Lady Lions rebound their way to two Big Ten wins

A frequent label which doubters have affixed to the Lady Lion basketball this season has been the lack of the so-called "killer instinct".

The Lady Lions (13-9, 6-6 Big Ten) showed their never-say-die trademark with two Big Ten wins this weekend, stomping Michigan, 82-73, Friday night and taking out Indiana, 82-66, yesterday.

Lady Lion coach Rene Portland stressed that her squad has made a focused effort on rebounding from the start of the season, but had gotten lazy in that area in recent weeks. Practicing with covers on the baskets this week, the Lady Lions showed tenacity in the paint, grabbing in 36 rebounds against the Wolverines (12-9, 4-8), and 55 against Indiana (13-10, 6-7).

"Fifty-five rebounds. Did I ever see that before? I don't think so," Portland said. "I think the girls have to be very pleased."

For starters, Angie Potthoff did not have to win either game by herself. She got some big time help from sophomore Shauntai Hall, who appears to have finally gotten comfortable in the offense. Hall hit for 18 points yesterday and a career-high 20 points on Friday.

"We've been rebounding a lot more," Hall said. "Once we rebound and run we're tough to beat."

Trailing 25-21 to Michigan Friday night with 5:14 remaining in the first half, Penn State turned up the heat and went on a 10-0 run to end the half ahead, 31-25. After Michigan tied things up at 41 in the second half, the Lady Lions went on a 9-0 run to put matters out of reach.

"I looked up and I saw two or three Penn State players sprinting. And we were not sprinting," Wolverine coach Sue Guevara said. "If you're tired then come on out."

Jim Izard's Hoosiers fell victim to a similar trap. Ahead 32-22 with 6:29 left in the first half yesterday, Indiana went cold and Penn State took advantage of 4 points each from Hall and Potthoff to head into the locker room up 37-36.

"We are always trying to win that last five minutes," Potthoff, who finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds said. "That last push at the end of the half gave us the extra energy to carry into the second half."

The second half was all Penn State. The Lady Lions came out of the locker room firing, and by the 13-minute mark had taken a commanding 60-46 lead. A big reason for the push was the up-tempo play of freshmen Helen Darling and Courtney Wicks. Darling scored only five points and dished five assists, but her aggressive defense helped convert 13 Hoosier turnovers to 14 points for Penn State in transition.

"I think we all responded pretty well," Darling said. "Angie's been talking a lot and gets on the freshmen. They tell us don't give up."

Wicks scored five points and hauled down six boards. Her performance was one of many turned in by all of the young Lady Lions which Penn State desperately needed to help get its blood flowing again.

"I think the energy of the program was slipping away," Portland said. "I do think the underclassmen give us that energy. That's the thing that's gonna keep us young enough to make a drive."

A drive to the NCAA tournament that is, which this weekend became all the more realistic.

The two wins put Penn State in a fifth place tie with Iowa (11-10, 6-6) in the Big Ten. The top five teams will receive a bye in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament beginning Feb. 28 in Indianapolis.

"Right now we're very concerned about our seeding in the tournament," Portland said. "We don't want to play Friday night. We've never played Friday night."