Despite hard fight, team drops contest

The IU women's basketball team lost to No. 14 Penn State 69-55 in State College, Pa. on Sunday in front of the third largest crowd ever at the Bryce Jordan Center.\nAn attendance of 11,915 watched the Lady Lions earn their 15th consecutive win at home. \nIU has lost six straight contests, all Big Ten games.\nEarly in the first half the Hoosiers (9-10, 2-7 Big Ten) kept pace with the conference co-favorites, but the Lions went on a 12-4 run to build a twelve-point halftime lead, 42-30.\nIU trailed by as many as 21 points in the second half, but battled back to within 10 points before falling by 14.\n"I feel like we fought hard today," IU coach Kathi Bennett said. "We did a better job in the second half stopping Kelly Mazzante, but we weren't so good offensively, so that kind of off-sets each other. At the beginning we got a lot of good inside touches and scores, but we had one span where we shot a lot of quicker three-point shots."\nThe Hoosiers have struggled with Penn State (18-5, 8-1 Big Ten) over the years, losing 18 of the 21 games played between the two teams. IU has never won in State College, compiling an 0-11 record. The Lions have yet to lose at home this season, with a mark of 11-0.\nIU was paced in scoring by senior guard Kristen Bodine with 15 points, the second straight game in which Bodine has led the Hoosiers in that category. She connected on 5-of-13 from the field. \nTwo other IU players reached the double figure scoring plateau. Senior guard Jill Hartman tallied 12 points, including a flawless 3-of-3 from three-point land. It was her second consecutive game in double-figures. Also, sophomore guard/forward Jenny DeMuth recorded 11 points. Senior forward Lisa Eckart added eight rebounds.\nPenn State mainly featured man-to-man defense, but when they switched to full-court press they stifled the Hoosiers. PSU forced IU to commit 18 turnovers, six more than the Lions. \n"Their press was effective but when we broke it we were tentative," Bennett said. "We have to attack when teams press us like that."\nPenn State was led in scoring by Mazzante, who poured in 33 points on 12-of-28 shooting. Mazzante is the nation's third leading scorer. \nThe Lions had two other players in double-figures, including sophomore guard Tanisha Wright's 14 points. \nThe IU bench played well, chipping in 18 points and receiving timely play from Hartman, sophomore forward Me'sha Salters, and freshman center Angela Hawkins. \nIU has allowed opponents to score 69 or more points in five of its last six games. The Hoosiers' most points surrendered in a loss this year was 78 against Iowa on Thursday. \nFreshman guard Cyndi Valentin's consecutive free throw streak ended at 25, as she missed a free throw in the second half. It was the second longest such streak in IU women's basketball history.\nIU next plays Minnesota at 1 p.m. Sunday at Assembly Hall.