Penn State continued its surge in the Big Ten with a 68-52 victory against Iowa on Sunday afternoon.
Locked in a tight game and leading by one, Marisa Wolfe hit a baseline jumper with five minutes remaining in regulation to give the Lady Lions a 53-50 lead. That snowballed into an 13-point lead as the clock ticked below two minutes, and Penn State sealed its fourth-straight conference win.
Junior guard Alex Bentley led the Lady Lions with 21 points. Sophomore forward Ariel Edwards chipped in 17 points and 11 rebounds.
‘I told her, ‘Unfortunately for you, you showed me what you’re capable of,’ ‘ Penn State coach Coquese Washington said of Edwards. ‘Maybe not a double-double, but dang close.’
A moment of silence preceded tip at the Jordan Center in memory of former football coach Joe Paterno, who passed early earlier Sunday at age 85 after his fight with lung cancer.
The Lions (15-4, 5-2 Big Ten) wore black patches on their left shoulder strap to honor Paterno. The idea was hatched by Jenn James, an assistant athletic director since July 2002.
‘I used to call him my big brother on campus because he took care of me when I first got here,’ Washington said. ‘It wasn’t like we had Sunday dinner every week, but the times we spent together, he was always giving me advice, some inspiration.’
Washington recalled Paterno’s sharp memory, saying when she told him she was from Flint, Mich., he told her about recruiting a player named Booker Moore, also from the area.
Washington saw it fitting her team could eke out a win on the same day as Paterno’s passing.
Penn State shot just 33.8 percent from the floor but made up for it by holding Iowa to 34.5 percent shooting, fighting for a 19-board advantage on the glass and committing only nine turnovers.
Leading scorer Maggie Lucas shot just 1-for-6 from the field and finished with seven points, a season low and her lowest scoring output since netting seven against DePaul in last season’s loss in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
‘She finally had a bad game,’ Washington said, with a hint of sarcasm.
The Lady Lions close out the month on the road, traveling to Michigan and Michigan State before returning home Feb. 2 against Indiana.
