University Park, Pa. — The No. 6 seeded Penn State Lady Lions (25-9, 11-5) used a 25-point performance from sophomore guard Alex Bentley (Indianapolis, Ind.) to post their first NCAA Tournament win since 2003-04 with a 75-66 decision over No. 11 seed Dayton (21-12) Saturday at the Bryce Jordan Center. Penn State is now a perfect 9-0 in NCAA Tournament games in the Bryce Jordan Center. The Lady Lions advance to face the winner of the DePaul/Navy game on Monday at 7 p.m. at the Bryce Jordan Center.
Bentley connected on 12 field goal attempts en route to her game-high 25 points. She also tallied four assists and a steal in the win. Sophomore forward Mia Nickson (Ashburn, Va.) posted her sixth double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds. She was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line.
Freshman Maggie Lucas (Narberth, Pa.) also reached double-digits with 12 points to go along with six rebounds and three steals. Senior Julia Trogele (Devon, Pa.) added nine points, seven rebounds and three steals.
The Flyers took the early 16-8 lead six minutes into the game as they shot a sizzling 7-for-10 from the field, but the Lady Lions turned up the defense. After a pair of Nickson free throws, Bentley stole the ball and drove to the hoop for the layup to spark a 14-2 Lady Lion run that would push Penn State into the lead. On the ensuing offensive possession, Nickson coverted on a layup followed by four consecutive tallies by Trogele to give Penn State its first lead of the game at 18-16 with 12 minutes left. After a Dayton score, buckets by Bentley and Ariel Edwards (Elmont, N.Y.) made it a 22-18 game with 7:27 left.
Following a three-pointer by Kristin Daugherty, Nickson scored four consecutive tallies to push the Penn State lead to 26-21 with less than five minutes to play in the opening half. A triple by Patrice Lalor pulled Dayton within a pair, but Lucas responded with her first three-pointer of the day to make it a five-point game (29-24). Marisa Wolfe (Ford City, Pa.) added to the lead with a jumper with three minutes remaining to make it a seven-point margin (31-24).
After a Dayton bucket, the Lady Lions went on an 11-5 run to end the half. Bentley sealed the first half scoring with a jumper as time wound down to give Penn State a 42-30 lead at the break. Renee Womack (Lansdale, Pa.) was key during the run with four points, including a rebound and putback.
Bentley finished the opening half with a team-high 14 points to go along with four assists. Nickson added eight points and seven rebounds while Trogele and Lucas tallied six points each. The Lady Lions shot 48.6% (17-35) from the field in the first half.
The Flyers scored first in the second half with a three-pointer by Lalor, but the Lady Lions bounced back to score five straight points with a layup by Nickson and three tallies from Nikki Greene (Diboll, Texas) to take a 47-33 lead with 18 minutes remaining. However, the Flyers went on a 16-4 run to close within two points at 51-49 with 10:30 remaining in the game.
Trogele drove the lane to snap a three-minute scoreless drought and Bentley scored five straight points to extend the Penn State lead back to nine points (58-49) and bring the Bryce Jordan Center fans to theirfeet with 8:25 on the clock. Dayton continued to fight and scored the game’s next seven points to close within a pair (58-56) with 5:40 left.
The squads swapped scores over the next several possessions until back-to-back buckets by Bentley and Zhaque Gray (Chicago, Ill.) pushed the lead back to six points (69-63) with 1:10 remaining. The Lady Lions salted away with a 6-for-6 performance by Lucas from the free throw line in the final 47 seconds.
GAME NOTES: Penn State’s 25 wins are the most since 2003-04 (28) … Penn State is 13-3 all-time in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and 27-21 overall in the Tournament … The Lady Lions have won their last nine NCAA home contests and are 17-4 all-time in NCAA Tournament home games (9-0 in the Bryce Jordan Center) … The Lady Lions are 12-1 this season when both Alex Bentley and Mia Nickson score in double figures … Every Penn State player that played scored for the Lady Lions … PSU improved to 14-3 this season when playing at home, 15-0 when leading at the half, and 21-0 when leading with 5:00 minutes remaining … Maggie Lucas passed Kahadeejah Herbert for 16th on Penn State’s single season scoring list (545) … Lucas tied James Madison’s Dawn Evans for 12th on the NCAA’s single-season three-pointers list (112) … Nikki Greene passed Susan Robinson for 15th on Penn State’s season rebounding list (266) and passed Mary Donovan for sixth on PSU’s season blocks list (74) … Greene passed the 500-points scored plateau for her career (504) … Alex Bentley recorded her sixth 20-plus point game of the season and her 26th double-digitscoring game … Bentley attempted the most field goals in Penn State NCAA Tournament history (28) … Bentley recorded a career high 12 field goals made and season high 28 field goals attempted … Mia Nickson recorded her sixth double-double of the season and has scored in double figures in 18 games this season … Nickson passed the 400-point plateau for her career (405).
All-session and single-session tickets for the 2011 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament are now available and can be purchased by calling 814-865-5555 or visiting the Bryce Jordan Center ticket office, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. All-session tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for senior citizens and $15 for youth and students with a valid ID. Single-session tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for youth and students. Groups of 20 or more can purchase single-session tickets for $8 each. The first 100 Penn State students will get in for free for Saturday’s game, courtesy of the Lady Lion Cager Club.
