Lady Lions upend Illinois in opening round of Big Tens

Penn State’s Teniya Page was on fire Wednesday afternoon as she torched Illinois’ postseason dreams.

Page scored 38 points — a Lady Lions record in the Big Ten tournament — as the Penn State women’s basketball cruised past Illinois 83-57 in the opening round of the conference tourney at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. It was Page’s 15th straight double-digit performance.

PSU advances to take on No. 6 Michigan at 9 p.m. Thursday in the second-round game.

The Lady Lions trailed early Wednesday in the second quarter but then went on a key 15-0 run that was sparked by an Alisia Smith layup. Penn State led 33-27 at halftime and outscored the Illini in the second half by a 50-30 margin.

Page was 14 of 24 from the field, including 4 of 8 from long range, in the winning effort. She also added four assists, four rebounds and two steals.

This story was originally published February 28, 2018 at 8:42 PM with the headline "Lady Lions upend Illinois in opening round of Big Tens."