Penn State Basketball: Top-Seeded Lady Lions Survive Scare to Beat Minnesota 78-74

Down by as many as 13 points in the first half, top-seeded Penn State used a 29-9 run to pull ahead of Minnesota, escaping with a 78-74 victory in the quarterfinal round of the Big Ten women’s basketball tournament Friday night in Indianapolis.

Penn State’s Maggie Lucas found herself on the bench with two quick fouls, and Alex Bentley struggled from the field, allowing for a physical Minnesota team to take an early 11-5 lead only four minutes into the game.

Rachel Banham led the way for the Golden Gophers with 25 points and nine rebounds as part of a Minnesota attack that played much more physical than the previous meeting 11 days ago.

After struggling to find their stroke in the first half, the Lady Lions opened up the final 20 minutes strong on a 16-2 run that put Penn State up 45-38 with 14:22 left in the game.

Lucas and Zhaque Gray combined for 7-of-13 from behind the arc, scoring 24 and 19 points, respectively. Lucas scored 15 of her 23 points in the second half making up for her first half performance.

Penn State (24-5) extended its second-half lead to as many as 13 with 9:45 remaining, but a Minnesota rally cut the lead to only two with 26 seconds left. Free throws from Bentley and Gray put the game out of reach in the final seconds.

Penn State will play again Saturday night against No. 4 Purdue, which beat Michigan State 73-64 Friday night in another quarterfinal.

Related coverage

• StateCollege.com’s Penn State basketball page