|
No. 15/13 Lady Lions Fall to No. 1/1 UConn, 71-52
Maggie Lucas becomes sixth player in Lady Lion history to score 1,900 career points
UNIVERSITY
PARK, Pa.– The #15/13 Penn State Lady Lions (2-1, 0-0 Big Ten) struggle
from the field, but still managed to make it a nine-point game with
five minutes left, but the top-ranked Connecticut Huskies (3-0, 0-0
AAC) pulled away late earned a 71-52 win Sunday in front of 8,194 fans
at the Bryce Jordan Center. The loss snaps Penn State’s 22-game home
court winning streak, which was tied for the third-longest in NCAA
Division I.
Senior guard Maggie Lucas’ (Narberth, Pa.)
tallied 18 points and five steals to become the sixth player in Lady
Lion history to eclipse the 1,900-point mark. Lucas now has 1,912
points in her career and passed former Penn State standout Suzie
McConnell (1,897) for sixth place on the career scoring list with her
performance today. Additionally, Lucas made four shots from three-point
range to become just the second player in Big Ten history with 300
three-pointers (Kelly Mazzante).
Junior forward/center
Tori Waldner (Milton, Ga.) had a career afternoon with a personal-best
11 points on 4-of-7 shooting. She surpasses her previous career mark of
seven points, which in a win over Farleigh Dickinson on Dec. 2, 2102.
Waldner also added seven boards and two blocks to complete her day.
Fellow post player Talia East (Philadelphia, Pa.) also had a solid
outing with eight points and a team-high 10 rebounds. She also rejected
four shots on the day to move into a tie for 18th in program history
with Tanisha Wright (61).
Penn State won the opening tip
and scored the game’s opening points on its first possession off a nice
jump hook from Waldner. After a number of missed opportunities from
both sides, the Huskies’ Bria Hartley forced a turnover and finished a
fastbreak layup to even the score at 2-2 with 17:19 on the clock.
Over
the next five minutes of action, each team scored eight points and the
game was once again level at 10-10. Four different players scored for
the Lady Lions as Lucas and Dara Taylor (Wilmington, Del.), hit jumpers
and Kaliyah Mitchell (Stone Mountain, Ga.) and East both went 2-for-2
from the line. During the next four minutes of play, Connecticut took
over, reeling off 12-straight points to make the score 22-10 with 8:23
left in the first frame.
Lucas ended the Huskies’ run by
converting two-of-three free throws to draw the Blue and White back
within 10 (22-12), but UConn responded by scoring the next five points
to increase its lead to 27-12 with less than five minutes remaining in
the half.
Both the Lady Lions and the Huskies scored 10
points in the last four and a half minutes of the first to send the
teams into the break with Connecticut holding a 37-22 lead. PSU’s
frontcourt was responsible for all 10 of the Lady Lions’ points to
finish the opening 20 minutes. East hit two jumpers in the paint for
four points, while Waldner, Candice Agee (Victorville, Calif.) and
Ariel Edwards (Elmont, N.Y.) each chipped in two.
Like the
first half, Waldner was the first player of either side to score in the
second stanza, as the junior finished at the rim to trim the Huskies’
lead to 13 (37-24) coming out of the break. After Waldner’s layup,
UConn once again went on a 15-5 run to push its lead to 23 (52-29), its
largest of the afternoon, but the Lady Lions refused to go down without
a fight
The Lady Lions roared back and cut the Connecticut
lead to single digits at 57-48 with five and a half minutes remaining
thanks to a 19-5 run. Taylor started the rally by hitting her only trey
of the afternoon. A Waldner layup and Lucas triple paired with two
blocks from East on the defensive end quickly cut the score to 15
(52-37). After a UConn make from beyond the arc by Hartley, Waldner
answered with her first career three-pointer, followed by a jumper from
Taylor to get the lead down to 13 (42-55) and force a Husky timeout.
After a make from UConn’s Breanna Stewart, Lucas connected on
back-to-back threes to make it a nine-point game (57-48) to send the
raucous BJC crowd into a frenzy with 5:31 left. However, that is as
close as the Lions would get as UConn closed the game with a 14-4 run
for the 71-52 win.
GAME NOTES: The loss snaps Penn State’s
22-game overall home court winning streak and 15-game non-conference
home court winning streak … This is Penn State’s first loss at the
Bryce Jordan Center since Jan. 7, 2012 against Michigan State … Senior
guard Maggie Lucas moved into sixth place on Penn State’s career
scoring list (1,912), passing Suzie McConnell (1,898) for the spot …
Lucas is the sixth player in program history to surpass 1,900 career
points … With four three-pointers, Lucas became the second player in
Big Ten history to have 300 career three-pointers (Kelly Mazzante) …
Lucas moved into a tie for 15th place on Penn State’s career steals
list with Annie Troyan (187) … Talia East moved into a tie for 18th
place on the Lady Lions’ career blocks chart with Tanisha Wright (61) …
Tori Waldner had a career-high 11 points, surpassing her previous
career high of seven against Fairleigh Dickinson on Dec. 2, 2012 …
Waldner also netted her first career three-pointer … This was the first
time that the Lady Lions have played the #1 team in the country since
Dec. 14, 2008 (Connecticut) … Penn State falls to 1-10 all-time against
the top-ranked team in the nation.
The Lady Lions close
out their season opening homestand against Bucknell Wednesday at 7 p.m.
It will be Club Sports and Fitness Night in the BJC. The Lions will
recognize those Club Sports athletes that compete for Penn State at
halftime. Additionally, fans that show their fitness center membership
card and get a ticket for $5.
|
