Penn State women’s basketball defeats Fordham to earn first home win of season

Penn State was able to rebound nicely on Wednesday night following its loss in the home opener on Sunday. The Lady Lions beat Fordham by a hefty margin, defeating the Rams 72-59 at the Bryce Jordan Center to improve their overall record to 2-1.

After a back-and-forth first half, including a stretch in which both teams got hot from beyond the arc, the Lady Lions were able to pull away for good with a 24-16 third quarter. 

Strong individual performances helped pave the way for Penn State. Senior Siyeh Frazier recorded a double-double, and freshman Anna Camden came off the bench and hit four clutch three-pointers in the contest. 

Camden saw her role increase dramatically on Wednesday night after playing a combined four minutes in the previous two games. In 21 minutes against Fordham, Camden went shot 5-for-6 from the floor and brought energy on defense as well, recording three blocks.

“We talked about it as a staff, after the Rider game, that Anna [Camden] needs to play more,” coach Carolyn Kieger said. “She showed us [tonight] that she needs to and she should’ve been.”

Kieger was impressed by Camden’s leadership and selflessness throughout the game, especially early in the first half.

“It was definitely a confidence booster when she was talking about leadership and bringing the juice,” Kieger said. “[It’s] huge to know that she can come in there and have the pressure on her shoulders and come in and make big-time plays.”

The Lady Lions improved in every aspect of the game on Wednesday night, highlighted by not forcing shots. 

“We watched and we charted every single shot that we shot versus Rider and 75 percent of the shots that we shot were contested,” Kieger said. “We watched every single one of those and you best believe I think the team got the message.”

Feature Image By Logan Bourandas