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[ Friday, Jan. 21, 2000 ]
Lions follow Shepherd to 11 point victory
By Josh Daeche
Collegian Staff Writer
Rene Portland was ecstastic.
Lisa Shepherd came up big when she had to.
And the Penn State women's basketball team extended its winning streak to 12 games with a win against a deflated Ohio State squad last night in The Bryce Jordan Center, 73-62.
The No. 4 Lady Lions moved to 16-2 overall and a perfect 7-0 in the Big Ten.
However, in the early going Penn State looked as if it might follow the trail that Illinois, Tennessee and Purdue have taken this past week, falling to an underdog.
PHOTO: Bethany Boarts/Collegian
Penn State guard Lisa Shepherd drives the Lady Lions to victory by scoring 26 points and pulling down six rebounds during last night’s game against Ohio State.
In the first half, Penn State struggled early and Ohio State took advantage of the Lions slow start. Led by LaToya Turner the Buckeyes freshmen hammered the boards and gave the Buckeyes a 24-16 lead with 7:26 remaining in the first half.
"Our post defense was just awful. We got caught behind," Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland said. "We really need to put more pressure on the guards and we need to do a better job by running on an angle to play the post."
Turner moved strong to the basket all evening and led Ohio State with 21 points and seven rebounds.
Physical play and tough defense was a part of the Buckeyes' defensive scheme all evening. In the first half the Buckeyes forced Penn State to the foul line 23 times.
But the eight-point lead was as large as Ohio State could get. Penn State finished the first half up 34-29.
Ohio State kept up its aggressive style throughout the second half by forcing Penn State to be more creative.
The Lions started to run single and double picks to spring the guards open for shots. One of those guards who got an open look was Shepherd, and at the 9:28 mark in the second half she became a part of Penn State history by becoming just the 22nd Lady Lions player to have 1,000 points in her career.
Shepherd finished with a game-high 26 points while grabbing six rebounds.
The traps and strong rebounding in the second half wore Ohio State down.
Penn State scored on open looks and fast breaks, which appeared to be the back-breaker for the Buckeyes.
Despite the loss, Ohio State coach Beth Burns was pleased with her team's performance.
"I think this was best two hours we played in a long time," she said.
