13 I TUESDAY, JAN. 19, 2010 1 111 ‘‘\ 11 , k NCAA Basketball Purdue at Illinois 9 p.m., ESPN NHL Columbus at Philadelphia 7 p.m., CSN N.Y. Islanders at Pittsburgh 7:30 p.m., FSP OFI THE *To read full stories psucollegian.com Penn State splits against Terps, Pitt The Lions bounced back from Friday mistakes to split its two-day tn-meet in Pittsburgh this weekend. Sweep of weekend requires comeback The Lions beat Maryland, Villanova and Pitt this week end at the University of Pittsburgh Trees Pool. PSU takes 4 events in West Point win The Lions won four of six events in team competition this past weekend to win the West Point Open for the 12th-straight time. Fencers sluggish after winter break Penn State failed to rank a fencer higher than ninth at the North American Cup. Quarterback Clark to play senior game Daryll Clark will join team mates Andrew Quarless and Jeremy Boone for Saturday's East-West Shrine Game, at 3 p.m. Saturday in Orlando, Fla. The game will air on ESPN2. Romeo Crennel will coach the East team and Marty Schottenheimer will coach the West. Penn State fourth in Directors' Cup After the completion of the fall sports season, Penn State ranks fourth in the 2009-10 Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings. Penn State finished the fall season with 318.50 points and its highest placement since 2005-06. The university also claimed its 10th top-5 fall fin ish in the Directors' Cup's 16- year history. Penn State ranks behind Stanford, Virginia and UCLA in the 2009-10 Cup standings. OUR NFL After Sunday's loss, Phillips ought to go Well, the Cowboys lost another postseason game. It came a week late, but now Wade Phillips needs to watch his back once more. After all, who really believe§ Jerry Jones saying his mind is made up? For more of our thoughts, and to share yours, visit the MAKE PLAYS blog at psucol leglan.com. TRIVIA NFL Q: When was the last time two teams who received a playoff bye met in the Super Bowl? Friday's answer: Charles Woodson made his last Pro Bowl in 2008, his fifth of his career. Safety has shoulder surgery Returning tarter Drcw Astorino had surgen on his left shoulder Friday. By Wayne Staats Safety Drew Astormo. a starter in the secondary this past season. had surgery on hi , 4 left shoulder on Friday. ;is con firmed by sports . information direc tor Jeff Nelson. I He! is e: , :pected lo be 100 pez C , eon Senior guard Tyra Grant (1) goes to shoot over Michigan State center Allyssa DeHaan in Sunday's game at the Bryce Jordan Center. The Lady Lions' balanced offense led to a 68-60 win against the No. 20 Spartans. PSU finds balance By Audrey Snyder c Grant was doing more than what was asked of her The Lady Lions' leading scorer is used to carrying the team, but for the first eight minutes of Sunday's game. Grant was the entire offense. Like she's done so many times throughout her collegiate career, she knocked down a couple 3-point ers, took some hard drives to the hoop and made her way to the free throw line. en route to scoring her team's first nine points. While it took her teammates a while to settle down and get into the flow of the game, once they did, it took a huge burden off of Grant's shoulders. Michigan State (11-7, 2- 5 Big Ten) focused on slowing Saltsman fourth wrestler to leave team By Ryan Loy COLLEGiAN STAFF WRITER Sophomore Tyler Saltsman is the latest in a recent string of Penn State wrestlers to leave the team. The 133 - pounder notified , RESTI INS the coaches of his ' di J 14. recision „an. coach Cael Sanderson said. The departure is the team's fourth in three weeks, as the No. 13 Nittany Lions (8-3-1) approach the beginning of the Big Ten season. Saltsman said he was unhappy because he wasn't given a chance to compete at the 133-pound weight class in recent dual meets. But to Sanderson, decisions on which wrestlers will get the cent prK wtot stLirt of preseason pra( tice: Nelson said in an e-mail on Monday - The shoulder both ered him for most of the season... Terri Istorino. Drew's mother summed Hp the sit uation as one of going through rehab and follow ing whan the doc tors say Astorino Istorino. who frequently brushed oft concerns about the ;;iouldcr throughout the scLison. Linked fourth on the team down the senior. while the other Lady Lions took advantage of the Spartans' defense by stepping up and solidifying the offense. It's the balanced offensive attack that's helped the Lions X 13-4. 