Penn State Proves Itself to Kansas State

Penn State had a lot to prove against Kansas State.

Tanisha Wright had 23 points in No. 7 Penn State’s 69-56 victory over No. 9 Kansas State on Saturday in the championship game of the Junkanoo Shootout in Freeport, Bahamas. Last season, Kansas State beat the Lady Lions, 88-66, in the final of the Preseason NIT.

Kelly Mazzante finished with 16 points for Penn State (3-1), and Jess Strom added 15 points and six assists. Nicole Ohlde and Megan Mahoney scored 15 points each for Kansas State (2-2).

“Revenge is sweet, and we definitely talked about it a lot,” Strom said. “That was a bad game for us last year and we just wanted to come back and prove they are not better than us.”

“I’m the point guard, so I’m supposed to be in the middle of everything and I was just trying to get my teammates involved. We decided just to attack their press and I was able to dribble through it.”

Penn State closed the first half with a 12-0 run for a 31-26 lead, and Kansas State could never get closer than two points in the second half. Penn State also scored 19 points off 12 Kansas State turnovers.

No. 2 Texas 74, Virginia 54 -- Jamie Carey scored 20 points for the Longhorns in the semifinals of the Rainbow Wahine Classic at Honolulu. Heather Schreiber scored 14 points, Nina Norman 12 and Tiffany Jackson 10 for Texas, which forced 27 Virginia turnovers. LaTonya Blue led Virginia (2-2) with 18 points, while Brandi Teamer added 10.

Texas (4-0) will face Montana, a 70-49 winner over Hartford, today for the title.

No. 4 Duke 119, Stephen F. Austin 53 -- Iciss Tillis scored 23 points and Mistie Bass added a career-high 21 to lead Duke to victory over the LadyJacks in the first round of the Duke Classic at Durham, N.C. Alana Beard added 20 points and seven players for Duke scored in double figures. The Blue Devils (3-1) will face Auburn in today’s championship game.

No. 5 Texas Tech 77, Southern Methodist 37 -- Jia Perkins scored 22 points and Texas Tech set a school record by holding the Mustangs to 17% shooting from the field in the championship game of the SMU Hoops for the Cure Classic at Dallas.

SMU went 14:33 without a field goal. During the drought, the Lady Raiders (6-0) outscored SMU (1-2), 31-4.

No. 8 Purdue 76, Wake Forest 57 -- Shereka Wright scored 19 points and Purdue pulled away late in the Golden Knights Classic at Orlando, Fla. Beth Jones added 12 points and Erin Lawless scored 11 for the Boilermakers (4-1), who closed the game on a 14-4 run.

No. 13 North Carolina 76, Maryland-Baltimore County 34 -- Leah Metcalf and Ivory Latta scored 16 points to lead the Tar Heels (4-0) at Chapel Hill, N.C. The Retrievers (0-3) never got closer than 22 points in the second half.

No. 18 Louisiana State 73, Rice 51 -- Seimone Augustus scored 21 points and Temeka Johnson finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and five steals for Louisiana State (2-2) at Houston.

Anne Peck led Rice (0-3) with 13 points, and Michelle Woods added 10 points and nine rebounds.

No. 20 Colorado 74, California 63 -- Tera Bjorklund had 21 points and nine rebounds for Colorado in the championship game of the Coors Classic at Boulder, Colo.

Colorado (5-1) got 14 points from freshman Emily Waner and 13 apiece from Randie Wirt and Kate Fagan. Wirt added 10 rebounds.

Nihan Anaz scored 17 points to lead California (3-1), which committed 30 turnovers. LaTasha O’Keith had 15 points and Leigh Gregory added 14 points and eight rebounds.

No. 21 Arizona 67, Navy 61 -- Shawntinice Polk scored 19 points and sparked two key runs to lead Arizona to a win over Navy at the Rainbow Wahine Classic in Honolulu.

After a 17-5 Navy run tied the score at 48 with less than eight minutes left, Polk scored on two consecutive possessions for Arizona (2-2) while Navy failed to score on four straight trips up the floor.

Courtney Davidson led Navy (2-2) with 21 points.

No. 22 Utah 66, Fresno State 53 -- Kim Smith scored 22 points for the Utes in the championship game of the Fresno State Classic.

Mandie Little added 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Utes (3-1). Aritta Lane led Fresno State (1-2) with 16 points and eight rebounds.

No. 23 Texas Christian 79, Brigham Young 74 -- Amy Pack scored 18 points and had five rebounds to lead Texas Christian at Provo, Utah.

Sandora Irvin added 16 points and seven rebounds and Ebony Shaw scored 10 for the Lady Frogs (3-0).

Julie Sullivan had a chance to tie it at 75 for the Cougars (2-2) with 30 seconds left but went one-of-two from the line.

No. 24 Oregon 83, North Carolina State 78 -- Cathrine Kraayeveld scored 18 points and Andrea Bills 17 to lead the Ducks (5-0) past the Wolfpack (2-2) in the first round of the Oregon Classic tournament in Eugene.

No. 25 Auburn 79, Creighton 72 -- Le’Coe Willingham scored 16 of her 21 points in the second half, helping the Tigers (4-1) rally in the Duke Classic. Laura Spanheimer’s 22 points paced Creighton (1-2), which led 46-39 at halftime.