STATE COLLEGE (AP) - Penn State coach Coquese Washington leaned back on the scorer's table and took a sip from a bottle of water, looking satisfied as the clock ticked down to zero and her team up by 21 points on Illinois.
It was only halftime, and yet the seventh-ranked Lady Lions were already in firm control.
Maggie Lucas scored 22 points, backcourt mate Alex Bentley added 20 and Penn State overwhelmed Illinois in transition in a 95-62 win Wednesday night, moving a step closer to a second straight Big Ten regular-season title.
The Lady Lions (22-3, 12-1) built a double-digit cushion by halftime after shooting 58 percent in the first half. Penn State had a two-game lead on second-place Nebraska entering Wednesday night, with three games left on the Lady Lions' schedule after the win over the Illini.
Penn State didn't let up down the stretch and led by as much as 27 early in the second half. Even 19 second-half turnovers couldn't derail Penn State after shooting 61 percent for the night - the first time the team eclipsed that mark since 1996.
"I thought we played well in spurts," Washington said. "I thought there were stretches ... where we were playing pretty sloppy and didn't do a good job of controlling the ball."
About the only area where Penn State fell short were turnovers, coughing up 29 on the evening overall after the second half deteriorated into a choppy pace that resembled a playground pick-up game. Illinois had 20 turnovers.
Otherwise, Illinois was overmatched after managing a 7-5 lead early in the first half. Illinois, which was tied for third in the league, visited Penn State two days after beating Wisconsin 60-53 at home.
The Lady Lions had a 49-26 run over the final 15 minutes of the half.
"Wow, were they good tonight," Illini coach Matt Bollant said. "They came out and punched us in the mouth and we really didn't respond."
Adrienne GodBold had 17 points for foul-plagued Illinois (15-10, 8-5). Karisma Penn finished with 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting and five rebounds, but spent chunks of the game on the bench with foul trouble.
ILLINOIS (15-10)
Penn 6-7 4-5 17, Crawford 3-7 4-8 10, Smith 3-9 1-1 7, GodBold 6-22 4-4 17, Moore 3-10 0-0 8, Piper 0-2 0-0 0, Tuck 0-5 0-0 0, Oden 1-4 1-2 3. Totals 22-66 14-20 62.
PENN ST. (22-3)
Taylor 4-8 1-2 9, Bentley 8-12 2-2 20, Nickson 3-4 7-9 13, Lucas 7-11 5-6 22, Greene 3-3 0-1 6, Agee 2-4 4-8 8, East 1-1 0-0 2, Edwards 4-6 2-2 11, Studevent 1-2 0-0 2, Waldner 0-3 2-2 2. Totals 33-54 23-32 95.
Halftime-Penn St. 54-33. 3-Point Goals-Illinois 4-17 (Moore 2-7, Penn 1-1, GodBold 1-5, Piper 0-1, Crawford 0-1, Tuck 0-2), Penn St. 6-9 (Lucas 3-5, Bentley 2-2, Edwards 1-1, Taylor 0-1). Fouled Out-Crawford, Penn. Rebounds-Illinois 26 (Penn 5), Penn St. 45 (Lucas 9). Assists-Illinois 8 (Crawford, Moore, Smith 2), Penn St. 19 (Bentley 7). Total Fouls-Illinois 25, Penn St. 21. Technical-Oden. A-4,539.