5-2) win eight of their last 10 games. - That's the great thing about having a great player like Ty. - Penn State coach Coquese Washington said. "When we need her to step up and carry the team she can do that. ... But eventually her teammates figure it out and they are able to help her out." For a player like C rant, who has led her team in scor. ig every year since she was a freshman. drawing double teams from opponents allows her teammates to thrive. While Grant finished the game with 23 points -- her 10th 20-point performance of the season starting nod aren't difficult. "Wrestling is a pretty straight forward game." Sanderson said. "The guy that does the best usually has a spot. It's real simple." That guy al 133- pounds has been redshirt freshman Bryan Pearsall. Despite losing to Saltsman in the Saltsman Nov 5 Intrasquad Dual, Pearsall has been the pri mary starter at 133 since the Nov. 15 dual meet with Bloomsburg. The two I:i3-pounders were to wrestle off this weekend, but Saltsman said the coaches informed him the winner wasn't with 62 tackles. He also posted one interception and recovered two fumbles while contributing on spe cial teams by returning seven punts and averaging 7.9 yards per return. Astorino \vill also be the team's leading returning tackler for next season. After making three starts in 2008, the redshirt sophomore emerged as one of the leaders in Penn State's secondary and was selected to the honorable mention All-Big Ten team by the media. In Astorino's first season as a regular starter. the defense sur in win freshmen Alex Bentley and Nikki Greene had 14 and 12 points, respectively. The Spartans had to switch from man coverage to a 2-3 zone to try to slow down the Lions, but each time the defense changed. Penn State proved it had plenty of players that could step up and score. - It's a big relief for me," Grant said of having teammates who are willing to help balance the offense. ••I don't know when teams are going to realize that they can't just focus in on me. We have Alex See OFFENSE. Page 16. *The Washington's Post blog Peter Tesonero Collegian discusses freshman Alex Michigan State center Allyssa Bentley's winning of a week- DeHaan (41) watches as Penn 4, a v HE ly Big Ten award: State's Meredith Monroe attempts )= psucollegian.com a lay-up in Sunday's game. guaranteed to start in the Lions' Big Ten opener Friday against Illinois. It was soon after he informed the coaches of his decision to leave. Saltsman said the coaches told him he'd get an opportunity to compete at the Jan. 8-9 Virginia Duals, but instead watched as Pearsall compiled an 0-4 record while competing in each bout. Sophomore Clay Steadman said he could tell Saltsman was unhap py in recent weeks. "He was definitely disappoint ed." Steadman said. "He was getting progressively more and more disappointed at practice and especially at the Virginia Duals.- THE DAILY COLLEGIAN rendered 184.6 pass yards a game. good for a No. 24 ranking in the nation. With this past seasons starting linebackers Navorro Bowman, Josh Hull and Sean Lee all gone along with players like Jared Odrick and cornerback A.J. Wallace, Astorino is now one of the more veteran players on the defense. -It's wonderful to see his hard work come to fruition, - Astorino's mother said about her son and his career. To e-mail reporter: wmssol2@psu.edu Greene, Lions stymie center By Alex Angert COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Six-foot-four Nikki Greene is used to towering over the oppos ing players. That wasn't the case Sunday against Michigan State. WOMEN'S For this game. it was Greene BASKETBALL. being looked --- down upon. Going up against 6-foot-9 Allyssa DeHaan and the No. 20 Spartans. Greene and the entire Lady Lions team rose to the occa sion and shut down one of the tallest players in women's basket ball. - It doesn't matter how well or how poorly she's played. When she is on the floor. you notice her," Penn State coach Coquese Washington said. "She's a pres ence. We didn't shy away from the challenge of guarding her" However, DeHaan isn't just tall. On top of her height, the Spartan center is also one of the most gifted and accomplished players in the Big Ten and all of college basketball. See DEHAAN. Page 17. *Check out how close Penn State is to ranking on the latest AP poll at the =iv N E Washington's Post blog: BLOC psucoHegian.com Sanderson said he put some thought into inserting Saltsman during those four meets, but in the end he made the decision to remain with Pearsall, who could not be reached for comment. Sanderson said he used the Nittany Lion Open and other open tournaments to determine who the starter was, and though Pearsall has struggled en route to an 0-9 dual meet record, the Lions' coach believes he's the team's best option. - Pearsall's done a great job," Sanderson said. "He's making progress. I think his confidence is coming along. He has what it takes to be successful." To e-mail reporter: rmlsl3B@psu.edu
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