Penn State women’s basketball (14-5, 5-3 Big Ten) took down Northwestern (7-12, 2-6 Big Ten) 76-65 in a back-and-forth win on the road. Despite beating Northwestern by 40 points earlier this month, the Lady Lions were forced to fight for their fourth consecutive Big Ten win.

Makenna Marisa led the way for Penn State, totaling 20 points and crossing a major milestone by scoring her 2,000th career point as a Lady Lion. Ashley Owusu shone once again, adding 20 points and seven rebounds.

How It Happened

The Lady Lions won the tip and after missed shots by both teams, Shay Ciezki drilled a three-pointer for her first bucket of the evening. Northwestern answered quickly as Maggie Pina made a three of her own to tie things up.

Ali Brigham scored her first bucket with a second-chance layup and Owusu added another point after being fouled and hitting one of her free throws. Cailiegh Walsh got the Wildcats back in front, hitting back-to-back shots to make it 7-6 Northwestern.

That lead didn’t last long, as Leilani Kapinus scored a tough driving layup. After multiple misses from both teams, Owusu let it fly from downtown and knocked down her first triple of the game. The Lady Lions’ run continued as Owusu picked up a steal and found Chanaya Pinto for a wide-open fast break layup.

Pinto added another two points after getting fouled and drilling both free throws before Melannie Daley scored a layup to end the 9-0 run. The Lady Lions didn’t stop their scoring, however, and this time it came in the form of three-point shooting.

Marisa knocked down a three for her first made shot of the game and Tay Valladay followed that up with a three of her own. Down 12 points, Casey Harter picked up a steal and found Daley for an easy layup, but on the other end, Brigham answered with a tough hook shot.

As the final seconds of the first quarter ticked down, Hailey Weaver knocked down a mid-range jumper to bring the score to 23-13 for Penn State after the first 10 minutes.

At the start of the second quarter, the Lady Lions and Owusu picked up where they left off, with the guard scoring her first jumper of the quarter. Paige Mott got the Wildcats going with a driving layup and Weaver drilled a pair of free throws to cut the deficit back to single digits.

Penn State didn’t let that stand for long as Ciezki and Marisa drilled back-to-back shots to get the lead back to 12, however, Daley scored another layup to make it 29-19. With just over five minutes to go in the half, Ciezki and Daley traded buckets as the teams went into a media timeout.

Out of the break, Daley’s hot first half continued with a pull-up jumper. Owusu picked up a foul and drilled both free throws and Walsh knocked down a tough layup. Pina picked Owusu’s pocket by grabbing a steal and found Jasmine McWilliams for the fast break bucket to cut the deficit to six.

Owusu scored another pair of free throws and Walsh scored three of her own. With a minute remaining in the first half, Ciezki drilled one free throw and Pina knocked down a pair. Up by four points, the Lady Lions scored another pair of free throws, that time from Kapinus to go back up six. Northwestern missed its final shot of the half as Penn State went into the break up 38-32.

With the shot clock running down early on, Brigham scored her first layup of the second half to get things going for Penn State. The Wildcats got themselves on pace with Walsh knocking down a hook shot of her own.

After a miss by Kapinus, Caroline Lau drilled a long three-pointer to make it a one-possession game. Valladay was fouled and hit a free throw and Walsh scored a pair of free throws to cut the Penn State lead to two points.

Pinto committed an offensive foul that gave Northwestern the ball back and Harter drilled a mid-range jumper to tie the game at 41. Penn State continued to miss shot after shot and the Wildcats took advantage of it, with Pina drilling a three-pointer for Northwestern’s first lead since the early part of the first quarter.

Marisa picked up a foul call and knocked down both free throws to cut the deficit down to one. On the following possession, Mott missed a driving layup and Owusu found Marisa for a huge bucket to go retake the lead.

Owusu extended the lead with a layup picked up the and-one call and drilled the free throw. Down four, Weaver drilled a three-pointer to get the game back to a one-point affair. Owusu was fouled again and hit one free throw before Lau knocked down a jumper to tie the game at 49.

With just over three minutes remaining in the quarter, Owusu and Walsh continued their fantastic nights, each adding two points before Marisa scored a nice layup to retake the lead for Penn State and score her 2,000th career point as a Lady Lion.

TWO. THOUSAND.#LionMentality | @makenna_marisa pic.twitter.com/4yFveCSW90

— Penn State Women's Basketball (@PennStateWBB) January 26, 2024

Valladay added on a point from a free throw and Marisa knocked down a long three-pointer for her ninth point of the quarter. Down six, Walsh kept scoring this time on a turnaround jumper to make it 57-53 Penn State, heading into the final 10 minutes of the contest.

In the fourth quarter, Pina drilled a three-pointer to make it a one-point game. Lau picked up a turnover and took it coast-to-coast for a layup to retake the lead for Northwestern.

Down a point, Marisa regained the lead for the Lady Lions with a long three-pointer. Up by two, Valladay made it four with a driving layup to extend the lead over the Wildcats.

With five and a half minutes remaining, Northwestern needed a bucket and found it from Lau, who drilled a long three-pointer just before the shot clock expired. Kapinus responded on the other end with a three of her own to make it a four-point lead for Penn State once again.

With just over two minutes remaining, Marisa knocked down her fourth three of the game to extend the lead to seven.

Up 70-63, Penn State continued the scoring attack, with Owusu knocking down a jumper to extend the lead to nine. Northwestern got two points from Harter on a pair of free throws, however, after causing Penn State to turn the ball over, the Wildcats couldn’t score and were forced to foul.

Owusu knocked down a pair of free throws and after another Northwestern miss, fouled Penn State again. Pinto drilled both of her free throws to extend the lead to 11. With 30 seconds remaining, Northwestern missed another shot, and the Lady Lions were able to dribble out the clock to win 76-65.

Takeaways

• It wasn’t a pretty win it was a win for Penn State. After beating Northwestern by 40 points earlier this month, the Lady Lions struggled to pull away from the Wildcats until late in the game and picked up No. 14 which ties the previous year’s win total.
• It was a historic night for Marisa, who scored her 2,000th career point as a Lady Lion. Marisa scored 20 points total in the game and became just the seventh woman to ever score 2,000 points in a Penn State uniform.
• Owusu continues to dominate. The transfer from Virginia Tech dropped 20 points for the second consecutive game and added seven rebounds. In just four games this season, Owusu continues to be a huge difference-maker midway through the season.

What’s Next?

The Lady Lions will next return home to the Bryce Jordan Center for a matchup versus the Maryland Terrapins. The game is set to tip-off at 1 p.m. on Sunday, January 28, and can be streamed on BTN+.