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[ Thursday, Jan. 21, 1999 ]
Problem solving
Lady cagers resolve long-range shooting woes
By DONNIE COLLINS
Collegian Staff Writer
Nobody's done it better. The Tennessee Lady Volunteers claimed the top spot in the Associated Press women's basketball poll for the 84th time in the team's illustrious history this week, earning all but one of the first-place votes. Coach Pat Summitt's Vols received 40 first-place votes with the other going to No. 3 Purdue. Tennessee broke a tie with Louisiana Tech, which secured the No. 4 ranking, for most appearances in the top spot of the AP's poll. The majority of the movement in this week's rankings occurred at the bottom, as No. 20 Auburn made the biggest jump, climbing five spots. No. 17 Penn State, which defeated Big Ten foes Michigan State, Iowa and Michigan last week, and No. 19 Virginia both moved up three spots, while No. 24 Ohio State stumbled five spots after losses to Purdue and Northwestern. From way downtown What a difference a road trip makes. After hitting just four of its 17 3-point shots against Michigan State and Iowa last week, things couldn't have looked worse for Penn State's outside shooting game. Coach Rene Portland expressed disappointment in the lackluster performances and said a lot of work was needed to remedy the long-distance woes.
PHOTO: Colin Gillette
Penn State’s Andrea Garner blocks a shot against Iowa last Friday at The Bryce Jordan Center.
The Lions' guards must have worked up quite a sweat before Sunday's game with Michigan.
Penn State shot the lights out of Crisler Arena hitting 9 of 13 shots from long distance. Chrissy Falcone, Lisa Shepherd and Shawnta Vanzant, who broke the school record with 14 3-point attempts against Arkansas Jan. 9, each hit three trifectas to lead Penn State to its third straight Big Ten victory.
As goes the 3-point shooting, so goes Penn State.
In the Lions' four losses this season, they've hit just 22 percent of their 3-point attempts, including a dismal 0 for 12 debacle against Ohio State Dec. 28. In their 12 wins, the Lions have been successful on 37 percent of their 3-point tries.
Garnering the record book
If Penn State center Andrea Garner's career wasn't yet classified by adjectives such as storied, distinguished and unmatched, then in all probability, that will soon change.
Entering this weekend's competition, Garner needs just 94 points to become the 20th Lady Lion to record 1,000 career points. If Garner continues to average the nearly 12 points per game for which she's torched opponents throughout her career, reaching the 1,000-point plateau could be just around the corner.
Garner's accolades, however, don't exist just on the offensive end of the court.
The 6-foot-3 center from Philadelphia grabbed her 600th career rebound during her dominating 21-point, 10-rebound performance against Iowa last Friday.
With 13 more blocks, Garner will become just the fourth Penn State player to reach the 100-career block mark.
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