Penn State women’s basketball recorded a 80-75 loss to Michigan after a second-half collapse Saturday night in the team’s annual Pink Zone game, played to recognize those impacted by breast cancer.

Despite registering their first loss since January 10 and shattering their six-game win streak, the Lady Lions took time to harp on the significance of the night and what it means for the community.

“I want to start by thanking all the survivors that came out tonight,” Carolyn Kieger said postgame. “Amazing inspiration for not only our team but everyone in the stands tonight. Tonight was about something bigger than ourselves.”

The folks in the stands were a crowd of 4,745, most of whom were in pink. After setting a season-high attendance record of 3,532 at the last home game against Maryland on January 28, fans crumbled that record at the Bryce Jordan Center on Saturday.

“I’m really proud of our community. Phenomenal crowd out there, so thank you to everyone who attended today,” Kieger said.

Many of the people on site who witnessed the Wolverines’ five-point win were survivors of breast cancer or others who have been impacted by it.

“Huge game to play in front of so many strong women like those survivors. Women that have gone through so many trials in life,” Leilani Kapinus said after notching 15 points and 10 rebounds. “You just want to show half the amount of strength and grit they had and make them proud, and I’m disappointed we couldn’t get the win for them tonight.”

At halftime, hundreds of breast cancer survivors made their way onto the court while State College musical duo Biscuit Jam played an acoustic performance featuring “Good Riddance” by Green Day and “Drift Away” by Uncle Kracker.

The women on the floor have been survivors of breast cancer for a combined 1,559 years within the group.

“It warms our heart to see the toughness of these survivors. We’ll be praying for the fight for you, and thank you for inspiring us all,” Kieger said.

Unfortunately for the Lady Lions, they couldn’t pull out a victory with the large crowd on hand. After trailing by just four points at halftime, a 17-2 Michigan put the game out of reach for Penn State in the end.

“I was disappointed in our effort. That’s the first time I saw our team not battle as hard as we wanted them to on the defensive end,” Kieger said.

The fifth-year head coach also saw a more stagnant offense than she would’ve liked to.

“You got to have more screening actions, more fluidity with the ball, swinging it left to right versus always going downhill,” Kieger said. “We’ll adjust and I know our guards will be ready to fix that. They’ll be eager, they’ll be hungry, and I think you’ll see a different offense against Iowa.”

The game at Iowa at 9 p.m. on Thursday, February 8, will likely be a tough one for Penn State’s guards, as the No. 3 Hawkeyes are led by Caitlin Clark, who is closing in on becoming the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer.