The Lady Lions continued to dominate in an impressive 83-53 win over Minnesota last night at the Jordan Center. Maggie Lucas lead the Lady Lions with 25 points followed by fellow guard Dara Taylor who had the best performance of her college career. Taylor notched a double-double with 15 points, 10 assists, and four steals.

The defense was key to the Lady Lions’ victory and only allowed three Minnesota players to score in the first 35 minutes of play. The Gophers would only have 5 total scorers on the night.

Penn State jumped out to a 13-4 lead in the first four minutes. Talia East opened the game with a layup followed by Taylor and Lucas who then took over. Taylor hit a jumper, a layup, and two free throws while Lucas followed with two jumpers and a three. The Lady Lions let up and traded baskets with the Gophers for the next three minutes, each team scoring eight points, to make the score 21-12 with twelve minutes left in the first half.

The Lady Lions soon picked up the pace of the game, increasing their lead to 22 points, and outscored the Gophers 21-10 for the rest of the first half to take a 44-22 lead going into the half. Six different Lady Lions scored during that stretch.

Penn State opened the second half by scoring 13 of the first 21 points and took the largest lead of the game at 57-30. Lucas sparked the run with seven points off a three, a jumper, and two free throws. Tori Waldner and East also contributed two points each during the stretch.

Minnesota wouldn’t go down without a fight and responded with a 12-2 run over the next three minutes to cut the lead to 17. It was as close as the Gophers would get for the rest of the night. The Lady Lions outscored Minnesota 24-11 down the stretch and won its fourth game in a row with a decisive 83-53 victory.

The Lady Lions are back in action Thursday night at 6 p.m. when it takes on Purdue in West Lafayette on the BTN network.