Lincoln, NE – Maggie Lucas poured in 34 points and No. 7 Penn State wrapped up a second consecutive outright Big Ten regular season title with an 82-67 victory over No. 20 Nebraska.
The Cornhuskers entered the regular season finale winners of 10 in a row and had a chance to share the conference crown but simply had no answer for Lucas, who shot 8-of-13 from behind the arc and grabbed nine rebounds in the final women's basketball game at Devaney Center.
Alex Bentley chipped in 13 points for the Lady Lions (24-4, 14-2 Big Ten), whose loss to Minnesota on Thursday set up the dramatic showdown.
Lindsey Moore battled foul trouble and committed eight turnovers to go with her team-high 23 points, while Emily Cady added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Cornhuskers (22-7, 12-4), whose leading scorer, Jordan Hooper, netted 14 points on a rough 4-of-17 shooting effort.
Lucas scored 18 in the first half, the last two coming on a jumper from the top of the key just before the buzzer to give Penn State a 38-32 lead.
The Lady Lions began pulling away with an 8-0 run that was capped by two Lucas free throws for a 63-52 cushion with under nine minutes to play.
The closest the hosts got from there was nine.
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