Upsetting Penn State falls short this year

INDIANAPOLIS -- In the waning minutes of a tightly contested game between IU and No. 14 Penn State in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday, both teams must have been thinking about last year's Championship contest. The IU women's basketball team upset the Lady Lions 75-72 in last year's conference tournament on its way to the NCAA Tournament.\nThis time, however, the Hoosiers' upset bid would fall short to 67-64, even though IU led with less than three minutes to play at Conseco Fieldhouse. IU had already beaten Wisconsin by one point in the first round of the tournament.\n"Any first game in the tournament is tough," Penn State coach Rene Portland said. "IU believed in themselves in the Wisconsin game. IU remembers the magic they had last year."\nIU (13-15, 5-11 Big Ten) kept pace with top-seeded Penn State (24-7, 13-3 Big Ten) for the entire game, as it went down to the final seconds. \nWith the score knotted at 61 with 2:36 remaining, the Hoosiers were in a prime position to pull the shocker. But that is when Penn State junior guard Kelly Mazzante raised her game to another level. After grabbing an offensive rebound on a free throw miss, Mazzante called timeout with 1:10 left after she was trapped on the baseline. Out of the timeout, Mazzante drilled an off-balance three-pointer from the left wing to give the Lady Lions a 65-61 lead with 51 seconds left. \nBut the Hoosiers answered as freshman guard Cyndi Valentin darted to the basket, was fouled and converted a three-point play to bring IU within one, 65-64 with 42 seconds remaining. \nPenn State came right back though. IU elected to play solid defense, instead of fouling as there was a 12-second differential between the shot clock and game clock. Once again, Mazzante, who scored 18 points, received the ball on the left side and drove on the baseline. But as Mazzante elevated to shoot the ball, her shot was blocked as a foul on IU was called. The Big Ten Player of the Year made both of her free throws to put Penn State up, 67-64, with 19 seconds left.\nAfter an IU timeout, the Hoosiers tried to set up a three-point attempt to tie the game by senior forward Lisa Eckart. But Eckart's desperation attempt didn't even draw iron at the final buzzer. The Lady Lions escaped with a three-point victory and advanced to the semifinal round.\nBennett said IU's last look to tie the game wasn't a great shot, due in part to a stifling Penn State defense. \n"We played well -- well enough to win throughout the game, and I'm proud of my team, but it wasn't a very good look," Bennett said. "They switched on all the screens and that really hurt us. They recognized everything we tried to do and forced us out of everything."\nEckart, who finished with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting, detailed how the final play went wrong.\n"They (Penn State) did a nice job on defense on the last play," Eckart said. "They were switching and floating around. It wasn't a good look at the basket." \nValentin was the only other IU player in double-figures as she tallied 10 points. \nThe Hoosiers committed 21 turnovers, while the Lady Lions committed only 14. \nBennett said IU could not overcome its turnover troubles. \n"Turnovers -- turnovers down the stretch, that hurt us," Bennett said. "We tried to hand the ball off so we wouldn't have to pass it long distances, but we couldn't do it. Penn State did a nice job of defending us, especially in the second half."\nMeanwhile, Penn State used the transition game to spark its offense. They had 17 fast break points compared to IU's zero. Another difference was the Lady Lions performance from the free throw line. They made 22-of-23 from the charity stripe.\nPenn State sophomore guard Tanisha Wright finished with a game-high 26 points, including a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line. \nThe game featured 14 lead changes and IU's biggest advantage was six points, which came in the first half. IU led by one at half, 34-33.\nEckart said she was disappointed to see her season end, but was happy to see the IU fans turn out in record numbers this year at Assembly Hall as well as at Conseco Fieldhouse. \n"We noticed a huge difference in our fan base at home," Eckart said. "They have followed us here. The fans are awesome."\nAt the same time, junior forward Jamie Gathing summed up IU's performance against talented Penn State.\n"This was a team game and team defense," Gathing said. "Everyone gave their all"