Iowa and Penn State to Play Sunday in Iowa City

THE SETTING
The Iowa Hawkeyes (12-8, 5-4) welcome the Penn State Lady Lions (8-11, 3-6) to Iowa City Sunday. Tip-off is slated for 1:05 p.m. (CST) at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Tickets are $9 for adults, $5 for youths and free for UI students. Both teams are coming off road losses Thursday night; Iowa lost at Michigan State, while Penn State fell at Indiana.

PINK ZONE, NATIONAL GIRLS AND WOMEN IN SPORTS DAY
Sunday's game is Iowa's Pink Zone event and also UI Department of Athletics is honoring National Girls and Women Sports Day.

• Boys and girls 18-and-under who wear their team jersey to the game Sunday, will receive free admission in recognition of National Girls and Women in Sports Day.
• All fans are encouraged to wear pink to Sunday's game in support of cancer awareness.
• The first 1,000 fans will receive a pink pom pom.
• Three-point placards with American Cancer Resource Network information on the back will be distributed.
• Both teams will be wearing pink uniforms (Penn State in pink with white trim/Iowa in white with pink trim).
• Cancer Awareness facts will be read throughout the game and info will be distributed on the concourse
• Pre-game Kids Fun Zone/Post-Game autographs
• Nike Pink Initiative T-Shirts are available for purchase at the Iowa Hawk Shop. The shirts cost $20. Nike will donate $2 per shirt to the Kay Yow/WBCA Fund to support breast cancer awareness and research.

SCOUTING PENN STATE
Penn State is in the middle of a stretch in which it plays six of eight games on the road. The Lady Lions lost at Indiana Thursday, 65-55. The Lady Lions led by three points (29-26) at the half, but the Hoosiers outscored Penn State by 13 (39-26) in the second stanza. Julia Trogele and Tyra Grant paced the Lady Lions. Trogele had a double-double (15 points, 10 rebounds), while Grant led all scorers with 18 points. Penn State is 1-8 in games away from home, including 0-6 in true road contests this year. Penn State is led by Grant and Brianne O'Rourke. Grant averages a team-best 19.2 points and 1.7 steals per outing. Grant's 19.2 scoring average ranks second-best in the Big Ten behind Ohio State's Jantel Lavender. O'Rourke averages a team-best 4.6 assists and ranks second in scoring (11.3). Janessa Wolff pulls down a team-best 6.3 rebounds per game. Grant and O'Rourke are Penn State's top 3-point threats, making 31 and 28, respectively. The Lady Lions only attempted seven treys in Thursday's loss at Indiana. As a team, Penn State shoots 64.7 percent (222-343) from the foul line. The Lady Lions rank first in the Big Ten in steals per game (9.3). Coquese Washington is in her second season (21-29, .420) as a head coach, both at Penn State. Prior to being named head coach at Penn State, Washington spent a total of eight seasons on the Notre Dame bench, two as an associate head coach and six as an assistant.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Sunday will be the 34th meeting between Iowa and Penn State, with the Lady Lions leading the series 19-14. The Hawkeyes have won the last three meetings. Iowa holds a 10-5 advantage in games played in Iowa City, including winning the last two. The Lady Lions' last triumph (77-71) in Iowa City came on Jan. 6, 2005. Penn State (.576), Purdue (.564) and Ohio State (.510) are the only conference teams to have a winning percentage above .500 against Iowa. Iowa Head Coach Lisa Bluder collected her 500th career win with Iowa's 73-65 triumph at Penn State last February.

MICHIGAN STATE SNAPS IOWA'S FOUR-GAME WIN STREAK
Michigan State's rebounding and defensive pressure proved to be too much for the Hawkeyes to overcome in a 68-56 win over Iowa Thursday night at the Breslin Center in East Lansing. The Spartans outrebounded the Black and Gold, 42-33 and turned 18 offensive rebounds into 23 second-chance points. Michigan State scored 46 of its 68 points in the paint. Additionally, the Spartans forced 18 turnovers, scoring 25 times off the Hawkeye miscues. Wendy Ausdemore and Kristi Smith were Iowa's only players who scored in double figures. Ausdemore netted a game-high 18, while Smith scored all 12 of her points in the second half. Hannah Draxten provided a spark off the bench, posting game and season highs in rebounds (8) and assists (4). The Spartans were led by Allyssa DeHaan, Kalisha Keane and Brittney Thomas. DeHaan tallied 14 points, Keane had 13, while Thomas added 10. Michigan State, is tied with Indiana for second place in the Big Ten standings, shot an Iowa-opponent-season-best 59.4 percent (19-32) from the field in the second half to secure its 15th win of the season.