Big Ten (11) Recap

The stage is set for the conference regular season championship as both the Boilers and the Nittany Lions won Thursday night. The big game between these two is Sunday, 1:30 PM at Penn State. The game is televised on ESPN2.

#4 Purdue won their 15th game in a row topping Iowa 84-55. Shereka Wright tallied 21 points and Erika Valek dished out 12 assists. PU/Iowa Recap

Meanwhile, #6 Penn State beat #22 Michigan State 63-51. Kelly Mazzante had 23 and Jess Strom 18 for PSU. Mazzante was coming off the worst game of her career. "Michigan State has been one of my biggest challenges as far as figuring out ways to score," Mazzante said. "I watched a lot of film, figured out ways to get open shots and tried to get to the foul line." PSU/MSU Recap Here's another story warning Purdue coach Kristy Curry to not tick off the Lady Lions. Ticked off PSU

Also in conference play, #25 Ohio State upset #12 Minnesota in Minneapolis 76-62. OSU shot 69% for the game. Nobody wants to draw the Bucks in the Big Ten (11) Tourney next week. They are HOT! OSU/MINN Recap

Michigan got by Northwestern last night 73-55. Jennifer Smith of the Wolverines broke the schools single season scoring record in the game scoring 27 points. UM/NU Recap

Wisconsin got by fading Illinois 59-53 for their first conference road win of the season. UW/UI Recap “Our kids battled tonight,” praised Wisconsin Head Coach Lisa Stone. “It was a very physical game, and we weren’t getting too many calls, but we overcame the hostile environment and put this one away. I’m really proud of my team. We’ve been battling all kinds of things, and to have our first road win right now – it builds some momentum for us.”

I got my Big Ten (11) Tourney tickets in the mail yesterday! Section 15. Should be a great time! Action starts at 3PM Thursday. If anyone wants to meet up before the game for a beer, email me!

Top 25 Notes

#2 Tennessee had no problem with Arkansas winning 93-71. Coach Summit was upset that her kids didn't play hard for the entire game. "It really bothered me that we didn't handle the pressure better fullcourt," Summitt said. "It wasn't about this game, it was about this team and the next game and the next game and the postseason. We have to be sharp for 40 minutes and we were sharp for about 32 minutes, maybe 35." UT/Ark Recap

#6 LA Tech now stands at 21-2 after defeating UTEP 83-60. RECAP

#10 Stanford was upset by Oregon 67-66. That puts the Cardinal in a tie for the Pac-10 conference with Arizona with one game to go. Tara was not happy after the game. "We're going to have to play a lot better than this," Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. "We are going to have to look at who is contributing for us, especially who is producing on the defensive end. We have to execute down the stretch. It's very disappointing to have a game in hand and let it slip away."

#11 North Carolina raised their record to 21-5 with an easy victory over Florida State 71-58. UNC/FSU Recap

#18 Auburn thumped rival Alabama 72-40. AU/UA Recap

Florida got by #19 Georgia 69-59. As everyone knows, Georgia kicked their leading scorer, 6'6" Kara Braxton off the team on Feb 20. Vanessa Hayden took advantage and scored 18 points on 9 of 14 shooting. UF/GA Recap

Have a great weekend! GO BOILERS!!
Peace!