Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Penn State
Wildcats Outmatched By No. 5 Penn State
2/1/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb 1, 2004
By DAN LEWERENZ
Associated Press Writer
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - Reicina Russell had 22 points and 16 rebounds to lead No. 5 Penn State to a 64-51 victory over Northwestern on Sunday.
It was the 10th consecutive win for the Lady Lions (17-3, 9-0 Big Ten) and tied their best-ever conference start, but they needed a late rally to pull ahead of the upset-minded Wildcats.
Trailing by nine points at halftime, Northwestern (7-13, 0-9) held the Lady Lions without a field goal for almost 8 minutes, tying the game at 35-35 on Alex Mueller's 3-pointer. The Wildcats took their first lead, 43-42, on another 3 by Mueller with 8:33 left.
But with the score tied 45-45, Penn State went on a 12-1 run, including a 3-pointer from Jess Strom.
Russell's putback with 2:40 left made it 57-46, and Northwestern's floor-spreading, back-screening offense couldn't make up that many points in that little time.
Kelly Mazzante, the Big Ten career scoring leader, finished with just 12 points, going 3-of-18 from the field, including 0-for-9 on 3-point tries. Strom scored 12 points and Jess Brungo had 10.
Mueller led Northwestern with 14 points, and Melissa Culver scored 10.
Northwestern scored the game's first four points, and Culver's 3-pointer gave the Wildcats a 12-7 lead 5 minutes in.
But Penn State went on an 11-0 run, starting with Brungo's 3-pointer at the 9:52 mark, and took a 22-14 lead on Tanisha Wright's reverse layup. The Lady Lions led 33-24 at halftime.
