Penn State Women’s Basketball: Lady Lions Upset by Purdue in Semifinals of Big Ten Tournament

Penn State won a Big Ten regular season championship.

It won’t get the conference tournament title.

The No. 1 seed Lady Lions fell to No. 4 seed Purdue, 68-66, Saturday night in a semifinal matchup in Indianapolis. Penn State (24-5, 13-3 Big Ten) awaits the March 12 seeding for the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

Tied at 66 with 16 seconds left in regulation, Purdue’s Brittany Rayburn hit a tough baseline lay-in with less than two seconds remaining to give the Boilermakers the win.

‘It was kind of a redirect play,’ Rayburn said on the Big Ten Network postgame show. ‘We kept saying take it to the basket.’

Her heart rate moments after the upset?

‘It’s probably unhealthy right now,’ Rayburn said.

Purdue will face conference newcomer Nebraska on Sunday for the Big Ten Tournament title.

Junior point Alex Bentley, an Indianapolis native, led the Lady Lions with 22 points, but Penn State shot 36.8 percent for the game.

Sophomore guard Maggie Lucas, a first-team all-conference selection along with Bentley, finished with nine points on 3-for-11 shooting from the field, including 0-for-5 from 3-point range.

Related coverage:

• StateCollege.com’s Penn State basketball page