Basketball: Women's
Penn State/Connecticut - What you need to know
Lady Lions (6-1) @ Connecticut (7-0)
7 p.m. on SNY
The No. 10 Lady Lions will face the No. 2 Huskies in the Sweet 16 rematch from last year. Connecticut looks to extend its undefeated season after a win against No. 9 Maryland, 63-48. While the Lions are coming off a blowout victory against Fairleigh Dickinson, 101-44.
Fo’ Real?
In the Huskies’ game against Maryland, senior forward Kelly Faris almost had a quadruple double with eight points, eight steals, seven rebounds and seven assists. She will try to create havoc in an inconsistent Penn State frontcourt.
Stat It
Maryland had 26 turnovers in its loss to Connecticut and 15 of them were steals by the Huskies. Penn State has had an issue with ball handling, but is coming off its game with Fairleigh Dickinson where they only turned over the ball eight times.
What to Watch For?
Look to see if senior center Nikki Greene scores one point against Connecticut this time around. Last season the Diboll, Texas native played 13 minutes against the Huskies with three fouls and no points to show for it.
The Lions are going to need some type of inside presence to win.
Behind Enemies’ Lines
Former teammates, Connecticut’s Caroline Doty and Penn State’s Maggie Lucas will face each other for the second time in their collegiate careers.
“To say the least I am excited to be able to catch up with her but we both have a mutual agreement that once we get on the court it is all business until the final horn blows,” Doty said through Connecticut assistant director of athletic communications Pat McKenna.
Injury Report
Head coach Coquese Washington said that she believes senior forward Mia Nickson will play Thursday night after missing the Fairleigh Dickinson game on Sunday with a pulled muscle.
Nickson was a force in Penn State’s last meeting with Connecticut scoring 19 points with five rebounds in 35 minutes of play.
On the other side, Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma told reporters Wednesday that Naismith Award Watch List sophomore Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis is questionable for Thursday after sustaining a bruised quad in the first half against Maryland.
Mosqueda-Lewis is 48.4 percent from beyond the arc this season, 32-55 and averages 14.7 points per game.
Sixth Man
Connecticut women’s basketball averaged 9,168 fans a game (sellout is 10,167) in 2011-12. This will be the highest average Penn State will see on the road.
She Said It
“We are capable of winning this game,” Greene said.
What Geno said
“Penn State has the best back court combination in the country and if we don’t do a great job containing, we will have a hard time tomorrow night,” Auriemma said through McKenna.
Write It Down
It will be a closer contest than people will be expecting with the Penn State backcourt of Lucas, senior Alex Bentley and redshirt junior Dara Taylor, but the Lions will fall short 68-56.
Sound Off
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