Basketball: Women's
Penn State falls to Nebraska, 71-63
The Penn State women's basketball team lost to Nebraska, 71-63, in its Big Ten opener at the Bryce Jordan Center.
Poor shooting plagued the Lady Lions (10-3, 0-1) all night as they could only convert 29.4 percent from the field. The Cornhuskers (12-1, 1-0) shot 43.1 percent, holding Penn State to just seven points in the final 12:53 of the game.
Senior guard Zhaque Gray struggled mightily in her 21 minutes on the court, missing all nine of her shot attempts. Her only positive contributions on the night were two rebounds and an assist.
Junior Nikki Greene dominated the boards with 15 rebounds, only one point away from a double-double.
Junior guard Alex Bentley accounted for eight steals, which is the best individual single-game heist by a Lady Lion since 2001.
The Lions' 26 forced turnovers were nearly double that of the Huskers' 14. Penn State scored 26 of its points off those takeaways, but inconsistency down the stretch unraveled the Lions' nine-point lead with just under 13 minutes to play.
Redshirt junior forward Mia Nickson returned to the lineup for 31 minutes tonight after missing several games with a concussion, but resumed her offensive struggles with only four points in the paint.
Penn State plays at Wisconsin on Jan. 2 before a network television matinee against Michigan State on Jan. 7 in the Bryce Jordan Center.