RIVIERA MAYA, MEXICO - The Penn State Lady Lions shot 51.3 percent (20-39) from field in the second half, but could not overcome 29 turnovers in a 79-74 loss to No. 23 Wisconsin-Green Bay (5-0) in the Caribbean Challenge on Friday afternoon.
The Lady Lions will close out their trip to Mexico on today against Hartford (1-5) at 3:30 p.m. The game can be heard on WRSC in State College or on All-Access on GoPSUsports.com.
Junior guard Zhaque Gray was 5-for-8 from 3-point range en route to a team-high 17 points. She also had three rebounds and two assists on the day.
Sophomore point guard Alex Bentley narrowly missed her first career double-double with 16 points and nine assists to go along with four steals. Freshman guard Maggie Lucas came off of the bench to score 11 points, including eight in the final two minutes of the game.
The Lions took the first lead of the game at 2-0 with a layup by Nikki Greene on the first possession, but the Phoenix responded with a free throw and a 3-pointer to take a 4-2 lead.
Plagued by turnovers, the Lady Lions fell behind 14-6 with 14 minutes left in the opening half. Senior Julia Trogele notched a steal and a layup to cut into the lead and following a free throw by Green Bay, Gray connected on a jumper to make it a five-point game at 15-10 with 12:31 remaining.
The Phoenix scored four of the game's next seven points to establish a 19-13 lead, but Penn State fought back with consecutive scores by Trogele to make it a 19-17 game with less than 6 minutes to play in the half. However, Wisconsin-Green Bay finished the opening frame with a 12-5 run to head into the break with a 31-22 lead.
Penn State came out strong in the second half with a 9-2 run that included two buckets by Greene, a 3-pointer by Gray and a layup by Bentley to cut the Green Bay lead to two points at 33-31 with less than 16 minutes to play.
However, the Phoenix went on a 14-2 run to extend their lead to 47-33 with 10:36 left.
PENN STATE (74): Wolfe 2-6 3-4 7, Greene 3-6 2-4 8, Trogele 4-10 0-0 8, Gray 6-12 0-0 17, Bentley 7-14 0-0 16, Womack 0-0 0-0 0, Edwards 2-2 0-0 5, Nickson 0-0 0-0 0, Studevent 1-2 0-0 2, Lucas 4-13 0-0 11. Totals - 29-65 11-24 74.
UW-GREEN BAY (79): Tetschlag 4-8 3-6 11, Eichler 3-8 0-0 7, Hoewisch 9-13 5-5 28, Ritchie 3-12 7-9 14, Wojta 4-8 2-2 10, Quilling 3-6 0-0 9, Bauer 0-3 0-0 0, Gilbertson 0-0 0-0 0, Sension 0-0 0-0 0. Totals - 26-58 17-22 79.
Halftime: UW-Green Bay 31-22. 3-point goals: Penn State 11-24 (Gray 5-8, Lucas 3-11, Bentley 2-2, Edwards 1-1, Trogele 0-1, Wolfe 0-1); UW-Green Bay 10-28 (Hoewisch 5-7, Quilling 3-6, Eichler 1-4, Ritchie 1-7, Tetschlag 0-1, Wojta 0-1, Bauer 0-2). Rebounds: Penn State 36 (Wolfe 7); UW-Green Bay 36 (Tetschlag, Wojta, 10 each). Assists: Penn State 15 (Bentley 9); UW-Green Bay 21 (Wojta 6).
