The Huskies
opened the second half with 10 straight points, but Hayes fouled
Edwards who hit two shots at the foul line to end UConn’s run. Trailing
by22, 53-31, Lucas nailed a three-pointer at the 15:51 mark to bring
Penn State within 19, 53-34. Hartley fouled Lucas who hit two free
throws before a Nickson layup to move Penn State closer to UConn, 53-38.
After
two UConn baskets, both teams were scoreless for nearly three minutes
before back-to-back buckets by the Huskies hard the score at 61-38 with
10:13 to play. Penn State called a timeout and Nickson followed with
scored two to end theHusky run. UConn’s lead grew to 16, 66-40, but
Nickson and East prevented a Husky run with a basket each bringing the
score to 68-44 with a little morethan seven minutes remaining.
Nickson
continued to be Penn State’s dominant scorer with another bucket at the
6:45 mark. UConn fired back with four points before Penn State scored
10 unanswered points to close the gap to 19, 74-55, with the clock at
4:20. UConn’s next three points came from free throws, making it 77-55
in favor of the Huskies. East and Nickson scored Penn State’s final two
baskets to produce the final score of 77-59.
|
