Penn State women’s basketball (9-5, 0-3 Big Ten) dropped a shootout to No. 23 Iowa (12-2, 2-1 Big Ten) 80-69.

Gabby Elliott notched 32 points in the loss, which was one of the Lady Lions’ most impressive performances of the season and served as a rebound from the team’s poor showing against Minnesota.

How It Happened

Penn State won the tip, but Moriah Murray couldn’t cash in on her first three-point attempt of the night. Addison O’Grady made a hook shot after Gracie Merkle gave up a turnover, something Merkle repeated a moment later.

Lucy Olsen, Grace Hall, and Kyle Feuerbach missed field goal attempts, though Hall tied the game up with a jump shot. Merkle hit a layup a moment later, giving Penn State a 4-2 lead. Hannah Stuelke and Gabby Elliott traded points before O’Grady hit a jumper of her own.

Merkle dropped in a layup and Alli Campbell hit a jumper to give the Lady Lions a 10-6 lead just over four minutes into the game. A minute later, Merkle dropped in another layup.

Coming out of a media timeout, Elliott drained a three-pointer to give Penn State a 15-9 lead, though Stuelke dropped in a layup soon after. Jayla Oden hit a jumper on the other end, but Ava Heiden answered with a layup on the other end.

After missed chances by both teams, Heidan hit another layup with under two minutes left, but Oden knocked down two points on Penn State’s next possession. Taylor McCabe dropped a three-pointer in the last 40 seconds of the quarter, but Campbell made a jump shot to answer, which gave the Lady Lions a 24-15 lead at the close of the first quarter.

McCabe started the scoring in the second quarter with three points, and O’Grady followed that up with two points from a fast break. Affolter and Merkle traded layups. McCabe dropped in two free throws, and Stuelke tied the game at 26-26 with a layup.

Lucy Olsen made one of two free throws to give the Hawkeyes their first lead and followed up with a jump shot. Elliott converted a three-point play to tie the game.

Stuelke followed with two free throws, and Aaliyah Guyton dropped in three points from a fast break to give Iowa a 34-29 lead with 4:21 left in the first half. Just before a media timeout, Oden kept Penn State close with a driving layup.

Elliott tied the game with a three-ball out of the break, but O’Grady answered with a layup. After a brief scoring drought, Hall made a layup to tie the game at 36-36 with 1:37 left in the half.

After more than 90 seconds without a score, Olsen dropped in two free throws in the last seconds of the half to give the Hawkeyes a 38-36 lead going into the locker room.

After a minute without scoring, Elliott opened the second half with a three-ball to take the lead. O’Grady responded with a jump shot and a layup to give Iowa a three-point differential. Merkle dropped in a layup before Stuekle made one of her own.

After another brief scoring drought, Oden made a jumper in the paint before McCabe returned the favor.

Coming out of the media timeout, McCabe drained a three before Merkle dropped a layup on the next possession. Elliott drained a jump shot, and Stuelke missed two free throws. Merkle made one of two free throws to make it a 50-48 game for Iowa with 2:24 left in the third quarter.

O’Grady soon after dropped in a layup before Elliott knocked down two points 18 seconds later. Oden tied the game at 52 points with two free throws.

Stuelke dropped in a layup on the other end of the court, but Elliott gave Penn State the lead with a three-pointer. Stuelke hit one of two free throws to tie the game, and the two teams were even at 55 going into the last 10 minutes.

Iowa got off to a five-point run to start the fourth quarter, making Carolyn Kieger call timeout. Out of the break, McCabe and Elliott traded three-pointers before O’Grady hit a layup. A three-point play and a Heiden layup for Iowa gave the Hawkeyes a nine-point lead with under five minutes left.

Sydney Affolter made a layup to continue Iowa’s run, and Kieger called timeout to stem the bleeding.

Murray dropped in a jumper out of the break, but Olsen dropped in a layup on the next possession. Elliott dropped a three-pointer before Olsen hit a jump shot in the paint, bringing the score to 76-66 for Iowa with 2:42 left.

Heiden scored two on the fast break with two minutes left, and with 48 seconds left, Olsen made the score 80-66. Elliott made one last jump shot, but Iowa took the 80-68 win regardless.

Takeaways

• After a 46-point loss to Minnesota, the Lady Lions’ response against a better Iowa team was impressive. Penn State came to play and, while it was never expected to compete much, made this a game.
• The Lady Lions needed a big game from Murray to have a chance at taking the win, but the guard’s two points just weren’t enough. Wednesday was a rare off-performance for one of Penn State’s best players.
• Elliott had herself a game. Her 32 points, five rebounds, and two steals exceeded expectations and made this a game for Penn State.

What’s Next?

Penn State has another tough test coming up, facing a Nebraska team fighting to get into the AP Poll in Lincoln. Tip is set for 3 p.m. on Sunday, January 5.