Lavender leads Ohio St. past Penn St. 84-70 for Big Ten title

From: GoPSUSports.com — INDIANAPOLIS, IND. - The Penn State Lady Lions’ (24-9, 11-5) Big Ten Tournament run came to an end with a 84-70 loss to No. 5 seed Ohio State (22-9, 10-6) in the Big Ten Championship game Sunday afternoon. It was Penn State’s first appearance in the Championship game since a one-point loss to Purdue in the 2004 title bout. Sophomore Alex Bentley (Indianapolis, Ind.) and freshman Maggie Lucas (Narberth, Pa.) were both named to the Big Ten All-Tournament team. Penn State will now await its NCAA Tournament fate until the Monday, March 14 selection show.

Sophomore Mia Nickson (Ashburn, Va.) scored 13 of her 17 points in the second half to lead the Lady Lions. She also pulled in four rebounds in the loss. Bentley added 16 points, three assists and three steals, while Zhaque Gray (Chicago, Ill.) chipped in 13 points and a pair of assists. With her eight-point performance, Lucas breaks Kelly Mazzante’s Penn State freshman scoring record with 533 tallies this season.

In a frantic first four minutes of the game, the Lady Lions established a 12-8 lead on the wings of three-pointers by Bentley and Gray as the squads swapped scores. However, the six-time defending Big Ten Champions responded with a 9-0 run to take a 17-12 lead with 12:43 left in the half.

Bentley snapped a three-minute scoreless streak for the Lady Lions with a jumper to make it a three-point game (17-14), but the Buckeyes scored the game’s next four points to push the lead back to seven points (21-14). The Lady Lions fought back with five consecutive points by Marisa Wolfe (Ford City, Pa.) on a three-pointer and a 15-footer to close within 21-19 with 11 minutes remaining.

The Buckeyes scored six of the next eight points to retake a 27-21 lead with 8:31 left, but a three-point play by Renee Womack (Lansdale, Pa.) and basket by Bentley made it a one-point game (27-26) less than eight minutes on the clock. Ohio State stretched the lead back out to seven points with a…….

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Ohio State’s Sarah Schulze, left, Jantel Lavender, and Brittany Johnson, right,
hold the championship trophy after Ohio State defeated Penn State 84-70 in
an NCAA college basketball game, winning the Big Ten tournament.