Saturday, Jan. 8 2:00pm ET
Penn State balance overwhelms Florida
 
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STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- For a while Saturday afternoon, Penn State's offense ran as smoothly as those two-player drills best friends Andrea Garner and Helen Darling run after practice.

Maren Walseth
Penn State's Maren Walseth fends off Florida's Tamara Stocks, left, while picking up a loose ball.

Darling feeds Garner, Garner drives in for the basket. Garner slips behind the defense, Darling finds her over the top for a backdoor layup.

Garner ended up scoring 21 points and Darling piled up 12 assists Saturday as Penn State (No. 5 ESPN/USA Today, No. 6 AP) routed Florida 91-67. The Lady Lions won their eighth straight by shooting 62 percent in the first half as all five starters scored in double digits.

"I don't know why, but I was open," said Garner, wearing three ice packs on her legs after the game. "I got myself to open spots and fortunately, the rest of the team saw me open and I got my shots."

Florida coach Carol Ross said she couldn't figure it out either.

"She wasn't the only person open," she said. "There were a whole lot of people open."

Lisa Shepherd led Penn State (12-2) with 23 points and Maren Walseth had 17 points. Darling had 12 points and Chrissy Falcone 10.

"Florida had to be concerned about a lot of people, because our balance has come out," Penn State coach Rene Portland said.

Tamara Stocks had 16 points for Florida (10-3), Tiffany Travis added 14 and Tonya Washington 13.

The Gators fell to 1-3 against ranked opponents this season, and their schedule only gets tougher, with No. 7 Georgia and No. 5 Auburn in the next two weeks.

The Lions suffered no letdown after Thursday's victory over No. 12 Purdue, their first against the Boilermakers since 1996. They made 18 of 29 shots in the first half, including five of seven from 3-point range. At the other end, they held the Gators to 35 percent. By the end of the half, Penn State led by 21.

Penn State led by 11 points late in the first half, then pulled away with a 10-0 run to close the half. Rashana Barnes started it with a driving score, Garner hit a jumper and Darling a 3-pointer. Barnes' free throw made it 45-24 at halftime.

The Gators pushed the ball into the paint to stay within three points with nine minutes left in the half. Darling's jumper and Falcone's two 3-pointers led a 9-0 Penn State run as the Lions took a 28-16 lead.

Garner tied her career best with 14 rebounds.

The Lions were whistled for only six fouls and Florida shot only two free throws. Ross blamed her team, not the refs.

"We could be in greater Gainesville and we would lose by about the same margin if we don't play more aggressively with the basketball in our hand," she griped. "We did not have an aggressive, attack mentality on the offensive end."

 


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