Trending
From Mirror reports
UNIVERSITY PARK -- The Penn State women's basketball team rallied in the second half to defeat Belmont, 74-66, to advance to the quarterfinals of the Women's Basketball Invitational Tournament Monday night.
Penn State (21-12) will host Mississippi State on Thursday at 6 p.m.
Redshirt-junior guard Leilani Kapinus, who posted her 1,000th career point and graduate guard Ashley Owusu, who earned her 500th career rebound, propelled the Lady Lions from a halftime 32-29 deficit.
Kapinus earned her seventh consecutive double figure scoring performance with 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Senior guard Makenna Marisa led the Lady Lions offense with 18 points to go with three assists and two steals.
Owusu's 16 points marks her seventh straight game surpassing double figures, and her five rebounds allowed her to reach the 500 mark. Junior guard Jayla Oden rounded out the scoring with 10 points.
Penn State was on the attack from the opening tip off, scoring the first points of the game. Ali Brigham was responsible for the bucket, but the Bruins had the response with five straight points of their own to grab the 5-4 advantage. Kapinus battled her way to the basket off a pass from Marisa to bring the lead back to the home team into the media timeout.
After some back-and-forth action, Belmont sparked a 7-2 run to build a four-point deficit, but two straight steals from Alli Campbell on defense allowed Owusu to score four points to knot the score at 14-14.
Kapinus forced a turnover on a strong press to give the Lady Lions the final possession of the quarter but they were unable to convert, knotting the score at 14.
Belmont missed two free opportunities at the line to begin the second quarter, but found the basket with a layup on its next possession after a defensive stop. A three-point play allowed the Bruins to extend their advantage to five points.
Kapinus chipped at the margin finding Owusu under the basket and nailing a three herself to bring PSU within three at 25-22. Belmont scored five unanswered scores before the Lady Lions added points to the board using a jumper from Oden.
Moriah Murray hit a shot from beyond the arc to cut into the margin, but the Bruins continued to push the pace, having an answer for nearly every PSU point. A block from Kylie Lavelle allowed the Lady Lions to have the last offensive possession of the half, but the Bruins defense forced a turnover to end the quarter ahead 32-29 margin.
Leading 51-45 after three, Penn State extended its lead to 60-51 before the Bruins went on an 8-2 run to make it 62-59.
A 8-2 stretch for the Bruins allowed them to creep within three points, but a big 3-pointer and another open layup from Chanaya Pinto pushed the cushion back to six points at a score of 69-63 with under two minutes to play.
In the final minute, the Bruins scored two points to make it a four-point game, and a foul sent Pinto to the line for a pair of free shots where she sank one of two.
Despite the Bruins hitting one of two free throws in the final moments, the Lady Lions earned two sets of free throws to close the game and seal the victory.
BELMONT (66): McGuff 7-12 5-6 20, Miller 5-7 4-6 14, Schoenwald4-4 0-0 12, Jones 2-6 0-0 12, Jones 2-6 0-0 5, Cheesman 1-7 0-0 3, La Chapell 6-14 0-0 12, Feltner 0 0-0 0, Harrison 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 25-54 9-14 66.
PENN STATE (74): Marisa 6-14 4-4 18, Owusu 7-15 1-3 16, Kapinus 3-8 4-4 11, Brigham 3-5 0-2 6, Ciezki 1-3 0-0 3, Oden 4-9 2-3 10, Pinto 2-2 2-4 7, Murray 1-2 0-0 3, Lavelle 0-1 0-0 0, Campbell 0-1 0-0 0, Hall 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 27-61 13-20 74.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Belmont 12 18 13 21 — 64
Penn State 14 15 22 23 — 74
3-point field goals: Belmont 7-26 (McGuff 1, Schoenwald 4, Jones 1, Cheesman 1); PSU 7-18 (Marisa 2, Owusu 1, Kapinus 1, Ciezki 1, Pinto 1, Murray 1). Rebounds: Belmont 39 (McGuff 8); PSU 28 (Kapinus 7). Assists: Belmont 18 (Miller 6); PSU 15 (Kapinus 4). Technical fouls: None.Attendance: 1,666