March 21, 2004BLACKSBURG, VA - Penn State showed why it deserved the top seed in the East Region of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament, using terrific defense and a huge scoring spurt in the first half to down Hampton University 79-42 in a first-round game at Cassell Coliseum on Sunday afternoon.
The Lady Lions improved to 26-5 on the season and advanced to the second round, where they will take on No. 8 seed Virginia Tech on Tuesday at the Hokies' home court. Hampton finished its season with a 17-13 overall record.
Penn State, which led from start to finish, led only by one, 7-6, in the early going after Hampton's Nicole Braithwaite hit two free throws with 17:41 left in the first half. But after those two free throws, the Lady Lions ripped off a 22-0 run and took a 29-6 lead on Reicina Russell's lay-up with 9:04 left in the half. Hampton went scoreless for more than nine minutes during that run, finally breaking the spell when Kiesha Beard hit a lay-up with 8:15 left in the half.
The Lady Lions played a 2-3 zone for the entire game, but the zone was particularly effective in the first half. Hampton hit just five shots in the first 20 minutes, shooting just 16.7 percent from the floor, and the Lady Pirates trailed 47-14 at halftime. Penn State coach Rene Portland played all 10 players who dressed for her in the first half.
"Our defense starts with our three guards," Portland said, referring to Jess Strom, Tanisha Wright and Kelly Mazzante. "They did a terrific job of putting pressure on the ball. I thought our post players did a nice job, too, blocking a lot of shots. But for us, everything is dictated by our guards."
The second half turned out to be a lot of the same for the Lady Lions, who led by as many as 42 points. Mazzante, a 6-foot senior from Montoursville, Pa., paced four Penn State players in double figures with 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the floor. She also grabbed five rebounds and recorded four steals.
Wright, a 5-11 junior from West Mifflin, Pa., enjoyed a terrific all-around game with 16 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and four steals. Strom tallied 14 points, dished out eight assists and recorded four steals - Penn State finished with 13 steals for the game and forced 24 Hampton turnovers.
"I think this is the first time we've ever played all zone," Mazzante said. "We did a good job of communicating out of it and we rebounded well, which is a strength for us and something we wanted to focus on. I just thought we played well as a team."
Russell added 10 points and two blocked shots for Penn State, which blocked 11 shots for the game - including six by Amanda Brown. Penn State held Hampton 26.7 percent shooting from the floor for the game, while shooting 50 percent itself.
Hampton did not place a player in double figures and was led by Lynetta Sullivan, who scored eight points, grabbed five rebounds and dished out four assists.
Penn State now gears up for the Hokies, who rolled past Iowa in the early game in playing one of their best games of the season. Tech will have the benefit of the home crowd and the Hokies improved to 13-2 at home with the win over the Hawkeyes.
"I've been on both sides of this," Portland said. "We've hosted before and we've traveled. I've been to Ruston, La., [home of Louisiana Tech] two too many times.
"But that's the way it's been in women's basketball for a long time. We had hoped to be in Philadelphia, but you go where they put you. We play in the Big 10 and that conference has some of the best attendances in the country. So we're used to people going after us. Maybe some of those Iowa fans will stick around and help us out."
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