Indianapolis — The Penn State Lady Lions’ (24-9, 11-5) Big Ten Tournament run came to an end with a 84-70 loss to No. 5 seed Ohio State (22-9, 10-6) in the Big Ten Championship game Sunday afternoon. It was Penn State’s first appearance in the Championship game since a one-point loss to Purdue in the 2004 title bout. Sophomore Alex Bentley (Indianapolis, Ind.) and freshman Maggie Lucas (Narberth, Pa.) were both named to the Big Ten All-Tournament team. Penn State will now await its NCAA Tournament fate until the Monday, March 14 selection show.
Sophomore Mia Nickson (Ashburn, Va.) scored 13 of her 17 points in the second half to lead the Lady Lions. She also pulled in four rebounds in the loss. Bentley added 16 points, three assists and three steals, while Zhaque Gray (Chicago, Ill.) chipped in 13 points and a pair of assists. With her eight-point performance, Lucas breaks Kelly Mazzante’s Penn State freshman scoring record with 533 tallies this season.
In a frantic first four minutes of the game, the Lady Lions established a 12-8 lead on the wings of three-pointers by Bentley and Gray as the squads swapped scores. However, the six-time defending Big Ten Champions responded with a 9-0 run to take a 17-12 lead with 12:43 left in the half.
Bentley snapped a three-minute scoreless streak for the Lady Lions with a jumper to make it a three-point game (17-14), but the Buckeyes scored the game’s next four points to push the lead back to seven points (21-14). The Lady Lions fought back with five consecutive points by Marisa Wolfe (Ford City, Pa.) on a three-pointer and a 15-footer to close within 21-19 with 11 minutes remaining.
The Buckeyes scored six of the next eight points to retake a 27-21 lead with 8:31 left, but a three-point play by Renee Womack (Lansdale, Pa.) and basket by Bentley made it a one-point game (27-26) less than eight minutes on the clock. Ohio State stretched the lead back out to seven points with a 12-6 run to make it a 39-32 game with less than four minutes remaining in the half. The Lady Lions kept their composure and responded with a 7-2 spurt of their own to get within a pair (41-39) with 1:30 on the clock, but a Tayler Hill three-pointer as the shot clock expired with 41 seconds left in the half sent the teams into the locker room with OSU leading 44-39.
Bentley led the Lady Lions with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting with two assists. Gray added eight points, including a perfect 2-for-2 effort from three-point range, while Wolfe added five points and two rebounds. Samantha Prahalis led all scorers with 14 points as the Buckeyes shot 52.8% (19-36) from the field in the opening frame.
Julia Trogele (Devon, Pa.) opened the scoring in the second half going 1-for-2 from the free throw line, her first misses from the charity stripe of the Tournament, to make it 44-40 just 31 seconds into the half. However, Ohio State scored the game’s next five points to push the lead to nine (49-40) with 18:46 left. Back-to-back scores by Nickson and Bentley got the Lady Lions within five (49-44) just over two minutes into the half.
The Buckeyes showed their experience as they clicked off a 10-2 run to push the lead to 13 points (59-46) with 15:22 left. After a rebound and putback by Nikki Greene (Diboll, Texas), the Buckeyes scored four consecutive points to make their lead a game-high 15 points (63-48) with less than 13 minutes remaining in the game.
Penn State regained some momentum as Lucas connected on a pair of free throws off of a Prahalis technical foul and Nickson scored back-to-back baskets to get the Lady Lions within nine at 63-54 with less than 12 minutes left. As they had all game, the Buckeyes answered by scoring 10 of the game’s next 15 points to push the margin back to 14 points (73-59) with less than eight minutes to play.
A Nickson basket and a three-pointer by Gray sandwiched around an Ohio State score brought the Lady Lions within 11 (75-64) with 5:26 left, but that was as close as Penn State would get in the final stretch.
GAME NOTES: With eight points, Maggie Lucas breaks Kelly Mazzante’s Penn State freshman scoring record. She now has 533 points on the year … The Lady Lions are now 2-5 all-time in Big Ten Championship games … Alex Bentley and Maggie Lucas were named to the Big Ten All-Tournament team … Junior guard Zhaque Gray reached the 100 three-pointers mark for her career.
Penn State will be hosting the first and second round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament on Saturday, March 19 and Monday, March 21. Tickets are available in all-session packages or as single-session tickets. Tickets can be purchased by calling 814-865-5555 or visiting the Bryce Jordan Center ticket office.