Associated Press
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill —
Alex Bentley scored 20 points, Maggie Lucas added 18, and No. 8 Penn State beat Ohio State
76-66 Friday in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament.
The top-seeded Lady Lions (25-4) had their difficulties in this one after earning a first-round bye and their second straight regular-season title with a 14-2 conference record.
But they went on a big run early in the second half to break a tie and earn a spot in Saturday’s semifinals against the Michigan-Michigan State winner.
Bentley was 8 of 17 from the field. Lucas, the Big Ten player of the year, hit three 3-pointers.
Nikki Greene scored 17, and the Lady Lions shook off a slow start to shoot just over 49 percent in the game.
Tayler Hill scored 23 for Ohio State (18-13) and became the fifth Buckeyes player to hit the 2,000-point mark.
n Marquette 66, Pitt 43: In Hartford, Conn., Katie Young scored 11 points and Katherine Plouffe added 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds as 10th-seeded Marquette beat 15th-seed Pitt in the first round of the Big East tournament.
It was the fourth straight win for the Golden Eagles (16-14), who will face DePaul in the second round.
Brianna Kiesel had 13 points for Pitt (9-21), which finished the season on a 17-game losing streak. The Panthers have not won a conference game since the 2011 tournament, a string of 35 consecutive games.
