Dec. 28, 2009
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By Richie Zawistowski
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — It took extra minutes to declare a winner in a tight battle throughout, as the University of Iowa came up short at Penn State, 77-73, Monday in women’s basketball.
Twenty-seven points from sophomore guard Kamille Wahlin was not enough, as Wahlin hit a career-best seven 3s for the Hawkeyes, who shot 11-of-34 from beyond the arc.
It was a defensive effort the entire game, as Iowa shot just 33.3-percent (26 of 78) from the field and battled from behind the entire game.
“I thought our zone defense was doing a good job, forcing them into a few shots they didn’t want to take,” said UI head coach Lisa Bluder. “However we took a lot of quick shots, and some ill-advised shots that didn’t really make the defense work.”
Wahlin added four assists and two rebounds during her 43 minutes of court time. Kachine Alexander played 38 minutes and scored 11 points with eight rebounds and four assists. Jaime Printy added 16 points and five rebounds.
The game was back-and-forth from the tip, until 4:37 remained in the half. A pair of free throws capped a 10-3 Penn State run midway through the half to stretch the deficit to 10 at 28-18. Iowa came back with a 9-3 run of its own to make it 31-27 with a Printy free-throw with 2:53 remaining in the half.
A Penn State shot from deep made the score 36-31 right before the half, sending Iowa into the locker room trailing by five.
The second half started with both teams playing great defense, as the first basket wasn’t scored until a Nittany Lion layup with nearly three minutes off the clock to make it 38-31. Penn State jumped out to a 10-point lead with midway through the quarter.
As they’ve done all season, the Hawkeyes battled back, and after an Alexander bucket with 2:05 left, took a 62-58 lead. However Penn State hit four free-throws down the stretch to tie the game and send it into overtime.
Iowa took a five-point lead in the overtime period with 2:53 remaining. However, Penn State would go on a 7-2 run, which included an “and-one” opportunity that was converted with a free-throw to tie the game 71-71. Iowa could not capitalize on its shots down the stretch, and the Nittany Lions converted free throws down the stretch.
After a Wahlin trey, Iowa had a chance down one with less than two seconds remaining, but the Hawkeyes were assessed a technical foul after calling an illegal timeout.
Iowa (7-6 overall, 0-2 Big Ten) hosts Wisconsin on Dec 31 in Carver-Hawkeye arena. Tip-off scheduled for 5 p.m.