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No. 16/17 Lady Lions Travel Wisconsin Monday
UNIVERSITY
PARK, PA — The #16/17 Penn State Lady Lions (10-3, 0-1 Big Ten)
continue their Big Ten slate when they travel to Wisconsin (4-9, 0-1)
Monday for a meeting with the Badgers at 1 p.m. (Eastern) at the Kohl
Center.
LAST TIME OUT: The Lady Lions scored
just seven points over the final 12:50 on the way to a 71-63 loss to
Nebraska in the Big Ten opener Friday. Junior Alex Bentley had 22
points to go along with a career-high eight steals. Maggie Lucas
tallied 18 points to go along with seven rebounds and a pair of
assists, but did not score in the final 16:40. Junior center Nikki
Greene came up one short of her first double-double of the season with
nine points and a season-best 15 rebounds. She also rejected a pair of
shots and had four steals.
SCOUTING WISCONSIN: The
Badgers are 4-9 on the season and coming off of a 77-61 loss to Ohio
State in its Big Ten opener. Taylor Wurtz leads Wisconsin in scoring
(16.1), rebounding (8.5) and steals (1.5). Morgan Paige and Anya
Covington each chip in 7.2 points per game, while Ashley Thomas adds
6.9 points and 2.9 rebounds. Covington is second on the squad in
rebounding with a 6.4 average.
ALL-TIME VS. THE BADGERS:
After dominating the first 28 games of the series, the Lady Lions have
lost five of the last seven games to Wisconsin. In the only meeting
between the teams last season, Penn State dropped a 77-62 decision. The
Lady Lions are 8-8 all-time in Madison and have lost four of their last
five at the Kohl Center.
LAST TIME VS. UW: The
Lady Lions fell victim to a hot-shooting Wisconsin team in a 77-62 loss
at the Kohl Center Jan. 2, 2011. The Badgers shot 51.9% (27-52) from
the field, including a blistering 57.1% (8-14) from three-point range.
Nikki Greene filled the stat sheet with 12 points, seven rebounds and
four blocks, while Zhaque Gray was 5-for-10 from the field, including
2-for-3 from three-point range en route to her 12 tallies. Julia
Trogele had a solid outing with eight points, four rebounds and three
assists.
A THIEF NAMED ALEX: Junior guard Alex
Bentley registered a career-high eight steals in the Big Ten opener
against Nebraska Dec. 30. Her eight thefts are the most by a Lady Lion
since Kelly Mazzante had eight steals against Fairfield on Dec. 2, 2001
and were just two shy of the school’s single-game record set three
times by Suzie McConnell.
LUCAS SURPASSES 800
POINTS: Sophomore guard Maggie Lucas reached the 800-point mark for her
career with 18 tallies against Nebraska on Dec. 30. It took Lucas just
for games to get from 700 points to 800 markers.
BENTLEY
MOVES INTO TOP 30: With 22 points against Nebraska Dec. 30, junior
guard Alex Bentley moved into the Top 30 on Penn State’s career scoring
list. She passed Nancy Kuhl (1,061; 1975-79) for 30th place on Penn
State’s career scoring list. Bentley now has 1,073 career points. She
need 21 points to tie Brianne O’Rourke (1,084; 2005-09) for 29th place .
STRUGGLES
FROM THE FIELD: The Lady Lions were held to just seven points in the
final 12:50 in the loss to Nebraska in the Big Ten opener Dec. 30. Penn
State shot just 29.4% from the field, including a 23.3% effort in the
second half. It was the worst shooting percentage since the Lady Lions
connected on just 27.3% of their shots against Wisconsin on Feb. 25,
2010.
NICKSON RETURNS: After missing the six games
with a concussion, junior Mia Nickson returned to the Lady Lion lineup
against Nebraska Dec. 30. She accounted for four points, seven rebounds
and a steal against the Cornhuskers. Nickson also missed a pair of
games earlier in the season with concussion-like symptoms.
GREENE
MOVING UP CHARTS: Junior center Nikki Greene is steadily moving up the
career charts after pulling in 15 rebounds against Nebraska. Greene now
has 563 career rebounds and is tied with Kelly Mazzante for 23rd on the
all-time chart. Greene needs 21 rebounds to move past Kim Calhoun (583;
1993-96) for 22nd place. Additionally, Greene is in sixth place on the
Penn State career blocks list with 148 rejections. She needs 25 blocks
to move into the Top 5 all-time.
20-POINT STREAK
FOR LUCAS: Sophomore guard Maggie Lucas had her string of four
consecutive 20-point gamessnapped against Nebraska Dec. 30. Lucas had
22 points at Bucknell Dec. 21, 23 markers against Wagner Dec. 18, 20
points each against UMES (Dec. 11) and Virginia Tech (Dec. 6).
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