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2011-12 Penn State Lady Lion Basketball Prospectus
The Lady Lions return nine letterwinners and four starters, including All-Big Ten first team selection Alex
Bentley, Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Sixth Player of the Year Maggie Lucas and Big Ten AllDefensive choice Nikki Greene. The Lady Lions made their 22nd overall NCAA Tournament appearance and first since the 2005 tourney.
Penn State is one of only 12 teams to earn 22 or more NCAA Tournament berths. The Lady Lions posted
a first round win over Dayton before falling to nationally-ranked DePaul in a thrilling second round contest.
a Bentley was in the Top 15 in the Big Ten in scoring (13th - 13.9), assists (2nd - 5.0), free throw percentage
(13th - .793), steals (6th - 2.0) and assist-to-turnover ratio (4th - 1.7). She also ranks 14th in school history
with 291 assists. An All-Big Ten honorable mention pick, Greene is sixth on Penn State’s single-season blocks chart (75).
a Penn State’s win over Northwestern on Feb. 27, coupled with Wisconsin’s loss to Ohio State, meant that
the Lady Lions finished in sole possession of second place. It is highest finish for a Penn State team since
the 2003-04 squad won the Big Ten title. PSU’s 11 conference wins were also the most since 2004-05.
a With eight points against Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship game March 6, Lucas broke the
Penn State freshman season scoring record, previously held by Kelly Mazzante. Lucas’ 552 tallies surpass
Mazzante’s 529-point rookie campaign in 2000-01. With five three-pointers against Illinois in the Big Ten semifinal game March 5, freshman guard Maggie
Lucas broke the Big Ten single-season three-pointers record. Lucas had 112 triples on the season,
passing Ohio State’s Caity Matter (106) for first place on the Big Ten list. The Lady Lions led the NCAA in three-point field goal percentage (.415). It is the first time in school history
that Penn State has led the country in three-point field goal percentage. It was the first team statistics title
for PSU since leading the NCAA in winning percentage, scoring margin and free throw percentage in 1991. Penn State’s brilliant season from downtown led to a pair of school records last season. The Lady Lions
broke the single-season school record for three-point field goal percentage (.4153), previously held by the
1986-87 team (.4146). Additionally, with 228 threes last year, the Lady Lions tied the single-season record
for three-pointers made, equalling the mark set by the 2002-03 squad. Lucas capped a stellar freshman campaign by being named to the Full Court Press Freshman All-American
second team. She is one of 15 players selected to the Freshman All-American squad and one of only two
Big Ten players to earn the honor (Purdue’s Courtney Moses – third team)
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