Lady Lions Valiant Effort Comes Up Short Against No. 1 Connecticut

Grant leads three Lady Lions in double figures with 26 points and eight rebounds NEW YORK, N.Y.; December 14, 2008 —The Penn State Lady Lions (5-5) came out Sunday afternoon with fire and put up a strong fight against No. 1/1 Connecticut (7-0) Sunday afternoon, but the five-time National Champion Huskies handed the Lady Lions a 77-63 loss in the Third Annual Maggie Dixon Classic at Madison Square Garden.   Junior Tyra Grant (Youngstown, Ohio) poured in 26 points and tallied eight rebounds and three steals to lead the offensive charge for Penn State. Senior guard Mashea Williams (Erie, Pa.) added 17 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals, while senior guard Brianne O'Rourke (Pittsburgh, Pa.) was the third player in double figures with 13 points to go along with six assists and two steals.     The Lady Lions drew first blood with a three-pointer by O'Rourke just 23 seconds into the game. UConn responded with a three-point play by Tina Charles. However, the Lady Lions would not yield as they scored four straight points on a Grant triple and a Williams free throw to take a 7-3 lead with 18:38 left in the half. The squads swapped baskets and Penn State maintained an 11-8 lead with 17:15 on the clock before UConn went on a 5-0 run to take a two-point lead (13-11).   O'Rourke tied the game at 13-13 with a layup and Williams put the Lady Lions back in front with a layup of her own to make it a 15-13 Penn State lead with 15 and a half minutes left in the opening period. Renee Montgomery evened the score at 15-15, but a Grant layup gave the Lady Lions a two-point lead (17-15) with just under 10 minutes to play in the half. However, UConn proved to be too strong as it closed the first half with a 19-4 run and held the Lady Lions scoreless for the final five minutes of the half to send the teams into the locker room with the Huskies leading 34-21.   Grant led the Lady Lions with nine points and five rebounds, while Williams added nine points. O'Rourke was the third Penn State player to break into the scoring column with five points and four assists.   After a strong defensive possession to open the second half, Williams connected on a jumper to slash the UConn lead. Following a free throw by Charles, Grant drained a three-pointer to make it a 35-26 game with just under 18 minutes to play. Following a pair of Renee Montgomery free throws, Julia Trogele (Devon, Pa.) netted a jumper and Williams converted on both of her freebies to slice the Huskies lead to just seven points (37-30) with 16:44 on the clock.   Maya Moore hit a three-pointer for the Huskies and an O'Rourke layup brought the UConn lead to eight points (40-32), but the Huskies scored four consecutive tallies to push the Lady Lion deficit to 12 points (44-32) with 15 minutes to play. After a Williams bucket, five quick points by UConn made it a 49-32 before a jumper by Grant broke the Huskies momentum. After a pair of offensive exchanges, a three-point play by Grant cut Connecticut's lead to 11 points (51-40) with just over 13 minutes remaining.   The squads swapped baskets and UConn held a 56-24 lead with less than 12 minutes to play before the Lady Lions went on a 7-2 run to slice their deficit to single digits at 58-59 with 8:38 left on the clock. A pair of buckets by the Huskies extended the lead, but Zhaque Gray (Chicago, Ill.) drained a deep three-pointer to bring the deficit back to 10 points (62-52) with just over seven minutes left.   Following a Montgomery three, O'Rourke responded with a three of her own and Williams hit a jumper in traffic to put Penn State down eight (65-57) and force Geno Auriemma to call a timeout with 5:30 on the clock. The Lady Lion deficit remained at eight points until a layup by Charles kick started an 8-2 run to end the game for the final 77-63 score.   Penn State returns home for its Big Ten opener against Michigan State on Sunday, Dec. 21 at noon, a game that can be seen on the Big Ten Network. The PSU-MSU game is High School team day for the Lady Lions and fans will also receive a commemorative photo while supplies last. The Lady Lions will also face Illinois in the "Operation Warm" game for this season on Sunday, Dec. 28 at noon.  The game against the Illini is also a Subway Full Court 4-Pack day. For information on Lady Lion Basketball tickets, call the Penn State ticket office at 814-865-5555.   The 2009 WBCA Pink Zone at Penn State proudly supported by Mimi Barash Coppersmith (formerly known as THINK PINK Day) will take place on Sunday, Feb. 15 at 3 p.m., as the Lady Lions take on Iowa in the Bryce Jordan Center. The game can be seen on www.bigtennetwork.com. The first two Pink Zone events have raised more than $50,000 for breast cancer awareness. This year's fundraising efforts will benefit the Penn State Hershey Breast Cancer Institute, the Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition and the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund. For more information on the Pink Zone at Penn State, visit the official Pink Zone website at www.gopsusports.com/pinkzone. —LADY LIONS—