The Penn State women’s basketball (6-6) couldn’t get past the Minnesota Golden Gophers (11-1) in an 81-74 loss following a poor first half.

Kamaria McDaniel led the Lady Lions with 31 points and served as a bright spot in the loss. She sparked the team in the second half and led a comeback attempt that ultimately fell short.

How It Happened

Penn State won the tip as Siyeh Frazier failed to connect on a layup. Minnesota then sunk a quick three to kick its off scoring. Frazier wouldn’t let the miss slow her down, though, as she scored on a fast-break layup on the next possession.

After an early turnover, the Golden Gophers were able to score an easy basket. Another Penn State turnover led to yet another Minnesota basket. The Golden Gophers kept up their scoring run by draining a wide-open three before Carolyn Kieger called timeout.

McDaniel drove to the basket out of the break, drew a foul, and knocked down both free throws. A great defensive stand by Shay Hagans ended up with an empty offensive possession. Makenna Marisa missed a three on the next possession but was able to knock down the second chance jump shot.

Minnesota quickly responded with a basket of its own, but Mya Bembry drove and was able to draw a foul. She knocked down both of her free throws. The following defensive stand was the Lady Lions’ best possession of the quarter, and they were able to capitalize on that with a basket by Bembry.

Minnesota went on a 7-0 run before Kieger used her second timeout. The Lady Lions were not able to get anything going after that timeout, as the Golden Gophers knocked down a quick three. They didn’t give up though because on the next two possessions they had two-second chance opportunities. However, another turnover led to another quick basket as Minnesota lead 28-10 after one quarter.

Minnesota got the quarter started quickly by scoring four points. After several missed opportunities, McDaniel scored Penn State’s first basket of the quarter. The Golden Gophers responded with a quick three. A Lady Lions turnover allowed Minnesota to drive in the paint and kick the ball out with a no-look pass to score.

Penn State could not capitalize coming out of a timeout, missing three to four layups as they try to get some scoring going. Minnesota kept scoring but Marisa finally scored a basket to hopefully jumpstart the offense. It didn’t work, though, as the Lady Lions continued to miss layups close to the basket and rushed on offense.

Frazier was able to draw a foul and make one of two free throws. A steal led to three missed layups in a row, which was the story of the entire first half. McDaniel did make a jump shot as the half came to a close. Minnesota quickly scored before heading to the locker room with a 54-21 lead.

McDaniel opened up the second half with a great drive to score the basket and draw a foul, in which she made the free throw. Minnesota was able to score a jumper on its next basket and then on the following possession picked up a foul, making one of two. Frazier was able to make a layup though on the next possession.

McDaniel really asserted herself in the paint during the third quarter, as she was able to draw a foul and made one of two. She also hit a very nice jumper from the free-throw line and followed up with a great drive that led to an and-one basket. She ended up missing the free throw.

Penn State’s defense improved in the second half thanks to aggressive play and increased turnover generation. The Lady Lions stood taller in the paint and restricted Minnesota’s scoring while McDaniel and Frazier scored back-to-back baskets to force a timeout.

The Lady Lions did a lot better in the third quarter as they ended up outscoring the Golden Gophers by 11 points in the quarter, as they went into the fourth quarter trailing 62-40.

Frazier scored a layup to start the fourth quarter and Lauren Ebo followed by picking up her first bucket of the game. Frazier scored another nice basket and Marisa drew a foul and knocked down both of those free throws.

Minnesota responded with a three of its own to try and slow down the momentum the Lady Lions had. However, Frazier drew another foul and made both free throws. The Gophers continued to make threes throughout the quarter to counteract the Lady Lions’ run.

Although it inched closer and closer to Minnesota, Penn State could not overcome the hole it created in the first half and fell 81-74. McDaniel finished with 31 points while Frazier tallied 21 points and nine rebounds.

Takeaways

• In order to win a basketball game, you need to make layups. In this game, though, the Lady Lions just couldn’t make one to save their lives. There were 13 layups missed in the first half. 13! That simply cannot happen if they hope to compete in Big Ten play moving forward.
• Man, McDaniel deserves all the praise in the world. The effort she showed in the third quarter, despite the fact that the Lady Lions were out of it, was extremely impressive. She was the much-needed spark for this team and the player to watch moving forward as Penn State heads further into conference play.
• The effort that Kieger’s team showed in the second half proved that it could compete in Big Ten play. The issue, however, is that the effort they showed wasn’t there in the first half. When the Lady Lions display the confidence and swagger they did in the second half, they’re a completely different team.

What’s Next?

The Lady Lions will head to Ann Arbor to play No. 23 Michigan on New Year’s Eve at 2 p.m. The game will stream on BTN+.