Lady cagers rebound to destroy Hoosiers

By WILLIAM KALEC
Collegian Staff Writer

Staring the No. 17 Penn State women's basketball team in the face heading into this weekend's competition was a golden opportunity to pull away from the pack in the Big Ten conference standings.

Courtesy of an outstanding defensive effort in the Lady Lions' 95-48 win against Indiana at The Bryce Jordan Center yesterday, Penn State gave coach Rene Portland every impression that it would seize that opportunity.

The only problem was that this renewed defensive intensity came a game too late as Illinois, more specifically Fighting Illini forward Susan Blauser, lit the Lions up in a convincing 94-85 victory in front of a raucous Assembly Hall crowd of 9,109 Friday night.

Heading into the Illinois game, Lion frontcourt standouts Clara Carter and Andrea Garner's defensive reputations were being talked about throughout the conference. In three previous Penn State victories, Carter and Garner were part of a Lion defense that had been sending a stern message to the elite post players in the Big Ten.

Apparently, Blauser never got this message, or she just didn't care to listen to it.

Late in the second half, the Illini broke a game in which neither team enjoyed more than a four-point lead into a route by using a 21-5 run sparked by Blauser's offensive exploits.

Only a super-human effort could have overshadowed Lion guard Lisa Shepherd's 28 points on a near-perfect night from 3-point land -- and Blauser delivered nothing less.

When her night was done, Blauser finished with a career-high 32 points, connecting on 13 of her 18 field goal attempts.

She also gave the Illini sole possession of third place in the Big Ten midway through the conference schedule.

"I am happier with the defensive effort," Portland said following the Indiana game. "It was much better than giving up (94) points. We were able to get some points off of transition and that is always a positive."

In a complete reversal of defensive fortunes, the Lions were able to force Indiana into 12 more turnovers than Illinois gave up and held the Hoosiers to a dismal 24 percent shooting from the floor in the second half. Couple that with season-high performances by Penn State forwards Maren Walseth and Rashana Barnes and it is easy to see why Indiana coach Jim Izard's face resembled the red Georgia sky following General Sherman's march to the sea.

Making matters worse for Izard, the Hoosiers have been outscored by a total of 75 points in their last two visits to the Jordan Center. And if Izard thought things couldn't get much worse following Indiana's 70-42 loss to the Lions in the semifinals of last year's Women's National Invitation Tournament, Penn State was eager to show him that he was sadly mistaken.

"Looking back at the teams, this may be the best team (Penn State) has had since they have been in the conference," Izard said. "I am impressed with their quickness, the way they get the ball up and down the floor and their strength inside.

"Obviously, we didn't do some things real well and there is a reason for that, and it's called Penn State."