Penn State women’s basketball (7-17, 1-12 Big Ten) came up short against Illinois (11-12, 2-10 Big Ten) Sunday afternoon, marking the team’s ninth straight loss.

Only two Lady Lions broke double digits — Shay Hagans and Kamaria McDaniel — in the Big Ten battle. Turnovers continued to be an issue for the team, as Carolyn Kieger’s squad committed 19 on the game.

How It Happened

Off the first possession, Siyeh Frazier delivered a layup but failed to sink it. Illinois was quick to capitalize on Penn State’s mistake and shot for two. Anna Camden saw an opportunity and hit a wide open three to give the Lady Lions their first points of the game.

Illinois went on an 13-0 run before Penn State could see its end of the court. Shay Hagans broke that run with hitting 1-2 of her free throws. Kamaria McDaniel finally added to the scoreboard with two jump shots in a row. Hagans had two steals in 30 seconds and took them both to the hoop, bring the score 17-12 with Illinois up at the end of the first.

The Lady Lions stepped it up right from the start of the second. Hagans made one from inside the paint and Makenna Marisa shot from behind the arc. McDaniel was on fire as she also added a three.

Ebo shot from the paint and tied the game 24-24. It took the Lady Lions three minutes to see another basket as Frazier hit a wide open layup. Hagans wrapped up the first half with an easy jump shot. Penn State was only down a basket at the end of the half.

Ebo came back into the game with a quick steal. She handed it off to Frazier who lobbed it back to her and went in for an easy layup. Both teams were getting heated as time went on. Frazier ended up receiving a technical and Illinois player Petra Holesínská shot the free throws.

McDaniel opened up the last quarter with a wide open three pointer. Both teams were going back and fourth with Penn State finally taking the lead 56-55 with four minutes left to play. Hagans again had two impressive steals leading to layups.

Penn State had a chance to tie things up in the final seconds, but Marisa’s lay up didn’t fall and the Lady Lions were forced to foul in the last moments. Even after all the ~juice~ the Lady Lions fell short at the end of the game and extended their losing streak to nine.

Takeaways

• Penn State recovered from a very slow start, and stayed competitive throughout the whole game. However, playing strong for all 40 minutes still remains to be an issue for the Nittany Lions. Perhaps if the team came out swinging from the tip, this game would be a different story,
• Kamaria McDaniel was once again back to doing Kamaria McDaniel things, scoring 23 while shooting 53% from the field and 75% from three. She was shut down by Rutgers, so it was good to see her back to playing at an All-Big Ten level.

What’s Next

The Lady Lions will travel to Big Ten competitor Nebraska this Thursday, February 13. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on BTN+.