Suzie McConnell posted her third-career conventional triple-double last night, leading the women's basketball team to an 82-65 victory over Atlantic 10 Conference foe West Virginia in Rec Hall.
McConnell scored 22 points, pulled down 13 rebounds and dished off 12 assists as the Lady Lions avenged last week's 16-point loss to the Mountaineers in Morgantown. Penn State raised its overall record to 11-8 and 5-6 in the conference, while West Virginia dropped to 10-10 and 5-6.
Penn State scored first on a Stefeni Thomas layup and never looked back, taking leads of 18-6 and 27-12 in the first 10 minutes. Senior center Bethany Collins scored 13 of her 17 game points during that span and Head Coach Rene Portland was all too pleased with her team's fast start.
"We came out hard and the first half was sheer intensity," she said. "We just came out of the block quick and I think our transition game in the first half took them by surprise.
"We worked a lot harder," she added. "I think we certainly came ready to play, and did a better job tonight."
The Mountaineers relied on a tough inside game and excellent outside shooting to down Penn State in their first meeting Jan. 30. Center Tracey Slogic at 6-5, Lisa Ciak at 6-4 and Kim Brown at 6-2 helped the team outrebound the Lady Lions 48-40 and guard Jenny Hillen poured in 27 points in the win.
This time around, the Lady Lions dominated the paint, outrebounding their opponents, 44-36, and kept the West Virginia guards from driving the lane.
The Mountaineer backcourt, however, found a new way to score -- from long range. Junior Judy Eaton pumped in 22 points, 12 from three-point land, and junior Dionne Morris tallied 14, six of which came from beyond the three-point line. Hillen also had a good night, adding 15 points and six rebounds.
Portland said Penn State did a great job of shutting down the West Virginia front line, opening up more fast break opportunities.
"There was no inside game on their part so they had to depend on their three guards," the 12-year coach said. "And our kids did a nice job of playing them."
The Lady Lions played a man-to-man defense in the first half, kept the Mountaineer offense in check, and took a 45-27 lead into the lockerroom.
Penn State stumbled early in the second half after going to a box-and- one defense to key on Hillen, but came back and took its largest lead of the game at 75-48 with just under five minutes to play.
Portland pulled her starters with a few minutes remaining, but said she relied on the experience of McConnell and Collins throughout the game.
"We certainly depend on Suzie's and Bethany's leadership, and on nights like tonight, those two are the two that always shine," she said.
McConnell was happy with the team's play and said that revenge may have played a part in the Lady Lion win.
"I guess it's a revenge factor yet. We wanted to show we could play better than last time," she said. "We had a good team practice today and we knew that we had to get back on the right track. Being home was an added incentive."
A foul-prone West Virginia squad also helped Penn State's cause, sending the Lady Lions to the line 31 times (20 of which were made). On the flip side, the Mountaineers went to the line just six times and hit five. But West Virginia's biggest problem came in the form of turnovers, with the Lady Lions nabbing 16 steals.
Backup center Adrie DeVries and forward Stefeni Thomas added to the Penn State scoring attack with 15 and 10 points, respectively. Junior Lisa Lambert also had a good game, pumping in eight points and eight rebounds in only 10 minutes of play.
Fast Breaks: Last night's game was the first of four straight home games, with the Lady Lions now holding a 5-3 home record this year ... McConnell reached double scoring figures for the 18th time this season, raising her career total to 1,597. She is Penn State's No. 2 all-time scorer behind former Lady Lion Kahadeejah Herbert with 2,025 points.
