Lady Lions Visit Minnesota for a New Year’s Day Meeting

Big Ten road opener slated for a 2 p.m. (Central) tip UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; December 30, 2008 — The Penn State Lady Lions (6-6, 1-1) will hit the road for the first time in the Big Ten season when they travel to Minnesota (8-4, 0-1) on New Year's Day for a 2 p.m. (Central) tip-off.   RADIO/WEB: The contest can be heard on the Penn State Sports Radio Network with Jerry Fisher calling the action. The game will air locally WRSC. The audio feed and a link to lives stats are available at www.GoPSUSports.com.   LAST TIME OUT: The Lady Lions used a 10-3 run over the final six-plus of the game and fended off a pair of game-tying three-point attempts to rally for a 54-51 victory over Illinois on Sunday at the Bryce Jordan Center. Junior guard Tyra Grant notched her fourth consecutive game with 20 or more points as she accumulated 21 tallies to go along with seven rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal. Senior guard Brianne O'Rourke contributed nine points, four assists and a game-high five steals   SCOUTING MINNESOTA: The Golden Gophers are 8-4 on the season, but dropped their Big Ten opener to Wisconsin on Monday. Emily Fox leads the Minnesota offensive attack as she is in the Top 10 in the conference in scoring (13.4). assists (4.08) and steals (2.6). Ashley Ellis-Milan has been a force for the Gophers in the paint, accounting for 10.3 points and 8.6 rebounds per outing.   ALL-TIME VS. THE GOLDEN GOPHERS: The Lady Lions travel to Minneapolis on New Year's Day to face the Golden Gophers. Penn State is 20-7 all-time against Minnesota, but is just 8-6 in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Despite success early against the Golden Gophers, the Lady Lions have lost five of their last seven against the team in maroon and gold. Last season, Minnesota posted a 67-50 win at "The Barn" and earned its first-ever win in Happy Valley with a 56-48 decision on Feb. 14.   LAST TIME VS. MINNESOTA: Penn State ended the game on a 17-5 run, but it was not enough as Minnesota held on for a 56-48 win over the Lady Lions at the Bryce Jordan Center Thursday night.  It is the first-ever win for the Golden Gophers in Happy Valley (12-1 all-time) and extends Penn State's losing streak to a school-record six games. Kam Gissendanner continued her hot streak with another solid all-around performance with team highs of 17 points and seven rebounds to go along with two assists and a career-high three steals. Brianne O'Rourke also sparked the Lady Lions with 12 points and six assists.   WOLFF ON THE PROWL IN LATE RALLY: Sophomore Janessa Wolff played a key role in the Lady Lions' 54-51 win over Illinois. The sophomore post hit the game-tying layup with just under two minutes remaining and then retrieved a rebound and connected on a jumper with 39 seconds left to make it a three-point game. Wolff also made a steal on an entry pass on the Illinois possession with 20 seconds on the clock. Wolff finished the contest with 10 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots.   BIG TEN SKID STOPPED: With a come-from-behind victory over Illinois (54-51) on Dec. 28, the Lady Lions snapped a 13-game Big Ten Conference losing streak. Penn State last picked up a Big Ten victory against Michigan on Jan. 20, 2008 at the Bryce Jordan Center. The win also marked the program's 180th win in Big Ten play.   GRANT GETS 1,100 TALLIES: Junior guard Tyra Grant reached the 1,100 point mark for her career with 21 tallies in the Dec. 28 win over Illinois. The effort also marked her fourth consecutive contest with 20 or more points.   The Lady Lions return to the BJC to meet Michigan (Sun., Jan. 4) and Indiana (Sun., Jan. 11). Both the Michigan and Indiana games are Subway Full Court Four-Pack games where fans will receive our (4) reserved game tickets, a voucher for four (4) soft drinks redeemable at the Jordan Center and a voucher for four (4) 6-inch subs redeemable at any of seven State College area Subway locations all for just $40. The voucher is not valid at the Bryce Jordan Center Subway location. 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—