Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/78642
W O M E N ' S B A S K E T B A L L Junior guard Alex Bentley sparks a Lady Lion surge POINT TAKEN I t's tempting to report that Alex Bentley made a believer out of North- western coach Joe McKeown during the Wildcats' 77-63 loss to Penn State Feb. 12 in Evanston, Ill. Tempting, but incorrect. The truth is, McKeown was a believer in Bentley even before she signed with Penn State out of Ben Davis High in Indianapolis nearly four years ago. "I don't think there's anybody else like her," he said. "That's why I tried to recruit her the day I took the job here. But I was a day late." Everybody seems to be trying to catch up to Bentley these days. Against Northwestern, she went 7 of 12 from the floor and fin- ished with 18 points, adding two rebounds and two steals. Coach Coquese Washington said the junior point guard "did a re- ally good job of taking the team on her shoulders and making plays, whether it was a pass or a shot." Heading into a key road trip to Pur- BENTLEY due Feb. 16, Bentley was fourth in the Big Ten in assists per game (5.0), sec- ond in steals (3.0) and 12th in scoring (14.6). And as she goes, so go the Lady Lions. With two weeks remaining in the regu- lar season, the offense Bentley was or- chestrating was averaging 75.5 points a game, second only to Ohio State (77.2) in the Big Ten. The Lady Lions' high- speed transition game and offensive di- versity – they've got four players aver- aging more than nine points a game, in- cluding leading scorer Maggie Lucas at 19.1 – proved too much for a string of opponents. The victory in Evanston was their ninth in 10 games and gave them their second consecutive 20-win season. Heading into their visit to West Lafayette, they were atop the Big Ten standings at 10-3 and 20-5 overall. The victories have put the Lady Li- 8 M A R C H 2 , 2 0 1 2 ons in the position they were hoping to be in heading into the final stages of the regular season. In addition to visiting Purdue, they will play host to Ohio State. The game against the Buckeyes is set for 7 p.m. Feb. 20 and will air on ESPN2. – MATT HERB Agee named McDonald's All-American Candice Agee, a Penn State signee from Silverado High School in Victorville, Calif., was named to the West roster for the 2012 McDonald's Girls All- American game. She is one of 24 players selected to play in the game, which will take place at 7 p.m. March 28 at the United Center in Chicago. The game will be televised by ESPNU. Agee is the only Big Ten representa- tive on either roster for this year's McDonald's Girls All- American game. Agee becomes the fourth Mc- Donald's All-American in school history and will be the third on the Lady Lions' 2012-13 roster, joining Maggie Lucas and Dara Taylor. (Taylor, a transfer from Maryland, is sitting out this sea- son in accordance with NCAA rules.) Additionally, Agee was recently named an honorable mention WBCA High School All- American. "It's a wonderful honor for Candice, and very well de- served," head coach Coquese Washington said. "She worked very hard to improve her game over the past year, and the re- sults of that work are evident. She is primed to make a very strong impact on our team." PENN STATE 77, NORTHWESTERN 63 F E B . 1 2 @ E V A N S T O N , I L L . PLAYER OF THE GAME Alex Bentley had 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting for the Lady Lions. STAT OF THE GAME Penn State's victory was its ninth road win of the season. The last time Penn State won nine road road games was the 2003-04 season. TURNING POINTAfter Northwestern shaved Penn State's early 17-5 lead to six, the Lady Lions scored the game's next 10 points and led by 16, 41-25, at the break. QUOTABLECoquese Washington on the Lady Lions' road success: "I think it's a determination to execute our game plan, not to focus on the crowd or anything else." NAME Nickson Greene Gray Bentley Lucas Edwards Studevent Waldner East TEAM Totals FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 2-3 TOT-FG 3-PT 0-0 3-5 8-15 7-12 3-15 2-6 0-1 1-1 3-4 29-62 PENN STATE REBOUNDS 0-0 1-7 1-2 1-4 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-0 1-1 0 2 2 4 5 1 2 0 0 21 4-4 2 4 6 4 10 1 0 2 0 23 0-0 0 2 2 2 17 6 3 0 2 37 3-5 0 2 2 3 18 1 4 0 2 39 4-4 0 9 9 2 11 7 3 0 4 36 2-3 3 1 4 2 6 1 0 1 1 17 2-2 0 2 2 0 2 1 0 0 0 7 0-0 0 0 0 3 2 0 0 1 0 8 