University Park, Pa. — The Penn State Lady Lions will travel to Boston College for the Fourth Annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Thursday, Dec. 2, it was announced by the Big Ten and ACC Tuesday. This will be just the second meeting between the Lady Lions and Eagles with Penn State winning the only previous match-up, 85-43, on Dec. 29, 1984.
Penn State will travel to the city of Boston for the first time since the 1981-82 season when the Lady Lions posted a 90-69 win over Boston University on Dec. 2, 1981. The Lady Lions are 1-2 in Big Ten/ACC Challenge games with a victory over Duke in the inaugural Challenge and a losses to Florida State and Georgia Tech. Game times, as well as television and broadband coverage, will be announced at a later date.
Youth will prevail for the Lady Lions this season with eight freshmen and sophomores on the roster. Leading the list of returnees are sophomore All-Big Ten selection Alex Bentley (Indianapolis, Ind.). Bentley was a unanimous Big Ten All-Freshman team choice a year ago and was a third team honoree by the coaches. The sophomore guard finished 10th in the Big Ten in field goal percentage (.445), fourth in assists (4.03), seventh in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.47) and 15th in steals (1.6). A Full Court Press Third Team Freshman All-American, Bentley is sixth on Penn State’s freshman season scoring list with 265 points and fifth on the Lady Lion freshman season assist chart with 125 helpers.
Senior Julia Trogele (Devon, Pa.) and sophomore Nikki Greene (Diboll, Texas) are also returning starters for the Lady Lions. Trogele led the team and was 11th in the Big Ten in rebounding (6.2). She was also fifth in the Big Ten in free throw percentage (.827). Greene rejected 55 shots as a rookie, placing her ninth on Penn State’s single-season chart and second on PSU’s freshman season list. She finished second on the team and 12th in the Big Ten in rebounding (6.2 rpg).
Penn State will also be adding another highly-touted recruiting class with a pair of All-Americans in Maggie Lucas (Narberth, Pa.) and Ariel Edwards (Elmont, N.Y.). Lucas is just the second McDonald’s High School All-American in program history. She also won the McDonald’s Three-Point Shootout as part of the Powerade JamFest. Edwards had two points and two rebounds in the WBCA All-America game.
The 2010 Challenge will take on a two-day format again this year and is slated to open on Wednesday, Dec. 1, as Illinois and Michigan host ACC opponents, and Michigan State and Northwestern go on the road for their Challenge contests. On Thursday, Dec. 2, Minnesota, Ohio State, Purdue and Wisconsin will host Challenge games, while Indiana, Iowa and Penn State will be on the road.
The ACC/Big Ten Women’s Basketball Challenge matches 11 teams from each conference in head-to-head competition traditionally on the first Wednesday and Thursday after Thanksgiving, following the ACC/Big Ten Men’s Basketball Challenge. Last year, the ACC won seven of the 11 Big Ten/ACC Challenge games. In 2008, the ACC also won, 7-4, while the inaugural Challenge in 2007 saw the ACC win by a margin of 8-3.
The ACC and the Big Ten conference offices determine the 11-game schedule each season, and matchups may repeat from year-to-year in efforts to coordinate similar opponents and reach competitive equity. Each of the Big Ten’s 11 institutions will participate, while the ACC will select 11 teams from its 12-team membership.