WOMEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL Scorekeeper will get workout from Penn St., Mississippi St.

Both teams are ranked in the top 25 and have prolific scorers.
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- When Penn State and Mississippi State play in the semifinals of the preseason WNIT, the scorekeeper better be prepared.
The 14th-ranked Lady Lions are led by Kelly Mazzante, who led Division I in scoring last season, while the No. 20 Lady Bulldogs have LaToya Thomas, who was second. And although they play different positions and might not guard each other in Wednesday's game, there's no doubt they'll be the center of attention.
"I think that's probably a matchup the WNIT had in mind, and they got a game that they wanted," Mississippi State coach Sharon Fanning said.
Hard to stop
Mazzante, a 6-foot junior guard who averaged 24.9 points last season, has been almost impossible for opponents to stop. In 66 career games, Mazzante has been held under 10 points just five times. She's also scored 30 or more points in 15 games, including a 33-point performance in the WNIT quarterfinal win over Siena.
Mazzante has the size and strength to post up, although she rarely does. With an extraordinarily quick release, she's fast coming off screens, and has shooting range beyond 25 feet.
"She can penetrate, and that's something that she's working to do even more this year to get to the free-throw line," Fanning said. "She's got great range on her 3. She runs the floor. She uses other people well as far as screens and has good read-and-react skills, so she can shoot off a move. You see her as a total player."
Thomas, too, has the total package.
A strong and athletic 6-2 senior forward, Thomas often outrebounds taller and bigger players. She can turn with her back to the basket or face up. And although she has not been shooting 3-pointers yet this season, she regularly did so the last two seasons.
"She poses, obviously, more than the usual problem for us, and it's an area that we knew was going to be a problem coming into the season, and that's our post play," Penn State coach Rene Portland said. "She's just so versatile, and how many kids are three-time All-Americans and score that many points?"
Very good average
How many points? An average of 24.6 per game last year while playing in what traditionally is the nation's toughest conference. Against Tulsa in the WNIT quarterfinal, she scored 42 on 20-of-30 shooting, and added 15 rebounds.
"We felt like we just needed to contain -- not stop, not change her game -- just contain her. We were not successful on any one possession, and that's not an exaggeration," Tulsa coach Kathy McConnell-Miller said.
"She scored on the block. She scored on out-of-bounds plays. She scored in transition. She shot over the top of people. She is, by far, one of the most explosive players I've ever seen and she can score in so many ways," McConnell-Miller said. "And I didn't anticipate that -- watching her on film and watching the NCAA tournament last year, I just didn't anticipate that she had that much to her game."