Technically the Lady Lions are sharing the top spot in the Big Ten with Michigan State, but the point remains the same. Penn State is thumping teams at an alarming rate, and is on course for one of the best seasons Penn State has had in the past decade. The Lady Lions showed why they are the best three-point shooting team in the country hitting 12-20 running away with the game early on in the first half out hustling Illinois to a 41-23 halftime lead.
While a 20+ point win makes critical analysis somewhat futile, Penn State continued to show excellent depth in scoring with 5 players scoring 8 or more points, including Maggie Lucas, Alex Bentley and Zhaque Gray who all scored in double figures. So far this year Penn State has scored 80 or more points 9 times making the Lady Lions one of the highest scoring offenses in the nation.
One of the many bright-spots in the win today was Maggie Lucas who showed why she was a McDonald's All-American in high school hitting 6 three pointers breaking Kelly Mazzante's record of 65 made three pointers in a freshman campaignwith 66. Lucas has played out of her mind this season and has been a large part of the Nittany Lion's success this season.
The win moves Penn State to 15-4 on the season and 4-1 in the Big Ten. Penn State has a few days off before traveling to Purdue in what will be an important 5 game stretch in conference play for the Lady Lions.
In a year that has seen some underwhelming performances by Penn State athletics, the Lady Lions are making their case to be the reason to cheer this winter. If you're in town when they've got a game give them some love.