Penn State women’s basketball (3-0) defeated Duquesne (1-1) at the Bryce Jordan Center on Sunday afternoon.

After an extremely sluggish first quarter riddled with self-inflicted mistakes, the Lady Lions found their footing offensively and notched their third win of the season to remain undefeated. Moriah Murray led the way with 26 points, knocking down six out of her 10 shots from beyond the arc.

How It Happened

The first bucket of the game belonged to Gabby Hutcherson of Duquesne, as she sunk a three-point jumper. The Lady Lions answered with a bucket from Gracie Merkle, who carved out some space in the paint and dropped it in the basket. On the next possession, Duquesne found more success from beyond the arch, as Andjela Matic knocked down another three to give the Dukes a 6-2 lead.

Some sloppy ball handling from the Nittany Lions resulted in a couple of steals for Duquesne who converted those forced turnovers into a layup and wide-open transition three, prompting coach Carolyn Kieger to take a very early timeout as her squad trailed 11-4.

Out of the timeout, the Lady Lions offense continued to struggle, as the Dukes were frequently applying pressure and sending doubles at the ball handler for Penn State. Vitoria Santana was able to slash into the paint but couldn’t get the layup to fall. However, Merkle was there to snatch up the offensive rebound and got the second chance bucket to fall along with a made free throw as she was fouled on the shot. With 5:21 seconds left in the first quarter, Merkle was responsible for all seven Penn State points on the board.

The Dukes continued their blazing hot start from deep as their next three possessions resulted in made three-point jumpers, giving them a 23-10 lead.

A three from Murray just before the end of the first quarter cut down the deficit for the Lady Lions, who trailed 30-15.

The Lady Lions started the second quarter on a stronger foot, as Gabby Elliott dropped in a layup and Oden made both free throw attempts after being fouled. Grace Hall joined in on the scoring, as she also got a layup to fall to make it a 21-32 ball game.

After a missed free throw from Duquesne, Elliott grabbed the rebound and pushed the ball up to Tamera Johnson who then made a nifty pass, finding Hall in the paint for an easy transition bucket. Hall then returned the favor, finding an open Elliott beyond the arch, who knocked down a much-needed three for Penn State.

GABBY ELLIOTT DRAINS IT

6:17 Q2 | 38-30 Duquesne#LionMentality pic.twitter.com/YUIZCdJS11

— Penn State Women's Basketball (@PennStateWBB) November 10, 2024

Immediately after checking into the game, Murray knocked down a three and found Alli Campbell for a transition layup on the very next possession.r ailing 35-38, momentum was building for the Lady Lions who had finally found some traction. Campbell came up with a defensive steal and then ran the floor for another bucket in the paint. Immediately, the Bryce Jordan Center erupted after a Duquesne offensive foul gave the ball right back to the Lady Lions, who all of a sudden were on a strong 14-3 run.

Finally, Duquesne was able to answer with a three-pointer, pushing the lead back up to 41-37, but not for long. The three ball began to fall for Penn State as Murray and Elliott made back-to-back shots from beyond the arch to tie the game up at 43-43.

Right before halftime, Duquesne’s Megan McConnell was fouled by Johnson, sending her to the line where she made one of two shots to give the Dukes a 44-43 lead at the intermission.

To start the third quarter, Merkle earned herself a trip to the line where she knocked down one of her two free throws. A few possessions later, Merkle channeled her inner quarterback, finding Elliott streaking down the sideline with a long pass from the opposing backcourt.

The Lady Lions continued to find offensive success as Tamera Johnson grabbed an offensive rebound and put it right back up for an easy two points. Johnson went right back to work on offense, this time draining a three to give Penn State a 53-49 lead.

After some scoreless minutes, Murray broke the silence with a corner three that was then followed by another three from Johnson to put Penn State up 59-55.

To close the third quarter, Hall drained a mid-range jumper after a steal from Elliott. Then with five seconds left, Murray put in her fifth three-point shot of the day to make it a 66-61 ball game.

The Lady Lions began the fourth quarter with a nice spark, as Johnson knocked down a corner three that was directly followed by Murray picking the pocket of Nadia Moore and flushing an easy fast break layup. The quick surge put Penn State up 72-64 with 7:37 to play. A three from Oden and a successful trip to the line for Johnson extended the lead to 77-66 for the Lady Lions.

Oden lost the ball which sent Duquesne on a fastbreak where Hall stuffed a Duke under the rim, but strength in numbers allowed for Duquesne to corral the rebound and put it back up for a score.

As the game entered crunch time, Duquesne quietly built an 11-6 run but still trailed 85-77 with 2:33 left. Out of a timeout, the Dukes forced a turnover to regain possession of the ball, but Campbell got it right back for Penn State as she knocked the ball out of the passing line for a steal.

After a Duquesne bucket, the Penn State offense entered keep-away mode, which was quickly met with an intentional foul from the Dukes, who trailed 87-79. Hutcherson got a quick jumper to fall for Duquesne but it was no use as time was fully against the road team.

Free throws fell for Murray, Merkle, and which iced the game for the Lady Lions.

Takeaways

• Penn State struggled mightily against Duquesne’s on-ball defensive tenacity at the beginning of the game. It turned the ball over nine times in the first quarter, which noticeably kept it out of rhythm.
• Uncoincidentally, the Lady Lions shot a sweltering 52% from three-point range. This was a testament to the offensive adjustments that allowed them to open up the gridlock that they were in to start the game by beating the doubles that were sent to the ball handlers and finding open shooters.

What’s Next?

The Lady Lions remain at home to face off against Niagara at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, November 14, at the Bryce Jordan Center for their annual Field Trip Day.