Freshman helps lift Lady Lions to win over Northwestern

UNIVERSITY PARK - Penn State coach Rene Portland knew Reicina Russell would play her way out of her midseason slump eventually. It finally happened today, just when the freshman was needed most.

Russell had 22 points and 16 rebounds to lead the fifth-ranked Lady Lions to a 64-51 victory over Northwestern.

Despite winning a starting spot in early January, Russell averaged just 5.4 points and 5.2 rebounds over her last five games, struggling with foul trouble and playing limited minutes.

"She got her self in a little foul trouble, a little funk, and I actually saw a few tears in her eyes," Portland said. "This was a great comeback in a way that the team really needed a great comeback."

It was the 10th consecutive win for the Lady Lions (17-3, 9-0 Big Ten) and tied their best-ever conference start, but they needed a late rally to pull ahead of the upset-minded Wildcats.

Most of the time, Penn State doesn't need Russell to score. The Lady Lions usually rely on their backcourt -- Kelly Mazzante is the Big Ten's career scoring leader, and all the guards in Penn State's four-guard offense average at least 9.8 points.

But those four guards combined to go just 12-of-45 from the field today, while Russell hit all nine of her shots and four of six free throws.

"It wasn't really anything too big. I just needed to finish because we needed to score," Russell said. "I got a lot of nice baskets from my teammates, though, more than I did putbacks. They played really unselfish."

Trailing by nine points at halftime, Northwestern (7-13, 0-9) held the Lady Lions without a field goal for almost 8 minutes, tying the game at 35-35 on Alex Mueller's 3-pointer. The Wildcats took their first lead, 43-42, on another 3 by Mueller with 8:33 left.

"We held them scoreless for the first four minutes of the second half," Northwestern coach June Olkowski said. "I can't tell you the last time somebody called the first timeout in a game and it wasn't me."

But with the score tied 45-45, Penn State went on a 12-1 run, including a 3-pointer from Jess Strom.

"We had our opportunities and we missed shots," Olkowski said. "They pressed us a little, and we would turn it over."

Russell's putback with 2:40 left made it 57-46, and Northwestern's floor-spreading, back-screening offense couldn't make up that many points in that little time.

Mazzante finished with just 12 points, going 3-of-18 from the field, including 0-for-9 on 3-point tries.

"We tried to defend her and make her shoot tough shots. She really didn't get many open looks," Oklowski said. "We lost Strom and she nailed it."

Strom scored 12 points and Jess Brungo had 10.

"I hate to say a win's a win, but the bottom line is a win is a win," Portland said.

Mueller came off the bench to lead Northwestern with 14 points, and Melissa Culver scored 10.

Northwestern scored the game's first four points, and Culver's 3-pointer gave the Wildcats a 12-7 lead 5 minutes in.

But Penn State went on an 11-0 run, starting with Brungo's 3-pointer at the 9:52 mark, and took a 22-14 lead on Tanisha Wright's reverse layup. The Lady Lions led 33-24 at halftime.