Lady Lions fall to DePaul in soul-crushing collapse, 75-73

Penn State's season will end at home. The season finale location may not have come as a surprise to many. But the situation of that final home game would. The Lady Lions fell to DePaul, 75-73 tonight, in the 2nd Round of the Women's NCAA Tournament at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Was it bad enough that Penn State was eliminated from advancing to the Sweet 16? Yes. Was it bad enough that the loss came at home? Definitely. But it was worse, much worse, as the Lady Lions held as much as a 14-point lead in the early 2nd half of the game, only to see it evaporate into the night.

On To The Next One...Lady Lions Win 75-66

Sprinting out of the locker room, the Lady Lions and Dayton Flyers continued the pace the rest of the way to tip off the 2011 Women’s NCAA Tournament in the 75-66 victory over the Dayton Flyers.

Pacing the offense for the Lady Lions was not “Machine Gun Maggie Lucas” as we’ve come to expect from the freshman phenom, but rather sophomore Alex Bentley.

The first team All Big Ten guard has shown inconsistency this season, but really came to play in this first round game. Bentley shot 7 of 15 from the field for 14 points and four assists in the first half, including a Talor Battle-esque shot to close out the half just before the buzzer sounded.

In the second half, it was the same story. Bentley finished with TWENTY EIGHT shots in the contest, connecting on twelve shots and accumulating 25 points.

Lady Lions avoid meltdown against Indiana, hopefully sparking some urgency

Julia Trogele (Photo: PSU)

Penn State nearly face-planted into the hardwood of Assembly Hall, as the Lady Lions trailed the Hoosiers by as many as 16 points. Penn State (21-6,10-3) trailed for 39 minutes and 20 seconds. But taking a one-point lead--their first of the night--with 40 seconds left was all the Lady Lions needed to avoid a huge upset and what could have been an even bigger let-down after failing to rise to the occasion Thursday night in a loss to Michigan State.

With just three regular season games left on the schedule, Penn State is in a position to win or tie for a Big Ten title, or at least hold on for a second-place finish heading into the conference tournament. Of course, the Michigan State game was supposed to be the moment when this team put everything together and prove it's ready for prime-time.

Lady Lions storm back to beat ranked Iowa, 68-59

With last night's win over the Hawkeyes, Penn State is now tied for first in the Big Ten, and is one of only three teams with 12 wins at this stage of the season.

(Photo: CDT)

Junior guard Zhaque Gray drained a three-pointer to complete a late run in the second half as the Penn State Lady Lions (12-3, 1-0) rallied from a seven-point deficit with 6:33 remaining to upset No. 14/13 Iowa (12-2, 0-1), 68-59, in the Big Ten opener for both teams. Penn State outscored the Hawkeyes, 20-4, in the final 6:30 to post their first win over a ranked team since defeating No. 20 Michigan State, 68-60, on Jan. 17, 2010. The Lady Lions claimed their first win in a Big Ten opener since the 2004-05 season.

Sophomore guard Alex Bentley led the Lady Lions' offensive charge with 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting, including three three-pointers. She also dished out three assists and pulled in two rebounds. Gray was 6-for-12 from the field en route to 14 points to go along with five rebounds and a career high-tying five assists.

Lady Lions beat Delaware 64-55 for their best start since 2002

Last basketball season, the Lady Lions started off with a fantastic 16-4 record. But down the stretch, things began to come apart. Penn State went 1-8 in the last nine regular season games. And while the Lady Lions were able to salvage a WNIT berth, it was definitely a disappointment to see such a promising season go down so quickly and so hard.

Maggie Lucas led Penn State with 16 points
in the win over Delaware.
(Photo: PSU/Mark Selders)

But can this season, as the Lady Lions are 10-2 with two games left in the non-conference slate, secure a different fate?

Penn State has been torching opponents with 85 points per game, with an average margin--win or lose--of 18.4 points in PSU's favor. The only losses have come in double overtime at Boston College, and at a Green Bay team that's been in and out of the top 25. Penn State has scored 90 or more points in regulation on four different occasions this year. In two of three overtime games, the Lady Lions have eclipsed 100 points.

But the high-flying offense hasn't been the only show in town. This past weekend in the BJC, Penn State faced Delaware. No big deal, right? Never heard of Delaware being all that great before. But hold on...

Lady Lions down Texas Tech 76-68 in BigTen/Big 12 Challenge

Mia Nickson
(Photo: GoPSUsports.com)

UConn, the Raiders are not. But Penn State went up against a previously undefeated Texas Tech squad yesterday afternoon in the Bryce Jordan Center, and not only held their own, but came away with an important 8-point victory.

The Lady Lions (7-2) had just come off a heartbreaking loss at Boston College--yet another overtime game this season--in which Penn State overcame an 11-point deficit, but fell short in the end. After such a close, tough contest, it's easy to suffer a letdown. With 8-0 Texas Tech on deck, it was make or break time for the Lady Lions' non-conference season.

Lady Lions scoring 103 points per game

Zhaque Gray (Photo: GoPSUsports.com)

Ok, so it's only two games into the season, and one of those games went into double overtime. But Penn State's Lady Lions are off to a good start, especially on offense, with a two-game scoring average of 103.5.

PSU 112, Dayton 107 (2-OT)

Following the "pre-season" exhibition game with Gannon (PSU W, 91-58), the regular season got underway Friday at Dayton. The Flyers proved to be a scrappy opponent, and a good test for a very young Lady Lions squad.

In a double overtime win, you would think the most important shots would fall in the extra periods. This time, that'd be wrong. Junior guard Zhaque Gray sunk a pair of three-pointers in the final 80 seconds to tie the game and force overtime. It was a clutch play, twice over.

Penn State seemed to have the game in hand early, jumping out to leads of 12-3 and 14-4 in the first five minutes of the first period. But Dayton started to get hot, going on a 12-4 run to cut the Lady Lions' lead to just two, 18-16. A scoring frenzy ensued the rest of the way, as the teams were tied at 40 going into the break.

The second half seemed to be swaying towards Penn State, which was able to break the deadlock by going up 50-46. The lead was short-lived, however, as Dayton again made basket after basket. As bad as it was getting for the Lady Lions, it was far from over. Things went from tense to bleak in a hurry.