UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State Lady Lions will host Virginia Tech in the Ninth Annual Big Ten/ACC Women's Basketball Challenge on Thursday, Dec. 3, the conferences announced Wednesday. This is the second season that the Challenge will feature 14 matchups.
The Lady Lions are 3-0 all-time against the Hokies, including a 66-28 victory in the only home court meeting in the series on Dec. 6, 2011 in Happy Valley. The last meeting between the two schools came on Dec. 12, 2012 in Blackburg, with Penn State claiming a 60-41 victory. The only other meeting was a 61-48 Lady Lion win on March 23, 2004 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on the Hokies home floor.
Penn State is 2-6 in Big Ten/ACC Challenge games, including a victory over Duke in the inaugural Challenge and a record-setting 103-84 win over nationally-ranked North Carolina in 2011. Game times, as well as television and broadband coverage, will be announced at a later date.
This is the first piece of the Lady Lions' 2015-16 schedule to be released, with the remainder of the non-conference and Big Ten schedules to be announced at a later date.
The Lady Lions will need to replace just one starter as they enter the 2015-16 campaign, as Tori Waldner capped her four-year career as one of the programs top shot blockers last season. Penn State welcomes four newcomers into the mix, as Amari Carter, Teniya Page, Ashanti Thomas and Jaylen Williams have all signed their National Letters of Intent.
Returning Lady Lions with extensive starting experience include senior Candice Agee, juniors Sierra Moore, Kaliyah Mitchell, Keke Sevillian and Peyton Whitted, and sophomore Lindsey Spann.
Spann is the squad's returning scorer at 13.2 points per game, while Moore (12.1) and Agee (10.6) also averaged in double figures. Mitchell paced the team with 7.0 rebounds per game, while Agee hauled in 6.1 boards per game and blocked a team-high 53 shots. Moore added 3.9 assists and 5.1 rebounds during her first season in the blue and white, while Spann contributed 3.0 assists per contest during her freshman season.
In last year's Challenge, the ACC and Big Ten closed out the two-day event in a 7-7 tie, with Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska and Northwestern recording wins.
The Big Ten and ACC conference offices determine the schedule each season. In addition, the official title of the Challenge rotates each year. The 2015 event will be referred to as the Big Ten/ACC Women's Basketball Challenge and will continue to mirror the official title of the two conferences' Challenge agreement for men's basketball.
The Big Ten and the ACC have long been among the most competitive conferences on the women's basketball scene. For the 10th time in the last 15 seasons, the Big Ten sent at least seven teams to the NCAA Tournament in 2015, as Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State and Rutgers all advanced to the national tournament. In addition, Michigan advanced to the WNIT semifinals.
Last season, the ACC saw eight women's basketball teams selected to the NCAA Tournament, while three advanced to the WNIT.
The Lady Lions will hold several camps throughout the summer. The 2015 Lady Lion Basketball Camp schedule is as follows: Total Package Team Camp (June 18-20), Elite Camp (June 20-21), MAD Skills Camp (21-23) and Games Galore Team Camp (August 1-2). For more information on Lady Lion Basketball Camps, please visit GoPSUsports.com/camps and click on Girls Basketball Camp under Summer Camps.
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2015 CHALLENGE SCHEDULEWednesday, December 2Illinois at Miami (Fla.)Georgia Tech at IndianaIowa at VirginiaSyracuse at MarylandNorthwestern at North CarolinaOhio State at Notre DameWisconsin at Wake Forest
Thursday, December 3Pittsburgh at MichiganLouisville at Michigan StateMinnesota at DukeNorth Carolina State at NebraskaVirginia Tech at Penn StateBoston College at PurdueRutgers at Florida State