Penn State women’s basketball (4-1, 0-0 Big Ten) lost to Princeton (4-1, 0-0 Ivy League) 100-93 in the Battle 4 Atlantis opening game.

Despite Gracie Merkle’s career-high 39 points on 19-from-23 shooting and Moriah Murray’s six three-pointers, the Lady Lions were handed their first loss of the season.

How It Happened

Princeton struck first when Skye Belker knocked down a jumper on the opening possession, but Merkle immediately answered with a pair of layups to give Penn State its first lead at 4-2. Immediately after, the Lady Lions picked off two straight passes and turned one of them into another Merkle bucket off a feed from Murray.

After Princeton missed a series of pull-up attempts, Kiyomi McMiller buried a three from the right wing and then scored in the paint off another Tiger turnover to push the lead to 11-6. Viktoria Ranisavlijevic extended the lead at the line, knocking down all four of her free throws across two trips, stretching the Lady Lions’ lead to 13-6 with just over six minutes left in the opening quarter.

Princeton missed multiple chances at the rim, coughed up turnovers on back-to-back trips, and Murray drilled a second-chance three to make it 17-8. Less than a minute later, McMilleer scored again on a pull-up, pushing the lead to 19-10.

Out of the media timeout, Murray stepped into a three-pointer off another Princeton turnover to extend the lead to 22-10. The Tigers snapped the run with a pair of buckets from Fadima Tall, but Murray dripped an entry pass down to Merkle, who finished through traffic with 25 seconds left, giving the Lady Lions a 24-12 lead after one quarter.

The Tigers opened the second quarter with some momentum after Tall drilled a three just 10 seconds into the half to make it 24-17. An offensive foul on Merkle at the other end led to a Toby Nweke turnaround jumper to bring the game within five. 48 seconds in, Penn State gave it right back on another turnover, and Princeton cashed in at the line after Madison St. Rose knocked down both free throws to cut it to 24-21.

Penn State went on a mini-run moments later when Murray stepped into a transition three, pushing the Lady Lions’ lead ahead 27-21. Princeton answered immediately with a Nweke three, and suddenly it was a one-possession game under three minutes into the second quarter.

With 6:21 left, Shaylen Steele had a layup blocked, and on the other end, Princeton missed a three. The game stayed stuck at 27-24 until Tea Cleante finally attacked the paint and scored through traffic to give Penn State some breathing room.

The Tigers hung around at the line, but with 4:47 left, McMiller jumped a pass at midcourse, pushed the break, and fed Merkle for an easy layup to make it 31-25. With under four minutes left, Murray connected on another three-pointer, putting Penn State up 34-25. St. Rose answered with two free throws to keep Princeton within reach.

Down the stretch of the first half, McMiller finished on a driving layup, but Princeton answered right back with a pull-up from Belker and a second-chance bucket on the next trip. With under a minute to go, Nyla McFadden had her shot blocked, and Princeton made Penn State pay when Belker hit a three to trim the deficit to 38-34.

Penn State opened the second half with its starting group back on the floor, but Princeton struck first. Just 25 seconds in, Tall slipped behind the defense for a layup. The Lady Lions had a few clean looks early, but nothing fell. The Lady Lions finally got on the board with Merkle’s score off a Ranisavlijevic feed to push the lead back to 40-36. But the Tigers answered immediately with a layup from St. Rose.

Murray drilled her fourth three of the afternoon, stretching the lead back to five, but Princeton wouldn’t go away. Olivia Hutcherson responded with a layup and the and-one free throw, and suddenly Penn State’s lead dwindled to two. Merkle kept Penn State in front with a layup off a McMiller dish to make it 45-41, but St. Rose and Belker responded for Princeton to cut the lead to 48-46 with 6:15 left in the quarter.

The two teams continued to trade buckets, with Merkle scoring but St. Rose immediately answering with a three. Ranisavlijevic knocked down a pair of free throws, giving Penn State a 52-29 lead heading into the media timeout.

Out of the break, Cleante stepped into a transition three to extend the lead to 55-49, Penn State’s largest lead of the quarter. Merkle followed it up with a second-chance finish, and for a moment, it looked like Penn State might pull away. But Princeton punched back. Nweke and Belker hit back-to-back threes to cut the Penn State lead to 57-55. Merkle put home another layup, but the Tigers had completely flipped the momentum.

Merkle briefly steadied things with another finish inside with 1:42 remaining, but Tall sank two free throws at 1:18. Merkle missed a layup on the ensuing possession, but cleaned up her own miss to push the lead to 63-60.

Tall drilled a deep three from the right side to tie the game at 63-63, and after a Lady Lion turnover, the Tigers drew a foul and Tall hit all three free throws with five seconds left to give Princeton a 65-63 lead heading into the fourth.

On Princeton’s opening possession, Murray blocked a driving attempt from St. Rose, but the Lady Lions turned the ball over twice in the first minute. The Tigers made them pay when Nweke scored in transition to extend Princeton’s lead to 67-63.

Steele lost the ball on the next possession, and Princeton converted at the line after a foul to push it to 69-63. Penn State finally broke through at 1:09 into the quarter when Merkle cleaned up her own miss to cut the deficit. Hutcherson scored through contact and added the free throw, helping the Tigers jump ahead 72-65.

The Lady Lions finally found some rhythm after a defensive stop. McMiller pushed the pace and scored on the break with 7:52 left to make it 72-67. Merkle followed with another fast-break finish, and suddenly the deficit was three.

Ashley Chea scored a second-chance layup to push it to 74-69, and although Merkle responded, Belker drilled a pull-up jumper and hit a free throw on the next possession to make it 77-71.

Out of the timeout, Murray threw a bad pass that turned into a Tall layup, and after a Merkle hookshot, St. Rose cleaned up a miss to put the Tigers up 83-73. Penn State tried to claw back after McMiller hit one free throw, but Princeton immediately scored in transition to go back up by double digits at 90-79.

Merkle scored again at 3:17, but Chea buried another three, giving Princeton an 11-point lead. With 2:42 left, Cleante had a huge second-chance three to bring it back to single digits. McMiller scored on a driving finish, and after Princeton connected at the line, McMiller responded with a turnaround jumper to make it 95-88.

Princeton closed it out in the final minutes with a few more baskets from Tall and St. Rose. Murray connected on a jumper, but it was too late as Princeton beat the Lady Lions 100-93.

Takeaways

• Merkle was unstoppable, dropping 39 points on 19-for-23 shooting and grabbing seven rebounds. Even in the loss, she controlled the game for long stretches and kept Penn State in the game.
• The Lady Lions finished with 16 turnovers, with most of them coming at the worst possible times.
• Princeton exploded for 35 points in the fourth quarter, hitting big threes, scoring in transition, and capitalizing on Nittany Lion turnovers all afternoon.

What’s Next?

Penn State women’s basketball will stay in the Bahamas to take on San Diego State in the Battle 4 Atlantis at 12 p.m. on Monday, November 24. The game will not be streamed.