Offense can't take bite from Lions

Penn State guard Kelly Mazzante caught the ball on the perimeter and fired a three-pointer 23 seconds into the Nittany Lions' matchup with IU last night.\nThat initial shot fell good, registering Mazzante's first three points of a 16-point half.\nThe game went downhill from there -- for the Hoosiers. Too much Mazzante, too little effective defensive and too many missed late foul shots spelled a 67-59 loss for IU at Assembly Hall.\nMazzante, the nation's leading scorer, tallied all eight of Penn State's first points and 32 points on 10-of-23 shooting for the night. The Hoosiers' defense kept testing the sophomore with tight double teams almost every time she touched the ball. But Mazzante released seven three-pointers off set plays and behind close guards to produce her eighth 30-plus-point game of the season.\n"I felt it took us too long to do the things how we wanted to defend Mazzante," IU coach Kathi Bennett said. "It took us too long to recognize what we had worked on and needed to do."\nThe Hoosiers' plan had been to attack Mazzante with double teams, and guard Tara Jones starting against her. But Jones played only six minutes, and Penn State forward Rashana Barnes picked up the offensive slack when Mazzante couldn't, causing trouble on the inside with 15 points and 16 rebounds.\n Mazzante's four three-pointers helped the Nittany Lions to a 29-22 halftime lead. But the Hoosiers (11-12, 5-7 Big Ten) refused to dwindle with their own better-than-average shooting of 42 percent for the second half. \nBut that offense came too late. Mazzante unleashed three treys within the first six minutes after halftime to raise Penn State's lead to 46-28 at 14:20. IU forward Erin McGinnis scored the Hoosiers next eight points to pull IU to 50-36. The senior led IU with 19 points, nine rebounds and five assists.\n"I was a being a little more aggressive at that time," McGinnis said. "I tried to be more aggressive in the second half. They just didn't fall the rest of the time."\nForward Allison Skapin capped a 14-6 run with back-to-back baskets to cut Penn State's lead to 58-50 at 7:22. The Hoosiers stole the ball on the next two possessions, but missed their next six foul shots. IU shot 56 percent on free throws and 41 percent from the floor.\nCenter Jill Chapman pulled the Hoosiers to within five points at 60-55 with 2:23 left. But then Mazzante drove to the basket, laid the ball in and was fouled by IU guard Jill Hartman, increasing Penn State's lead to 62-55.\nPenn State (16-8, 8-3 Big Ten) made five of its next nine foul shots to seal the win.\n"We had nine possessions where we had six turnovers caused by their defense or caused by us not stepping to the ball," Penn State coach Rene Portland said. "We made our foul shots at the end and they didn't make their foul shots. So, that's real important"