Intense lady cagers outhustle Hoosiers

The difference in the Penn State women basketball team's 72-40 WNIT win over Indiana Friday was something you can't measure statistically -- intensity.

The Lady Lions aggressively forced turnovers, pulled down key rebounds and ran through the Indiana defense like razors through a sheet in dominating the Hoosiers. Penn State played like a team possessed, making it hard to believe it had finished seventh in the conference, while Indiana had finished tied for third.

All-Big Ten center Quacy Barnes scored 16 points against the Lions in both of the teams' previous meetings this season. Friday, however, she managed just six points against the swarming Penn State defense. Barnes gave up seven turnovers and fouled out of the game with 10 minutes still on the clock.

Barnes wasn't the only Hoosier who struggled. The Lion defense was so strong that no Indiana player scored more than eight points. To make matters worse, Summar Maines, who scored eight points off the bench in relief of Barnes, also got into foul trouble and ultimately fouled out with about two minutes to play.

"It became a physical game, which they got control of," Izard said, "and then we got into foul trouble. Quacy gets in foul trouble, Summar gets in foul trouble, and so we're not able to match up with them inside."

The mismatch on the inside was also reflected on the boards. Penn State outrebounded Indiana 48-33, with a 22-9 edge in offensive rebounds.

"I think the difference in the ball game was early in the first half it was just determined that Penn State was going to be more aggressive on the boards," Izard said. "We weren't able to get them off the glass."

Penn State coach Rene Portland said her team is a good offensive rebounding team, while Indiana is a good defensive rebounding team, meaning that the game would come down to which team wanted it more.

"That, I think, took them out of their game," Portland said. "Twenty-two offensive boards is really phenomenal for our kids."

Portland praised her team's aggressiveness in its use of presses and traps against the Hoosiers. The Lion press was so dominating that at times it appeared as if Indiana couldn't get the ball out of its own end of the court.

For the night, Penn State's defense forced Indiana to surrender 25 turnovers.

"We trapped when they were not ready for us to trap," Portland said.

When the Hoosiers did get to the offensive end of the floor, it couldn't convert. They shot just 36 percent from the field and only drew eleven fouls. Overall, Indiana never got a chance to shoot from the foul line all night.

"We weren't aggressive against their trap," Izard said. "I just didn't think we moved the ball very well. We just weren't aggressive and we didn't attack against the press."

Instead, the Lion defense pressed Indiana out of the WNIT.