Blue White Illustrated

| he didn't plan on doing it. It just sort of happened. The alma mater had been played, the obligatory on-court TV inter- view had wrapped up, and Mag- gie Lucas was headed to the locker room. But then she peered over at the Nittany Lion logo on the middle of the 4oor, and, well, she couldn't help herself. She knelt down and kissed the court. "It was spontaneous," Lucas said, holding back tears in a joyful Penn State locker room. "I just wanted to say my goodbye to the Bryce Jordan Center. I'm gonna miss it a whole lot." The feeling is surely mutual, to judge by the applause that erupted when coach Coquese Washington called timeout with 33 seconds le6 and pulled Lucas out of Penn State's sec- ond-round NCAA tournament game against Florida, along with fellow seniors Dara Taylor, Ariel Edwards and Talia East. The foursome had put on a show in an 83-61 romp over the 11th-seeded Gators on March 25, a victory that propelled the third-seeded Lady Lions into the Sweet 16. All four surpassed their season averages, combining for 71 points in the lopsided victory. Washington called it "probably the most compete game we've played all season." It was certainly the 3nest moment from Penn State's three-game NCAA tournament run. The Lady Lions had to rally to defeat 14th-seeded Wichita State in the opening round, 62-56, and they saw their season end on March 30 with an 82-57 loss to Stanford in the regional semi3nals at Maples Pavilion. But in the team's 3nal game in the BJC, every- thing came together beautifully, and the seniors got the sendo5 they had hoped for. Lucas, of course, was at the heart of it. She 3nished with 22 points and four rebounds in her last home game – a 3tting farewell for LONG GOODBYE Maggie Lucas and her fellow seniors bid an emotional farewell to PSU in their final NCAA tournament run FOND FAREWELL Lucas scored 22 points in Penn State's second- round victory over Florida. Photo by Bill Zimmerman S << W O M E N ' S B A S K E T B A L L

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