Penn State Nittany Lions, 1/19/06Penn State has a 7-9 record in the 2005-06 season, including 1-4 in Big Ten play. The Nittany Lions have defeated Duquesne, Pittsburgh, Texas Tech, George Mason, Alabama A&M, St. Francis (Pa.) and Wisconsin, while losing to Duke, Villanova, Old Dominion, Marquette, Middle Tennessee State, Ohio State, Indiana, Michigan State and Illinois.
Head Coach Rene Portland is in her 26th year at Penn State University, earning an overall record of 581-204 and 162-50 in the Big Ten as the Nittany Lion coach. She also has had coaching stints at St. Joseph's and the University of Colorado. Her Penn State squads have never finished lower than 7th in the Big Ten standings (8-8 in 1997-1998), nor finished with an overall sub-.500 record (14-14 in 1988-1989). Penn State has advanced to 21 NCAA tournaments under Portland’s reign.
Penn State’s 2005-2006 roster includes 10 players: three with junior eligibility, three with sophomore eligibility and four with freshman eligibility. Seven are listed at six feet or taller. Seven players have seen action in all 16 Nittany Lion contests, each averaging double figures in minutes. Adrienne Squire leads the team with 32.9 minutes per contest.
Penn State averages 66.4 points per game, shooting 42.9% from the field and 29.9% from 3-point range and 76.2% from the free throw line. The team outrebounds its opponents by a 36.2-34.1 margin on average, but has an overall 212:272 ratio of assists to turnovers. Penn State’s opponents average 67.5 points per game, shooting 42.0% from the floor and 39.7% from 3-point range. Opponents, however, have a 224:224 assist:turnover ratio. Penn State has blocked 75 opponents’ shots and picked off 104 steals so far. The team averages slightly fewer than 23 free throw attempts per game, but opponents average slightly fewer than 59 field goal attempts per game.
Amanda Brown, Kamela Gissendanner and Squire are the top three Penn State scorers, averaging 15.5, 14.9 and 12.1 points per game. Brown shoots 59.4% from the field and 78% from the free throw line, Squire makes 36.6% of her three-point shots and 98.1% of her free throws, while Gissendanner averages 13.5 field goal attempts per game. Brown also paces the squad with 7.4 rebounds per game and 33 blocked shots. Brianne O’Rourke leads Penn State with 5.5 assists per game and 27 steals.
