Penn State dominates IU

Led by senior guard Kelly Mazzante's 24 points, No. 5 Penn State (18-3, 10-0 Big Ten) pulled away in the second half for a 66-49 win over IU (10-11, 3-7 Big Ten). Mazzante missed only one shot in the second half as the Lady Lions continued their best-ever start in Big Ten play.\nTenacious defense and the free throw shooting of junior forward Jenny DeMuth kept the Hoosiers within four of Penn State at halftime. DeMuth was a perfect eight for eight from the charity stripe in the first half, and Mazzante, the Big Ten's all-time leading scorer, was held to seven points.\nThe Hoosiers were unable to hold her back in the second half, though. After IU scored the first basket of the half to cut Penn State's lead to two, the Lady Lions went on a 18-3 run over the next seven minutes, led by Mazzante's nine points.\nIU was held to 28.3 percent shooting from the field for the game, tying for their lowest shooting performance of the year against Minnesota.\n"We let what happened on offense affect our defense," DeMuth said.\nUp next for the Hoosiers is Illinois.\nIU versus the U of I. These two teams both play at Assembly Hall, are both from neighboring states and are both fighting to stay out of the cellar of the Big Ten Conference. If it wasn't a basketball game, it would be a battle of plagiarists. \nAt press time, the University of Illinois Fighting Illini come into the contest with a 2-7 Big Ten record and stand at 8-12 overall while the Hoosiers stand at 3-7 in conference action and 10-11 overall, pending the result of the Penn State game.\nDespite Illinois' triple-team of talented players -- juniors Angelina Williams and Tiffanie Guthrie and senior Cindy Dallas -- IU coach Kathi Bennett said IU's goal is to concentrate upon the Hoosiers first and the Fighting Illini second. \n"We're hungry for a win," Bennett said. "They have some pretty special players, but our game plan is to take care of ourselves first."\nAs usual, the Hoosiers will look to DeMuth and sophomore Cyndi Valentin for the majority of IU's offensive production. At press time, the pair average a combined 34.4 ppg, 11.2 rpg and 3.5 steals per game. To place the DeMuth/Valentin duo in perspective, their average scoring output eclipses the rest of the Hoosier team by one full point per game. \nWhile DeMuth and Valentin can always be relied upon for offensive output, Valentin said the team's focus will be dedicated more to the defensive side of the ball. \n"We worked a lot on defense (for this weekend)," Valentin said. "I think coach Bennett did a good job at telling us how to execute on the defensive end for the game."\nThe last time IU locked horns with the Fighting Illini this season, IU came out as a 63-56 victor, with DeMuth and Valetin leading the way with 18 and 17 points, respectively. On the Illinois side of the ball, the aforementioned trio scored all but two of the Fighting Illini's total offensive production. \nWhile the Hoosiers came out of the Jan. 22 game as the victor, the Hoosiers said they won't simply look past Sunday's game against Illinois.\n"We've got to come, and we've got to be ready," junior LeeAnn Stephenson said. "We know what players we need to shut down and what to do defensively."\n-- Contact senior writers Alex Hickey and Dan Patrick at ahickey@indiana.edu and djpatric@indiana.edu.