Penn State women’s basketball (7-11, 1-6 Big Ten) fell to Northwestern (16-2, 6-1 Big Ten) 85-59 Sunday afternoon in Evanston, Illinois.

The Lady Lions shot just 18% from the field in the first half, which set the tone for a blowout loss to the Wildcats.

How It Happened

Head coach Carolyn Kiger’s starting lineup featured guards Siyeh Frazier, Kamaria McDaniel, Makenna Marisa, and Shay Hagans, and forward Lauren Ebo.

Northwestern opened the game with a layup under the basket and followed that up with a two-point jumper to pull ahead of Penn State early on. McDaniel then connected on a layup of her own to break the Lady Lions’ 0-for-5 stretch. Back-to-back threes from the Wildcats gave Northwestern a 10-2 advantage, forcing Kieger to use a timeout.

The Lady Lions showed some life out of their timeout when Marisa connected on a three-pointer to cut Northwestern’s advantage to 13-5. Following a made layup, a pair of free throws, and a shot from beyond the arch, the Wildcats jumped out to a 20-5 lead. Northwestern hit consecutive layups to finish the first quarter with a 24-7 lead.

Marisa got the Lady Lions started in the second quarter with another three, while McDaniel followed suit with two free throws off of a fast break. McDaniel came up big once again with a layup to cut Northwestern’s lead to 29-14.

The Wildcats embarked on a 10-3 scoring run to finish the second quarter and took a 45-19 lead into halftime. Penn State struggled greatly offensively in the first half and shot 18.2% from the field and 28.6% from beyond. The Lady Lions were efficient from the line, however, and shot 5-for-6 on free throw attempts.

Both teams opened the second half with two two-point shots and to maintain the 26-point lead Northwestern took into the locker room at halftime. The Lady Lions cut into the Wildcats’ advantage with back-to-back jumpers in the middle of the third quarter, but Northwestern’s 25-point lead remained very much intact.

Despite shooting an improved 10-for-16 from the floor in the third quarter, Penn State trailed Northwestern 69-42 heading into the final frame. The Lady Lions scored 23 points in the third quarter — four points more than they did in the entire first half!

The Wildcats continued to dominate in the fourth quarter and quickly cruised to an 85-59 win over the Lady Lions. Northwestern improved to 16-2 on the season and 6-1 in Big Ten play, while Penn State fell to 7-11 on the year and 1-6 in conference play.

Takeaways

• As you can probably tell, not many shots fell for Penn State today. Although the Lady Lions ended today’s game 20-for-61, they were 2-for-22 (9%!!!) from the floor in the middle of the second quarter. That’ll need to change if Penn State has any hopes of seriously competing in the Big Ten.
• All five players in Penn State’s starting lineup finished Sunday’s game with a negative +/- rating. Marisa led the way with -28, while McDaniel (-27), Frazier (-24), Hagans (-23), and Ebo (-12) followed suit. The rating is never a concrete statistic to judge performances off of (because it’s rather subjective), but it does say a lot about a team’s chemistry — or lack thereof.
• What an effort from Marisa! The freshman guard scored a season-high 17 points against the Wildcats and ended Sunday’s game as Penn State’s leading scorer. She also added five rebounds and five assists in the loss. Marisa also shot well from beyond the arc and registered three of Penn State’s four three-pointers against Northwestern.
• McDaniel entered Sunday’s game as the Big Ten’s leading scorer and certainly lived up to the hype after posting a team-high 18 points, five assists, and three rebounds. She’s now averaging 20.2 points and continues to serve as a constant playmaker in a lackluster Penn State offense.

What’s Next?

The Lady Lions will travel back to Happy Valley on Thursday, January 23 to take on Indiana at the Bryce Jordan Center. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m., and the matchup will be broadcast nationally on the Big Ten Network.