Penn State women’s basketball (9-6, 0-4 Big Ten) lost to Nebraska (11-4, 2-2 Big Ten) 72-61 on Sunday afternoon.

After a sluggish start where they trailed by as much as 15, the Lady Lions conjured up a strong fourth-quarter comeback but the attempt fell short. Alli Campbell scored a career-high 19 points despite the loss. Penn State remains winless in Big Ten play thus far.

How It Happened

Nebraska won the tip and went to work, as Britt Prince drained a three-ball on the game’s first possession. Callin Hake earned a trip to the line for the Cornhuskers after being fouled by Tamera Johnson. The Lady Lions trailed 7-0 after an Alexis Markowski layup. Gabby Elliott tried a three but it rattled out and was rebounded by Nebraska. Campbell poked the ball loose for a steal, prompting a fast break for Penn State, but the offense remained ice-cold after a miss from Moriah Murray in the corner.

Hake sunk a three-pointer for the Huskers to make it a 10-0 ballgame. Merkle was hacked in the act of shooting and sent to the line but missed both free throws to keep Penn State scoreless. Merkle quickly redeemed herself by scoring a second-chance layup under the basket to cut the Huskers lead to 10-2. Campbell joined in on the scoring, earning a trip to the line and sinking both attempts. Campbell found Merkle, who had created some space in the paint for an easy layup. With 0:04 left in the first quarter, Campbell drained a three-ball to further close the 13-9 gap.

Campbell picked up where she left off, this time knocking down a three from the opposite corner to bring Penn State within one point. Penn State took a 14-13 lead after Merkle snatched an offensive rebound off the glass and put it back up for an easy second-chance bucket.

The ferocious 16-3 run by the Lady Lions continued after a steal from Murray was pushed up the floor to Campbell who beat the defense for a quick layup. Gabby Elliott got a tough turnaround jumper to fall for her first points of the game, extending Penn State’s 18-13 lead. Nebraska finally found its footing after a three-ball from Prince tied it up, followed by another three from Alberte Rimdal that gave it a 23-20 lead.

Oden answered with a three-ball of her own, but Nebraska continued to find offensive success with buckets from Prince and Jessica Petrie. As the first half came to a close, Markowski pushed the lead to 30-25 for the Huskers by making both of her free throws.

Grace Hall powered her way into the paint for a layup to get the second half started for Penn State. Merkle was sent to the bench after picking up her fourth foul of the game early on in the third quarter. Nebraska put together a 7-0 run that prompted Penn State to use a timeout trailing 39-27. Prince knocked down a standup jumper from beyond the arch to extend Nebraska’s lead to 13 points. Hake followed that up with a three-ball of her own to make it 45-30 for Nebraska.

Cam Rust went up strong in the post and got a tough bucket to fall, but Penn State still trailed 51-38. Campbell read the eyes of Prince and jumped into the passing lane, running back for an easy layup as the third quarter came to a close.

Elliott knocked down a mid-range jump shot to start the fourth quarter off. Johnson made her presence known off the bench, recording a steal, a layup, and a made three-pointer, all in under just one minute. With the score at 53-47, Nebraska called a timeout to slow the Penn State momentum. Johnson made another impact play, drawing a charge to give Penn State the basketball. Grace Hall got to her spot and drained a mid-range jumper to cut it down to 53-49.

Hake ended the 12-0 Penn State run with a three-ball and a short jump shot to extend Nebraska’s lead to 58-53. Johnson found Hall cutting to the basket for an easy layup and then Elliott got converted an and-one opportunity to tie the game up at 58-58. Prince and Markwoski each found buckets to push the Huskers back out to 63-59.

A dagger from Coley put Nebraska up by nine with 1:17 left in the fourth quarter, putting the game out of reach for the blue and white.

Takeaways

• The Lady Lions got out to an awful start offensively missing their first 11 attempts from the field and scoring just nine points in the first quarter.
• Penn State had to find a different way to score on offense after Merkle found herself in foul trouble early on in the second half. Merkle’s absence was also reflected in the rebound differential as Penn State was out rebounded 46-37.
• Campbell was active on offense all day scoring a career-high 19 points. She carried most of the offensive load for Penn State, along with Gabby Elliott who finished with 14 points.

What’s Next?

Penn State returns to the Bryce Jordan Center to take on Oregon at 6 p.m. on Thursday, January 9. Folks can tune in on BTN+.