Lady Lions Comeback Effort Falls Short at Wisconsin

Grant leads all scorers with 24 points; Gray adds nine tallies UNIVERSITY PARK, PA; February 12, 2009 — The Penn State Lady Lions (9-14, 4-9) rallied from a 13-point deficit in the second half to tie the game, but could not finish off the comeback in a 58-52 loss at Wisconsin (14-10, 4-9) Thursday night. Junior Tyra Grant (Youngstown, Ohio) continued her outstanding season with a game-high 24 points for her 13th game this season with 20 or more tallies. With her effort, Grant moved into 14th place on Penn State's all-time scoring list (1,338).   Sophomore guard/forward Julia Trogele (Devon, Pa.) returned to form as she had six points, all of which came in the second-half rally, to go along with 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals. Coming off of an 11-point performance at Michigan Monday night, freshman Zhaque Gray (Chicago, Ill.) was 3-for-4 from the field and made both of her free throw attempts to account for nine points in the loss to the Badgers.      In what was a contrasting style from the first time these teams met, both offenses were clicking early as Wisconsin jumped out to an 8-5 lead in the first four minutes. Grant drained a long jumper and Brianne O'Rourke (Pittsburgh, Pa.) converted on an old-fashioned three-point play to open the scoring for the Lions. However, after the first media timeout, the pace of the game slowed dramatically as the two squads only managed one Tara Steinbauer free throw over the next four minutes to make it a 9-5 game at the 12-minute mark.   The Badgers extended their lead to 15-5 on a trio of Lin Zastrow layups before Grant ended a nearly nine-minute scoreless drought with a three-pointer and added a jumper in the lane to make it a 13-10 game with nine minutes left in the half. Grant capped a personal 7-0 run with a layup to make it a just a three-point Badger lead (15-12) with 7:22 on the clock. However, Wisconsin reeled off seven consecutive points to extend their lead to 10 points (22-12) despite having their two leading scorers (Alyssa Karel and Lin Zastrow) on the bench with two fouls each.   Mashea Williams (Erie, Pa.) made a nice move around a Wisconsin player for the layup to make it a 20-14 game with 3:40 on the clock. Evelyn Lewis (Hampton, Va.) made a layup and Grant drained a three-pointer to cap a 7-0 run by the Lady Lions and make it a five-point game (24-19) with 58 seconds on the clock. The Badgers got two free throws by Steinbauer with 34 seconds left to send the teams into the half with Wisconsin holding a 26-19 lead.   The Badgers came out hot in the second half as they scored six straight points to extend their lead to 32-19 just a minute and a half into the second frame, but as was the case in Happy Valley, the Lady Lions stormed back. Trogele converted on a three-point play to start a 14-1 run for the Lady Lions. Meredith Monroe (Olney, Md.) grabbed an offensive board and converted on the layup, followed by another three-point play by Trogele sliced the lead to five points. After one free throw by Zastrow, Renee Womack (Lansdale, Pa.) stole the ball from Steinbauer and went the length of the court for the lay-in. Grant added a layup off of a great pass from Trogele and O'Rourke capped the run with two free throws to make it a tie game at 33-33 with 12:17 left in the game.     A bucket by Steinbauer gave the Badgers a two-point lead, but the Lady Lions responded immediately with a layup by Gray off of a spin move in the lane to tie the game at 35-35 with 9:41 to play. The Badgers shook off the offensive rust to score nine of the game's next 10 points to take a 44-36 lead with just under seven minutes left in the game. After a pair of Grant free throws, Wisconsin pushed their lead to 10 points (48-38) with five minutes on the clock.   Grant knocked down a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to eight points (48-40) and the Lions tightened their defense to force a shot clock violation on the Badgers. On the ensuing offensive possession, Grant converted on an old-fashioned three-point play to make it a five-point game at 48-43 with 3:33 on the clock. Karel scored three straight points to push the lead back to eight points, but Gray knocked down a three-pointer from the top of the arc to pull the Lions within five points (51-46) with just over two minutes left.   Following one free throw by Teah Gant, Gray continued her surge with a layup and two free throws on consecutive offensive possession to make it a two-point game at 52-50 with just over one minute to play. Steinbauer scored a bucket to stretch the lead to four before Grant knocked down a bucket to make it a two-point lead 54-52 with 46 seconds left. Steinbauer added a free throw to push the lead to three and the Lady Lions had an opportunity to tie the game, but could not convert. The Badgers scored three more points in the final 21 seconds for the final margin of victory.   GAME NOTES: With 24 points tonight, Tyra Grant moved up two places into 14th on Penn State's all-time scoring list (1,338), passing Cheryl Ellison (1,320) and Maren Walseth (1,328)…Grant notched her 13th 20-point game of the season and the 24th of her career…Sophomore Julia Trogele reached the 200-rebound mark for her career with 11 boards.   The Lady Lions return to the BJC for the Third Annual WBCA Pink Zone at Penn State proudly supported by Mimi Barash Coppersmith. Fans will receive a Pink Lady Lion Basketball hat at the gates, while supplies last, and there will be a special presentation to honor breast cancer survivors at halftime. 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 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. 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 online auction will kick off on Monday at noon. Items that will be available up for bid include all 13 of the uniforms worn by the Lady Lions for the Pink Zone game, as well as a one-week timeshare for anywhere in the world, Penn State football experiences and autographed memorabilia. For more information on the Pink Zone Online Auction, visit the Pink Zone auction website (http://psupinkzone.cstvauctions.com) on Monday. —LADY LIONS—