0-0 4 6 10 0 6 0 2 0 0 12 1 4 5 3-14 16-19 10 32 42 20 77 18 14 4 9 200 TOTAL FG PCT 1st Half: 13-34 38.2% 2nd Half: 16-28 57.1% Game: 46.8% 3-PT FG PCT 1st Half: 1-8 12.5% 2nd Half: 2-6 33.3% Game: 21.4% FT PCT 1st Half: 14-16 87.5% 2nd Half: 2-3 66.7% Game: 84.2% NAME Hackney Jones Mocchi Jones Roser McKeown Hale Popovec Cohen TEAM Totals FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 7-20 TOT-FG 3-PT 1-4 7-24 0-2 2-9 2-5 0-3 2-3 2-3 2-4 24-73 NORTHWESTERN REBOUNDS 1-6 0-2 0-0 0-0 0-2 0-0 0-0 1-1 0-0 1 6 7 0 15 3 1 3 3 38 5-8 3 4 7 1 20 5 1 0 2 36 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 13 2-4 3 4 7 4 6 3 2 0 1 29 2-4 2 1 3 1 6 3 3 0 0 18 0-0 1 2 3 2 0 0 0 0 1 19 0-1 0 1 1 4 4 3 4 0 0 22 0-0 2 2 4 4 4 0 2 0 0 11 3-3 1 4 5 2 8 0 0 0 0 14 8 8 3-15 12-20 21 25 46 18 63 18 14 4 7 200 TOTAL FG PCT 1st Half: 10-38 26.3% 2nd Half: 14-35 40.0% Game: 32.9% 3-PT FG PCT 1st Half: 2-7 28.6% 2nd Half: 1-8 12.5% Game: 20.0% FT PCT 1st Half: 3-7 42.9% 2nd Half: 9-13 69.2% Game: 60.0% OFFICIALS Sue Blauch, Amy Bonner, Bob Enterline TECHNICAL FOULS Penn State-None. Northwestern-None. ATTENDANCE 1,867 SCORE BY PERIODS Penn State Northwestern 1ST 2ND TOTAL 41 25 36 38 77 63 Points in the paint-PSU 36,NU 32. Points off turnovers-PSU 14,NU 11. 2nd chance points-PSU 4,NU 7. Fast break points-PSU 14,NU 0. Bench points- PSU 16,NU 16. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-2 times. Last FG-PSU 2nd- 00:53, NU 2nd-00:57. Largest lead-PSU by 21 2nd-18:34, NU by 1 1st-18:17. PENN STATE 69, WISCONSIN 54 F E B . 9 @ T H E B R Y C E J O R D A N C E N T E R PLAYER OF THE GAMEMaggie Lucas went 7 of 11 from the floor and led Penn State with 16 points. STAT OF THE GAME The Lady Lions held Wisconsin to a 1-of-12 performance from 3-point range. TURNING POINT The Lady Lions scored the first eight points of the game and never trailed the rest of the way. A 14-2 run gave Penn State a 26-10 lead with about eight minutes to play in the first half. QUOTABLECoquese Washington on Penn State's perimeter defense: "We made it a point to get up and guard them. We wanted to get in their space. We did not want to give them any open threes." NAME Davis Wurtz Paige Thomas Rochel Brown Smith Gorman Stephen Gulczynski Covington TEAM Totals FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 2-9 TOT-FG 3-PT 0-2 5-11 0-4 1-2 1-3 0-0 1-4 0-3 0-2 0-1 9-12 19-51 1-3 0-3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-2 0-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 WISCONSIN REBOUNDS 4-4 1 2 3 1 8 4 3 0 3 32 0-1 0 5 5 2 11 1 2 0 1 36 2-2 1 0 1 2 2 0 4 0 0 19 3-4 1 5 6 2 5 0 4 1 1 34 0-0 1 4 5 3 2 0 1 0 0 19 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 1 14 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 6 4-4 1 0 1 1 4 0 0 0 0 11 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 2-2 2 3 5 2 20 0 1 1 1 24 1 3 4 1-12 15-17 10 22 32 13 54 7 17 2 7 200 TOTAL FG PCT 1st Half: 8-25 32.0% 2nd Half: 11-26 42.3% Game: 37.3% 3-PT FG PCT 1st Half: 0-7 0.0% 2nd Half: 1-5 20.0% Game: 8.3% FT PCT 1st Half: 10-10 100 % 2nd Half: 5-7 71.4% Game: 88.2% NAME Gray Bentley Nickson Lucas Greene East Edwards Studevent Waldner TEAM Totals FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 2-5 TOT-FG 3-PT 1-3 6-12 3-5 7-11 3-9 1-2 6-10 0-1 0-3 28-58 0-1 0-0 2-3 0-0 0-0 1-3 0-0 0-0 PENN STATE REBOUNDS 0-0 1 1 2 3 5 1 1 0 0 21 2-2 0 1 1 1 14 3 3 0 1 35 5-5 3 4 7 1 11 3 1 0 1 33 0-0 0 4 4 2 16 1 3 0 1 37 1-2 3 7 10 4 7 2 1 0 2 20 0-0 1 2 3 1 2 0 1 1 2 15 1-2 1 1 2 2 14 1 0 0 1 23 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 8 0-0 0 4 4 1 0 0 2 0 0 8 1 1 4-10 9-11 10 24 34 17 69 11 14 1 8 200 TOTAL FG PCT 1st Half: 16-30 53.3% 2nd Half: 12-28 42.9% Game: 48.3% 3-PT FG PCT 1st Half: 2-6 33.3% 2nd Half: 2-4 50.0% Game: 40.0% FT PCT 1st Half: 7-9 77.8% 2nd Half: 2-2 100 % Game: 81.8% OFFICIALS Laura Morris, Kevin Dillard, Shannon Feck TECHNICAL FOULSWisconsin-None. Penn State-None. ATTENDANCE 3,654 SCORE BY PERIODS Wisconsin Penn State 1ST 2ND TOTAL 26 41 28 28 54 69 Points in the paint-WIS 18,PSU 32. Points off turnovers-WIS 9,PSU 20. 2nd chance points-WIS 12,PSU 12. Fast break points-WIS 6,PSU 17. Bench points-WIS 26,PSU 16. Score tied-0 times. Lead changed-0 times. Last FG- WIS 2nd-01:54, PSU 2nd-00:45. Largest lead-WIS None, PSU by 19 2nd- 17:48. W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M