Penn State Overcomes Turnovers, Purdue

Penn State had more turnovers than baskets, yet still was good enough to beat poor-shooting Purdue.

Andrea Garner scored 14 points as the No. 6 Lady Lions held off a second-half comeback and beat the No. 12 Boilermakers, 55-50, Thursday night at West Lafayette, Ind. The loss snapped the defending NCAA champion Boilermakers’ streaks of 25 consecutive victories against Big Ten opponents and 21 straight at home.

Penn State (11-2 overall, 3-0 Big Ten) built a 17-point lead early in the second half thanks to Purdue’s miserable shooting and repeated turnovers. But the Lady Lions’ own errors began catching up with them, and a 13-point run by Purdue (9-3, 1-1) turned a seeming rout into a close game over the final 12 minutes.

Penn State shot 21 of 50 from the field but had 25 turnovers. Purdue had 20 turnovers and shot just 34 percent, making 21 of 62 attempts.

Douglas led the Boilermakers with 16 points and Cooper added 15 points and nine rebounds. Maren Walseth, with 10, was the only other Penn State player in double figures.

No. 2 Tennessee 86, No. 16 Louisiana State 50--Michelle Snow scored 22 points and Tamika Catchings had 10 points and 11 rebounds as the Volunteers (11-1, 1-0) earned their first victory at Baton Rouge, La., since 1995 with a Southeastern Conference victory over the Tigers (10-3, 1-1).

No. 3 North Carolina State 62, Florida State 58--Tynesha Lewis and Kaayla Chones scored 17 points apiece as the Wolfpack (13-0, 4-0) continued its best start in school history with an Atlantic Coast Conference victory over the Seminoles (7-5, 0-2) at Tallahassee, Fla.

Kentucky 71, No. 5 Auburn 69--LaTonya McDole’s running one-hander in the lane with four seconds remaining gave the Wildcats (9-4) the upset over the Tigers (11-2) at Lexington, Ky., in a Southeastern Conference opener for both teams.

Virginia 87, No. 9 North Carolina 68--Renee Robinson scored a career-high 24 points and Svetlana Volnaya scored 19 of her 22 in the second half, as the Cavaliers (10-4, 2-1) upset the Tar Heels (9-4, 1-2) at Charlottesville, Va., in an Atlantic Coast Conference game.

No. 18 Arizona 71, California 58--Tatum Brown scored 15 points as the Wildcats (12-1, 1-0) defeated the Bears (5-6, 0-1) in a Pacific 10 opener at Tucson.

Florida 85, No. 18 Mississippi State 72--Naomi Mobley tied her career high with 21 points and added 14 rebounds to lead the Gators (10-2) to an upset over the Bulldogs (11-1), handing them their first loss in a Southeastern Conference opener for both schools.

No. 25 Arkansas State 67, Western Kentucky 62--Julie Hagood hit a three-pointer and three free throws late in the game to boost the Lady Indians (10-1, 1-0) to victory over the Lady Toppers (5-6, 0-1) in a Sun Belt Conference opener at Jonesboro, Ark.