Clinched
Lady cagers earn share of title with home win

By DAMIAN DOBROSIELSKI
Collegian Sports Writer

Senior Carla Coleman was the first to climb the ladder under the basket at the east end of the floor. Eventually, the rest of the Lady Lions would make their way up that ladder to snip off a piece of the net.

With yesterday's 83-70 victory over Ohio State (14-12, 7-9 Big Ten) inside Rec Hall, No. 8 Penn State (22-4, 13-3) clinched a share of the Big Ten regular-season championship with Purdue (21-6, 13-3) for the second year in a row.

"When we cut down those nets," Coleman said, "I thought back to those 6 a.m. practices, five days a week, and it was worth it. This is by far one of the better feelings I've ever had."

But it took 40 minutes of extremely physical basketball for Coleman and the rest of her teammates to arrive at that feeling.

In the course of yesterday's game, 45 fouls were committed -- three of which were technical fouls.

Perhaps Penn State Coach Rene Portland summed the game up best.

"There was a lot of wackiness out there," she said. "It was a physical game."

Buckeye Coach Nancy Darsch echoed Portland's remarks.

"I thought it was a very interesting game from a contact point-of-view," Darsch said.

But Penn State senior Missy Masley was not surprised by the overly physical nature of the game.

"It's not the land of the lollipops," she said. "Basketball is meant to be physical."

After being held scoreless in the first half, Masley carried the team on her back in the final 20 minutes. The 6-foot-2 forward poured in 21 second half points. She also pulled down 14 rebounds, 11 of those coming in the second half.

Lady Lion point guard Tina Nicholson was her usual self, dishing out a game-high six assists. She also scored 16 points.

Ohio State was led by 6-foot forward Peggy Evans, who scored 22 points despite being in foul trouble for much of the second half. The transfer from Tennessee added nine rebounds and four steals.

After the game, Evans also commented on the game's physical play.

"I like contact," she said. "I love it."

The Buckeye's other forward, Katie Smith, led all scorers with 25 points.

On Friday in East Lansing, Mich., the Lady Lions beat Michigan State 73-64. With 4:53 remaining in that game, Penn State freshman Jamie Parsons and Coleman were injured on the same play. Parsons suffered a sprained ankle, while Coleman reinjured her right knee.

Forward Angie Potthoff, who separated her left shoulder in practice last Thursday, reinjured the same shoulder in the final minute against the Spartans (14-11, 8-8).

All three players played against Ohio State yesterday.