Princeton Falls In Overtime To Penn State, 79-71

Sunday, November 18

University Park, Pa.

2:00 PM

Princeton University

1-3

Penn State

3-1

OT 1

Princeton

Penn State

Photo by: Beverly Schaefer

November 18, 2018 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Despite four players in double figures, the Princeton Tigers fell in overtime to the Penn State Nittany Lions, 79-71, at the Bryce Jordan Center on Sunday afternoon.

Gabrielle Rush had a game-high 20 points, sinking four three-pointers, along with six rebounds. Sydney Jordan registered her first career double-double, matching her personal best with 14 points while setting a career high with 11 rebounds. Grace Stone had the best scoring output of her young career (13), adding seven rebounds, two assists and two steals. Carlie Littlefield contributed 11 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Tied at six-all, Penn State registered the final five points of the first quarter, taking an 11-6 lead after 10 minutes. The Tigers forced 11 turnovers, but still found themselves trailing behind just two made baskets.

A three-pointer from Sydney Boyer and layup by Gabrielle Rush got the Tigers within two, 13-11, as the clock ticked under eight minutes remaining in the first half. Following two free-throws from Julia Cunningham, a bucket from Jordan gave the Tigers their first lead of the contest, 15-14, with 5:37 left. The Lions rolled off five straight points to retake the lead, but Jordan countered scoring consecutive baskets to tie the contest, 19-all. Three free-throws by the Lions gave them a 24-21 lead at the break.

Rush caught fire in the third stanza, dropping in four treys while Tigers went 6-of-10 from the three-point line, scoring 24 points. Down one, 33-32, Princeton ran off eight straight in 1:24 of game action, highlighted by two long-range buckets from Rush and Littlefield. A layup from Stone gave head coach Courtney Banghart's group a 45-37 advantage as the fourth quarter got underway.

Halfway through the quarter, Princeton maintained a seven-point lead, 56-49, as Jordan knocked down a mid-range jumper. Five straight by the Lions closed the gap to two before an impressive And-1 in the paint from Stone gave the Tigers a bit of breathing room with 3:23 remaining.

Two from Carlie Littlefield at the charity stripe set the score at 63-59 with 61 seconds to go, but four free-throws from Penn State tied the contest. The Tigers had the final possession of regulation, but couldn't convert.

Penn State's Amari Carter gave the home unit its first lead since the third quarter on a trey in the extra session (68-65) 49 seconds in. She followed that scoring another basket from long range on the next trip down the floor to put the Lions ahead, 71-65. Princeton could not get within five the rest of the way, going 1-of-10 shooting in overtime.

Teniya Page had a game-high 23 points for Penn State while Alisa Smith dropped in a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds in the victory. The Tigers caused 21 turnovers and had 10 steals in the game.

Princeton falls to 1-3 on the season while Penn State improved to 3-1. The Tigers will head to Cancun, Mexico for the Cancun Challenge (Nov. 22-24). The Tigers take on the No. 15 DePaul Blue Demons on Nov. 22 at 11 a.m.