ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The Penn State Lady Lions shot 56 percent from the field, including 66 percent in the second half, on the way to a dominating 77-56 win at Michigan Thursday night.
The Lady Lions (16-4, 6-2) are 4-0 in Big Ten road games this season, marking the first time since the 1993-94 season that PSU opened the conference slate perfect through its first four games.
Maggie Lucas had 23 points and eight rebounds Thursday night.
Alex Bentley had 18 points and eight assists, and Nikki Greene added 13 points and 11 rebounds to help the Lady Lions win their fifth straight.
Penn State never trailed and led 35-19 at the break thanks to a 13-0 run midway through the first half. Greene scored nine points during the spurt and Michigan helped the Lady Lions by shooting just 24 percent (8 for 33) from the floor in the first half.
The Lady Lions jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the first four minutes thanks to six consecutive points from Lucas and a bucket from Bentley. However, the Wolverines responded with a 6-0 spurt to tie the game at 8-8 with 12:20 remaining in the half.
Michigan would cut the lead to 14 (33-19) before Bentley capped the scoring in the half with a fade away jumper to send the teams into the break with Penn State holding a 35-19 lead.
Penn State opened the second half with continued success as the Lady Lions scored seven of the first nine points in the period thanks to two points each from Greene and Bentley and a three-pointer from Lucas to establish a 21-point lead (42-21) just over two minutes into the second frame.
The Wolverines closed the gap with a 7-2 spurt of their own to make it 44-28 with less than 16 minutes on the clock.
Penn State stretched the lead to 31 with five minutes to play. The Wolverines made a final charge to cut the lead to 22 (75-53) before Bentley ended the run with a fastbreak layup with less than a minute remaining.
