Penn State Lets One Get Away at Home vs. Northwestern

Penn State Lady Lions basketball played for a great cause today in the form of the Play4Kay game benefiting Pink Zone. Yet, the result on the court was not what the Lady Lions had envisioned losing to the Northwestern Wildcats 78-72. The loss brings the Lady Lions record to 9-13 and 3-9 in B10 play.

The Lady Lions dominated the first quarter winning it 28-18. Makenna Marisa looked like the top 10 scorer in the country she is, having 11 first quarter points on 5-6 shooting.

The second quarter got away from the Lady Lions a little bit playing uncharacteristic basketball with no ball security. After zero turnovers in the first quarter the Lady Lions proceeded to give up the rock seven times in the second quarter which eventually only led them to a two-point lead at the break.

The third quarter treated the Lady Lions more nicely winning the quarter 23-18. Yet, it was another fourth quarter where the Nittany Lions fell apart and would eventually lose the game.

With a 15-2 run by the Wildcats, the Lady Lions having a stretch where they shot 1-10 overall and having a non-scoring stretch of over three minutes it was not enough to keep up with the immense amount of scoring from Northwestern. Penn State was outscored 23-10 in the fourth quarter. On top of that Penn State shot 29 percent from the field and did not make a three pointer in the final ten minutes. Penn State relies heavily on Makenna Marisa who shot 2-9 in the final frame. The Lady Lions also added another four turnovers which added to sixteen total over the last three quarters.

Here’s what Makenna Marisa had to say about the scoring Northwestern had in the final quarter and the defensive difficulties the Lady Lions faced as a whole. “Communication is the biggest thing honestly.”

Coach Kieger was also asked about ball security. This is what she said, “We are in need of a floor general. We don’t have that right now.”

Marisa still led the team in scoring with 25 pts on 10-23 shooting. Ali Brigham and Leilani Kapinus each had 7 rebounds. Kapinus also had 15 points on a very efficient 6-11 shooting.

Next up for the Nittany Lions is a trip to Purdue on Wednesday. That game will start at 7 P.M. The next time the Lady Lions are at the Bryce Jordan Center is on February 17th against Nebraska.

Feature Image By Michael de Botton