Penn State women’s basketball (7-14, 1-9 Big Ten) lost to Iowa (18-3, 9-1 Big Ten) 77-66 Thursday night at the Bryce Jordan Center.

A nine-second moment of silence was held for the nine people, including NBA star Kobe Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash Sunday.

Only two players, Makenna Marisa and Kamaria McDaniel, reached double digits in the team’s sixth straight loss. Turnovers and personal fouls were a major problem in the team’s Big Ten loss.

How It Happened

The Lady Lions successfully earned the ball during the tip-off but failed to capitalize on the possession. Lauren Ebo went in for a layup but missed while the Hawkeyes got off to an early lead thanks to a three-point shot. Shay Hagans gave up a turnover to extend the Hawkeyes’ lead to 5-0.

After a few possessions from both teams, McDaniel shot from the paint, putting the Lady Lions on the scoreboard. Back on defense, Ebo set some blocks to prevent Iowa from scoring easy layups.

Battling back and forth with possessions, McDaniel tied the game at 11 each with a jumper. Iowa was quick to respond with Alexis Sevillian making a three. Siyeh Frazier saw the clock winding down and took a shot, ending the first quarter with the Lady Lions down 15-13. Penn State out-scored the Iowa 13-6 in the frame’s final seven minutes.

Anna Camden came into the second quarter ready to go with a three-point basket right in the beginning. Alisia Smith connected with Marisa for her first layup of the night. Iowa wasn’t scared to fight back, though, as it scored a three and layup in back-to-back possessions to regain a lead.

McDaniel secured a rebound from Hagans and put two points on the board. Right after that, she called for a pass from behind the arc and let off her first three of the night to give her 13 points for the first half.

Bexley Wallace got points of her own tonight as she successfully completed a layup, cutting the Hawkeyes lead to four. But by the end of the second quarter, Iowa extended that deficit to 41-25.

Coming back into play, Iowa was the first to score on any possession and stoped Penn State from scoring on its first three possessions. McDaniel finally added two free throws to give the Lady Lions their first points of the second half.

Before a media timeout, the teams took turns scoring off layups and jump shots. Right out of the break, Smith capitalized on a wide-open layup. It took Iowa many possessions to eventually respond with a free throw later on.

By the end of the third quarter, the Hawkeyes held their lead 66-46. Iowa’s Kathleen Doyle hit a buzzer-beater from inside the paint to put an exclamation point on the frame.

Iowa kicked off the fourth quarter with a solid three-pointer. After that basket, Penn State went on a 12-0 run to cut its deficit to 69-58. With the clock running down, the Lady Lions tried to bring the ~juice~.

Frazier made a breakaway and hit a basket from behind the arc, but she fouled out of the game moments later. Marisa also wanted in on the action and made her own three. Despite their best efforts, the Lady Lions fell to Big Ten opponent Iowa 77-66

Takeaways

• Turnovers continue to be an issue for the Nittany Lions. The ended up giving the ball over a total of 24 times, which is, to be frank, quite bad. It’s impossible to win against a Big Ten-leading Iowa team when you give them that many opportunities.
• Penn State was in foul trouble all game, as both Shay Hagans and Siyeh Frazier fouled out in the fourth quarter. The Nittany Lions gave Iowa 20 points from the stripe off of 27 attempts. Penn State actually outshot Iowa from three-point range, and barely trailed from the field. If the Nittany Lions weren’t dominated from the free-throw line, this game would’ve been a much different story.
• Again, a streaky performance from the Nittany Lions ultimately cost them the game. A solid fourth-quarter performance wasn’t enough to power past the ranked Hawkeyes, but if the Nittany Lions played as they did at the end of the game from tip-to-buzzer, perhaps they could have completed the upset.

What’s Next?

The Lady Lions will stay home and face Northwestern for a second time this season on Sunday, February 2. Tip-off against the Wildcats is set for noon.