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Lady Lions Outlast Northwestern, 79-75
The
#13/12 Penn State Lady Lions (17-4, 8-1 Big Ten) saw a 20-point
first-half lead evaporate, but got five consecutive points from Talia
East (Philadelphia, Pa.) in the final 2:22 and salted away the win from
the free throw line as they held off Northwestern (14-8, 4-5) Sunday at
Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Maggie
Lucas (Narberth, Pa.) was a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line
and finished with a team-best 19 points to lead five Lady Lions in
double figures. Lucas also added six rebounds and three assists in the
win. Ariel Edwards (Elmont, N.Y.) had a near double-double with 15
points and ninerebounds to go along with three assists and two steals.
Freshman
Peyton Whitted (Suwanee, Ga.) tallied a career-high 11 points on a
5-of-6 shooting performance. She also added six rebounds in 13 minutes
of action. East also reached double figures with 11 points with six
rebounds and two assists as she battled foul trouble. Dara Taylor
(Wilmington, Del.) was the fifth Lady Lion to reach double figures with
11 tallies with five assists and three steals on the day.
The
Lady Lions established the early 8-5 lead just two and a half minutes
into the game thanks to four points by Edwards and two points each from
East and Tori Waldner (Milton, Ga.). However, the Wildcats, who were
without the services of their leading scorer Nia Coffey, responded with
a 6-0 run of their own to take an 11-8 lead with 15:13 left in the
opening frame.
Penn State got a nice bucket from
Kaliyah Mitchell (Stone Mountain, Ga.), who then found East for a layup
to jump-start a Lady Lion run. Lucas then scored the game’s next seven
points on an old-fashioned three-point play and four free throws to
extend PSU’s lead to 19-11 with 11:24 left. After a score by NU’s
Christen Inman snapped afive-minute drought for the Wildcats, Candice
Agee (Victorville, Calif.), Whitted and Edwards put together
consecutive hoops to close out the 17-2 run and give Penn State a 25-13
lead with nine minutes left in the first.
The
Wildcats closed the gap as they scored seven of the next 11 points to
make it a nine-point game (29-20) less than seven minutes remaining.
Lucas kicked off the next Penn State run with four-straight points via
a jumper and two freebies. Edwards followed with a pair of free throws
and Agee took a feed from Lucas in for the score to make it a 37-20
Penn State lead. Dara Taylor (Wilmington, Del.) sandwiched a jumper and
three-pointer around a Northwestern bucket by Alex Cohen to finish the
13-2 run and give PSU a 20-point lead (42-22) with 3:33 left. The
Wildcats fought back to close out the half with a 9-2 spurt to send the
teams into the break with Penn State up, 44-31.
Penn
State came out of the break and scored the first four points thanks to
buckets by East and Taylor to make it a 48-31 gap. The Wildcats
continued to fight as they went on a 20-7 run to close within four at
55-51 with 9:30 left. The Lady Lions rallied back with five straight
points thanks to Lucas and a three-point play by Whitted to push the
lead back to nine with less than eight minutes left.
The
Wildcats turned up the heat and fired off a 12-2 run to take a 63-62
lead with less than five minutes to play. The squads exchanged scores
to keep it at aone-point margin with 3:35 on the clock until Maggie
Lyon connected on a three-pointer to give the Wildcats their largest
lead of the game at four points (70-66). However, Taylor responded with
a three-pointer of her own to make it a one-point game (70-69).
East
came up hug in the next stretch, making two free throws and then coming
back with a three-point play to give the Lions a 74-70 lead with 1:15
to play. The Wildcats would not go away quietly as Lyon hit yet another
three-pointer toclose the gap to one. Edwards was fouled on the ensuing
possession and madeboth shots to put it back to a three-point margin
(76-73) with 43 seconds left. Northwestern split a pair from the
charity stripe and Taylor made one-of-two to keep it at a three-point
game with 23 seconds left.
The Wildcats were set
to the free throw line again, but only made one of the two attempts to
make it a two-point margin. After a timeout, the Lady Lions turned the
ball over on the inbounds pass and the Wildcats’ two chances to tie the
game rimmed out. Mitchell was fouled while going up for the rebound and
made both free throws to seal the 79-75 win.
GAME
NOTES: Peyton Whitted had her best game as a Lady Lion with a
career-best 11 points, surpassing her previous career high of nine set
at Illinois on Jan. 9 … Maggie Lucas moved into a tie for third place
on Penn State’s all-time free throws made list with 487 makes as a Lady
Lion, equaling Susan Robinson (487; 1989-92) … With five makes in the
game from the field, Lucas climbed to sixth place on the program’s
all-time career field goals made chart with 727 made shots, passing
Alex Bentley (725; 2010-13) … Kaliyah Mitchell hit two free throws late
to seal the victory and reach the 100 point milestone in her young Lady
Lion career … Penn State had five players reach double figures for the
third game this season and second time in Big Ten action, with the
lastcoming in an 87-71 win at Iowa (1/5/14) … With the victory, the
Lady Lions increase their current win streak to six games, the longest
of the season … Penn State is now a perfect 5-0 in Big Ten road
matchups this season … The Blue and White is now 32-7 versus
Northwestern in the all-time series and 13-5 in road games against the
Wildcats … With the win, Penn State extends its win streak to seven
games over the Wildcats, including four consecutive victories in
Evanston … The Lady Lions improved to 16-7 on Super Bowl Sunday … The
senior class now has 93 wins in their four seasons, which is tied for
10th in program history.
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