Penn State women’s basketball (7-5, 0-1 Big Ten) faded in the fourth quarter of a battle with No. 4 Maryland to lose its Big Ten opener, 77-61.

The Terrapins (12-0, 1-0 Big Ten) trailed in the fourth quarter, but avoided becoming the Lady Lions’ first top five win since 2004 by holding Penn State scoreless in the final nine minutes and finishing on an 18-0 run.

How It Happened

Slow starts had plagued Penn State this season, forcing a number of late comebacks. But the Lady Lions opened Big Ten play strong against the undisputed heavyweight of the Big Ten since it joined back in 2014.

All-Big Ten star Teniya Page and the team’s sixth woman of the non-conference slate Kamaria McDaniel finished the first half in double figures to give Penn State 41-39 lead heading into the locker room.

The Lady Lions were in a similar position last season –holding a one-point lead at halftime over another ranked Maryland team that eventually slipped away in the final minutes.

Penn State battled its way through the third quarter, still getting heavily out-rebounded by the Terrapins, but using dominant performances from backcourt standouts Page and McDaniel — who were each shooting better than 50 percent — to hold on to a 57-56 lead in the final period of play.

Maryland finally took control of the game in the fourth quarter — closing the game on an 18-0 run, bolstered by a breakout from Kaila Charles to finish with 23 points, to earn the 16-point win.

Penn State just didn’t have any answers on the offensive side of the ball. After opening the quarter with two baskets, including Page’s bucket to move to 24 points in the game, the Lady Lions didn’t score in the final nine minutes — missing 10 shots and turning the ball over six times during that stretch.

Takeaways

• For as well as the team played in the first three quarters, Penn State’s collapse down the stretch undermined any positivity coming from this game. Maryland’s defense stifled the Lady Lions at the beginning of their scoreless stretch, but Penn State was way too impatient with its shot selection and settled for too many bad looks early in the shot clock as the quarter went on.
• Jaida Travascio-Green made her season debut against the Terrapins. In her return from injury, she scored five points in 20 minutes of action.
• The low post finally met its match against a big Maryland team. The Terrapins out-rebounded the Lady Lions 52-29 and out-scored them in the paint 42-23. Maryland forced the ball into the low post down the stretch, which allowed it to get to the foul line and pull away.

What’s Next

The Lady Lions head on the road to face Indiana on New Year’s Eve. Tipoff in Bloomington is at 7 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on BTN Plus.