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No. 22/21 Lady Lions Claw Past Iowa, 68-52
Edwards notches first career double-double
UNIVERSITY
PARK, PA.— The No. 22/21 Penn State Lady Lions (15-4, 5-2) used a 20-2
run over the final 6:32 to erase a two-point deficit and claim a 68-52
victory over the Iowa Hawkeyes (11-9, 3-4) Sunday afternoon in front of
4,714 fans at the Bryce Jordan Center. Sophomore forward Ariel Edwards
(Elmont, N.Y.) posted her first career double-double with a personal
bests of 17 points and 11 rebounds. Edwards was 4-for-8 from the field
and 9-for-10 from the free throw line in the best performance of her
career.
Junior Alex Bentley (Indianapolis, Ind.) led the
Lions with 21 points and tied her career-best with seven boards.
Bentley also nabbed six steals, including three on Iowa’s first
threepossessions of the game. Junior forward Nikki Greene (Diboll,
Texas) led the Lady Lions with 13 rebounds to go along with five
points, while classmate Marisa Wolfe (Ford City, Pa.) contributed eight
points and six rebounds off the bench. The Lady Lions outscored the
Hawkeyes in the paint, 32-18, and outrebounded Iowa, 53-34. Penn State
only committed nine turnovers.
The Lady Lions opened the
game with a 6-0 run, but two straight trifectas by the Hawkeyes’
Kamille Wahlin and a basket from Morgan Johnson had Iowa on top, 8-6. A
successful trip to thefoul line by Edwards had the score tied at 8-8,
but Bethany Doolittle nailed a jumper for a two-point Hawkeye lead,
10-8. The teams went back and forth briefly before a 6-0 Hawkeye run
had Iowa leading by five (18-13) with 9:27left in the first half.
Senior
guard Zhaque Gray (Chicago, Ill.) scored on a layup before two baskets
by Edwards pushed Penn State back in the lead, 19-18. The lead was
short-lived as Iowa scored nine straight points to move ahead by a
27-19 count at the 4:56mark. The Lady Lions cut the Hawkeye lead to
three, but a jumper and a trey by Iowa kept the margin at eight (32-24).
Despite
trailing by eight points (32-24) as the first half was winding down,
Penn State used a 7-0 run to close the gap and head into the half
trailing by one, 32-31. Iowa’s Johnson fouled Lucas, who made two at
the line, before a layup by Wolfe and another from Greene had PSU
trailing by only two, 32-30. With five seconds left in the first half,
an Iowa foul sent Lucas back to the foul line where she tallied one
final point for Penn State to close out the first half.
The
second frame started with Bentley connecting on a jumper and put Penn
State ahead, 33-32. However, a 7-2 Iowa run moved the Hawkeyes into the
lead by five (40-35) with less than 16 minutes to play. Another basket
by Bentley and a free throw from Edwards had the Lady Lions within two
(40-38) but back-to-back jumper’s by Iowa’s Doolittle had the Hawkeyes
up 44-38.
Penn State responded with an 8-2 run, including
four points from Wolfe, to knot the score at 46-46 with a little more
than nine minutes to play. A layup by Hawkeye Jaime Printy put Iowa
back in the lead before sophomore Maggie Lucas (Narberth, Pa.) hit two
shots at the line to tie it up at 48 all with 8:17 left.
Iowa
jumped ahead one final time at 50-48 with 6:32 on the clock, but
baskets from Bentley and Wolfe gave Penn State a 53-50 lead and the
Lady Lions never looked back. Penn State scored 10 unanswered points
before Printy attempted to stop the run with a layup and putting the
Hawkeyes within 11 (63-52). However, an Iowa foul send Edwards to the
line where she hit two to move the Lady Lions back ahead by 13
(65-52),with less than two minutes to play. Penn State’s final three
points came at the line with two more shots by Edwards and one by
Greene.
GAME NOTES: Penn State is now 24-17 all-time against
Iowa, and 14-5 at home … Penn State has won five out of its last six
games against Iowa … The Lady Lions shot 33.8%, marking the first time
that the Lady Lions shot below 35% in a game and won was vs. Indiana
(1/10/10) when they shot 32.1 percent in a victory … Junior guard Alex
Bentley just the 11th player in school history to reach 400 assists
with two assists in the game … Bentley recorded six steals in the game
to pass Susan Robinson for 17th all-time on the career steals list with
181 … With 21 points in the game, Bentley also moved into 26th place on
Penn State’s all-time scoring list with 1,156 career points, passing
Jess Brungo … Sophomore guard/forward Ariel Edwards posted her first
career double-double with career highs of 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Her previous career-best in points was 16 at Oakland (11/18/10) and her
previous high in rebounds was nine vs. UMES (12/11/11) … Sophomore
guard Maggie Lucas scored seven points in the game, marking just the
seventh time in her career that she finished with less than 10 tallies
and first since scoring seven points in the NCAA Tournamentmatchup with
DePaul (3/21/11).
The Lady Lions are back on the road as
they head to the state of Michigan to face the Wolverines Thursday and
the Spartans Sunday. The Michigan State game will be televised on
ESPN2. Penn State is back in the BJC to meet Indiana on Thursday, Feb.
2 for THON night at 7 p.m. Single game tickets and PNC Flex Books are
available by calling 800-NITTANY. PNC Flex Books are $99 and give fans
12 vouchers, including one for the Coaches vs. Cancer game and one for
the Pink Zone game, which can be redeemed for Nittany Lion and Lady
Lion Basketball tickets in any combination. The Starting 5 Pack is $49
and features tickets to three games of the buyer’s choice, a ticket for
the Ohio State ESPN2 Big Monday game on Monday, Feb. 20 and a ticket
for the Pink Zone game against Minnesota on Sunday, Feb. 26.
The
2012 WBCA Pink Zone at Penn State will take place on Sunday, Feb. 26 as
theLady Lions take on Minnesota in the Bryce Jordan Center. Last year,
the Lady Lions donated nearly $200,000 for breast cancer causes. This
year’s fundraising efforts will benefit the Mount Nittany Medical
Center, Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute, Pennsylvania Breast Cancer
Coalition, the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, J.C. Blair Memorial Hospital and
Lewistown Hospital. For more information on the Pink Zone at Penn
State, visit the official Pink Zone website at
www.gopsusports.com/pinkzone. The WBCA Pink Zone at Penn State is also
on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pinkzoneatpennstate.
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