March 3, 2008

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - Senior Kam Gissendanner (Clairton, Pa.), junior Brianne O'Rourke (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and sophomore Tyra Grant (Youngstown, Ohio) were selected to the All-Big Ten teams by both the league's 11 coaches and a select panel of media members, it was announced by the Big Ten office today. Gissendanner was a third team choice by the coaches and an honorable mention recipient by the media, while O'Rourke earned third team accolades from the media and an honorable mention nod from the coaches. Grant was an honorable mention selection by both the coaches and media. Gissendanner is also Penn State's Sportsmanship Award honoree.

"I am very happy that Kam, Brianne and Tyra received well-deserved recognition from the Big Ten Conference," head coach Coquese Washington said. "Kam has really come on strong in the last few games and has taken the team on her back. Brianne is the consummate floor general and has been the heart of this team all season. Tyra is certainly on the road to becoming one of the best players in the Big Ten after another solid season."

Gissendanner, who was an honorable mention selection each of the last two years, is in the Top 10 in the Big Ten in both scoring (10th - 13.4 ppg) and rebounding (8th - 6.4 rpg) and has come on strong of late. In her last nine games, she has led the team in scoring eight times and is averaging 18.6 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 1.1 blocks per game. During this stretch, she has raised her season scoring average nearly two points per game to 13.4, which is second on the team. Gissendanner entered the season without a double-double in 72 career games, but has managed to post five double-doubles this season, including a 24-point, 11-rebound performance against Indiana in the regular-season finale. Earlier this season Gissendanner became the 30th Lady Lion to reach 1,000 career points and she is closing in on the Top 20 on the Lady Lion career scoring charts. With 1,226 points in her Penn State career, Gissendanner needs 14 points to tie Tina Nicholson (1993-96) for 20th place.

O'Rourke continues the point guard tradition at Penn State by taking home postseason honors for the second time in her career after honorable mention (media) and All-Freshman team berths in 2006. She leads the Big Ten and is 60th in the NCAA in overall assists per game (4.7). With her 4.94 assist average during conference game, O'Rourke wins the Big Ten assists crown for the second time in her career (2005-06), becoming the sixth player in Big Ten history to lead the league in assists multiple times. O'Rourke ranks 19th in the Big Ten in scoring (11.3), is tied for seventh in free throw percentage (.835) and is fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.44). She has also registered 14 games with five or more assists and 20 outings with four or more assists. O'Rourke has hit two milestones this season, becoming the 10th player in school history with 400 assists and the 14th Lady Lion with 150 steals.

Grant makes her second straight appearance on the All-Big Ten honorable mention squad after leading the team and finishing the regular-season ninth in scoring with a 13.7 average. She has four 20-point games this season and is just 38 points away from 900 tallies for her career. The Dec. 17 Big Ten Player of the Week is 16th on the Lady Lion career three-pointers chart with 73 treys in two seasons. Grant has established career highs with 65 assists, 22 blocked shots and a 42.3% free throw percentage this season.

The Lady Lions head to the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis where they will be the 10th seed face the seventh-seeded Michigan Wolverines at noon on Thursday on the Big Ten Network. The winner of Thursday's game will go on to face second-seeded Iowa at 11:30 a.m., on Friday.