It hasn’t been since the days of names like Tina Nicholson, Angie Pothoff, Kim Calhoun and Katina Mack and since the days of Hinkle Fieldhouse that the Penn State Lady Lion basketball team has captured a Big Ten Post Season Tournament title. Now with a regular season title under their belts for the second consecutive year, the Player of the Year in Maggie Lucas, 2 All Defensive team selections in Alex Bentley and Dara Taylor, a Coach of the Year in Coquese Washington and one would think this might be the time for the Lady Lions to win the tournament for the first time since 1996 when they defeated Purdue 71-69.
The Lady Lions closed out the regular season in great fashion with a wire to wire win over Nebraska this past Sunday, they have lost only 4 games all season and just 2 in the conference and have as balanced an attack as a Penn State women’s basketball team has had in recent memory.
The Lady Lions, the No. 1 seed, may have drawn the toughest bracket after the first day of action. The team’s opponent in the quarterfinals will be the Buckeyes of Ohio State, a team that has turned it on late in the season. Ohio State needs at least two wins in the Big Ten Tournament to advance to the NCAA Tournament. OSU desperately wants to get into the NCAAs because they are scheduled to host the 1st and 2nd round games in Columbus. The 9th seeded Buckeyes defeated 8th seeded Minnesota in the first round to advance to tonight’s game by a final score of 58-47.
Other first round action had No.7 Iowa knocking off No. 10 Northwestern 60-55. The Hawkeyes will now meet No. 2 seed Nebraska in the quarters. Wisconsin, No. 11, pulled the upset of the day by defeating No. 6 Illinois 58-57 with the winning basket coming with just 3.1 seconds on the clock. The Badgers will face No. 3 Purdue in the quarters. Number 5 Michigan advanced by defeating No. 12 Indiana in the final game of the day. Up next, Michigan will face No. 4 Michigan State. Penn State’s quarterfinal game with the Buckeyes will begin at 7:00 eastern time from suburban Chicago.
