UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Hot shooting by Penn State was too much for Illinois to overcome in a 83-62 loss to the Lady Lions Sunday afternoon at the Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, Pa. PSU hit 12-of-20 from three-point range (60 percent), including eight in the first half, to turn a game that was tight early into a blow out.
Illinois (7-11, 2-3) got out of the gates strong, taking a 9-2 lead after an Amber Moore three-pointer, but the Lady Lions quickly countered with a 12-0 run, all on three-pointers, to go up 14-9 at the 12:59 mark. The Illini battled back to tie it at 16 with 11:29 left, but it was all PSU from there as the Lions scored the next 10 points and finished the half on a 25-7 run to lead 41-23 at the break. PSU hit 8-of-16 from behind the arc in the first half, equaling the season high against the Illini for a full game entering the day.
The hosts would get even hotter in the second half, hitting all four of their threes to finish with 12 for the game, tied for the third-most against the Illini in school history. Illinois entered the game leading the Big Ten and ranked 13th in the nation in defending the three (.252 3FG percentage defense), but Penn State (15-4, 4-1) showed why it leads the nation in three-point field goal percentage on Sunday. The Lady Lions were led by freshman sharpshooter Maggie Lucas, who hit 6-of-8 from behind the arc for a game-high 22 points.
"We knew they were one of the best shooting teams in the country," Illinois head coach Jolette Law said. "We started off well defensively, but Lucas gave them a spark when she came into the game and we didn't recover after they made their run and got some confidence.
"When you're playing someone who can shoot like Lucas can, you have to limit her touches and we didn't do that," Law continued. "We lost her a few times in transition and didn't do a good job of keeping it out of her hands. I have to give her a lot of credit, she's a great ball player and she was feeling it tonight."
Illinois sophomore Karisma Penn had her Big Ten-leading 11th double-double of the season with 15 points and 13 rebounds, and also added three steals and a block. Amber Moore, who was coming off a seven three, 27-point performance Thursday night at Indiana, finished with 10 points and five assists, but was just 3-of-13 from the field and 2-of-10 from downtown. Freshman Alexis Burke scored 11 points, all in the second half, while sophomore Adrienne GodBold scored all nine of her points in the second half.
"We rushed a little bit offensively in the first half," Law said. "We took some quick shots and I would have liked to have seen us let the offense develop and try to get more touches for Karisma. We didn't start executing until the later in the second half when it was already too late."
The Illini shot just 34 percent (20-of-59) for the game, while Penn State shot 46 percent overall (30-65) and dominated the glass by a 45-35 count, leading to a 20-5 edge in second chance points. The Lady Lions also were able to get plenty of transition buckets, out-scoring the Illini 18-2 on fast break points. It was Illinois' 10th-straight loss to Penn State on the road dating back to the 1997-98 season.
Illinois returns to Champaign on Thursday, Jan. 20, when they host Ohio State at Assembly Hall at 7 p.m. The Fighting Illini will then hit the road next Sunday when they face Wisconsin in Madison at 5 p.m.
