Penn State women’s basketball (12-10, 3-8 Big Ten) lost to No. 8 Maryland (18-4, 9-2 Big Ten) in an 88-67 rout on Monday. A run from the Terrapins killed off the Lady Lions’ efforts in the first quarter, and Penn State was unable to climb back into the game.

The loss was Penn State’s fifth in six games just over a month away from the Big Ten tournament.

How It Happened

Penn State was the first team to score, but it was also the first team to call a timeout. Alexa Williamson led the game off with a jump shot from the paint, but after Maryland scored three times unanswered, Lady Lions head coach Carolyn Kieger called a timeout 2:10 into the game, down 6-2.

The Lady Lions brought the score back over the next few minutes and hung with the Terrapins. Halfway through the quarter, Penn State was down 9-7.

That all flipped around when Maryland when on a 20-2 scoring run to end the quarter, leaving Penn State down 29-9. Penn State was unable to stop the trio of Abby Meyers, Shyanne Sellers, and Diamond Miller, as Maryland ran away with the game early on.

Penn State struggled on offense, recording a 26.7% shooting percentage from the field while Maryland was shooting at a 76.5% clip.

Penn State slowed down Maryland’s offense in the opening minutes of the second quarter but wasn’t able to boost its own. Through five minutes, the teams had only scored a combined seven points, with the Lady Lions taking five.

Maryland didn’t exactly take off in the back half of the quarter, but it did improve on its lead. A 9-4 stretch in the final five minutes gave the Terrapins a 41-18 lead going into the locker room.

Maryland started the scoring with two free throws after a technical foul against Williamson but didn’t immediately go on a run in the third quarter. Like the second quarter, Penn State hung with the Terrapins in the opening minutes, even leading in scoring.

While the distance between the two teams was already too great, the Lady Lions showed a strong fight in the third quarter. After five minutes, they had outscored Maryland and were fighting for second balls as they would if the game was close. Still, they were down 52-30.

That trend continued for the duration of the third quarter, in which Penn State improved its scoring numbers and slowed down Maryland’s. Still, after outscoring the Terrapins in the third quarter, Penn State was still down 66-49. The Lady Lions had outscored their first-half point contributions in just the third quarter.

Penn State produced the same results in the fourth quarter as the third. Its scoring slowed down, and it allowed Maryland to control the game once again. All the same, with a deficit of more than 20 points and five minutes remaining, the Lady Lions’ efforts didn’t matter much.

Maryland closed out the game easily, winning 88-67 as the Lady Lions were left facing their second loss in a row.

Takeaways

• Once again, the Lady Lions were killed off by failing to react to a massive run from an opponent. While Penn State hung with one of the best in the country for a few minutes, once Maryland got rolling, it was like the Lady Lions were completely helpless to stop the run.
• Penn State’s biggest contributors failed to show up when they were needed. Of the team’s starting five, only Makenna Marisa put up reasonable numbers in the first half. The other four starters scored just seven points and made two shots from the field.
• A slight bright side to this game, and to Penn State’s losing spell, continues to be the emergence of Taniyah Thompson. While Thompson has only started contributing when other teammates fail to step up, she has established herself as one of Penn State’s better offensive options. Against Maryland, she recorded 17 points and went 7-9 from the field.

What’s Next

Penn State will return home to take on Northwestern at 7 p.m. on Thursday, February 2.