Penn State women’s basketball (5-1, 0-0 Big Ten) took down San Diego State (4-3, 0-0 Mountain West) 83-67 in the Battle 4 Atlantis.

Behind Gracie Merkle’s dominant performance in the paint and Kiyomi McMillers’ scoring, Penn State built a 51-34 halftime cushion and never looked back.

How It Happened

Penn State got off to a quick start after winning the opening tip. Moriah Murray knocked down a pull-up jumper to open the scoring, and moments later, McMiller buried a step-back mid-range look off a steal to make it 4-0. San Diego State responded with a jumper from Maoimi Panganiban.

The Aztecs grabbed their first lead about two and a half minutes into the game when Nat Martinez drilled a three in transition and completed the four-point play to go up 6-4. Viktoria Ranisavljevic answered when she grabbed the offensive rebound, kicked it out, and hit McMiller for the jumper to tie it back up.

Penn State then saw multiple drives blocked while San Diego State missed a string of pull-ups, as both offensives struggled to find a rhythm. The Aztecs eventually broke the drought with another Martinez three-pointer to go up 9-6.

Coming out of the first media timeout, San Diego State stretched the lead to 12-6 with three free throws from Martinez. Merkle punched back by muscling in a second-chance layup, and Nyla McFadden followed with a driving finish to cut the deficit to 12-10. The Lady Lions forced turnovers on back-to-back possessions, but San Diego State locked in defensively and ended up pushing the lead to four on a pull-up jumper.

After Shaelyn Steele knocked down two free throws to tie the game at 14-14, McMiller converted a driving layup to keep Penn State within one. In the final seconds of the quarter, Murray dropped off a pass to Merkle, who finished at the rim to give Penn State a 22-21 lead after one.

The Lady Lions picked up right where they left off to start the second. McMiller knocked down a jumper on the opening possession to make it 24-21, and Tea Cleante immediately came up with a steal on the other end. Penn State couldn’t convert on back-to-back layups inside, but the defensive pressure kept forcing San Diego State into mistakes.

After a multitude of blocks, turnovers, and empty possessions for both teams, Merkle finally broke through by finishing through contact to push the lead to 26-21. The Aztecs answered with a jumper, but Murray responded right away by drilling a three-pointer from the right wing to make it 29-23 and give Penn State its largest lead of the afternoon.

Out of a Penn State timeout, Ranisavljevic stretched the lead to nine when she buried a catch-and-shoot three to make it 32-23. After a defensive stop, Ranisavljevic hit another shot on the break to extend the lead to double digits.

The Aztecs tried stopping the bleeding with a layup, but Merkle cleaned up a second-chance finish inside to make it 37-25, and moments later, McMiller cut through the lane for a driving layup. San Diego State converted on a layup, but Penn State’s defense kept generating transition chances. McFadden took advantage of one of them, scoring two straight fast-break buckets to stretch the lead to 43-27 and force the Aztecs into a timeout.

McMiller created two more good looks, Merkle dominated the defensive glass, and San Diego State couldn’t connect from deep. The Lady Lions kept running the floor and headed into halftime with a 43-28 lead.

After a few misses around the rim to open the half, Merkle cleaned up a second-chance layup inside to extend the lead to 45-28. McMiller pushed the margin even further after grabbing an offensive board, drawing a foul, and knocking down both free throws to make it 47-28.

San Diego responded with a transition fast-break layup, but Merke answered immediately on the other end. The Aztecs cut it back to 49-32 with a finish from Martinez, but McMiller subbed back into the game and dropped a hook shot from the paint to rebuild the 17-point lead.

McFadden picked off a pass and went coast-to-coast for a layup, then snagged another turnover seconds later and finished again at the rim to stretch the lead to 53-34. Merkle scored on a layup off another McFadden assist, and McMiller knocked down a jumper in the paint as the Lady Lions opened up a 23-point lead.

Murray drilled a spot-up triple from the wing to make it 62-41, and Merkle added another putback to extend the lead even further. In the final minute of the quarter, Cleante connected on a clean look from deep to push the lead to 67-44 before San Diego State added a late jumper to close the frame at 67-46.

Penn State opened the final quarter with a layup from Merkle, and after SDSU split a pair of free throws at the line, McMiller hit a step-back jumper to extend the lead to 71-49.

Martinez buried a second-chance three-pointer, but Merkle responded by cleaning up another miss with a putback. San Diego State hit another long-range shot, but Merkle knocked down both of her free throws to make it 75-55. After a few turnovers and Aztec buckets, Shaelyn Steele stepped into a clean look from the right side and buried a three to push the lead to 23 points.

San Diego State managed to score at the rim off a backdoor cut, but Penn State kept trading stops at the defensive end for long possessions to dwindle the clock. Merkle continued to stand tall in the paint, grabbing rebounds and forcing misses.

San Diego State made a final push with a layup and a pair of free throws to trim the margin slightly, but the Lady Lions never let the lead fall under double digits. Penn State bled the clock and closed things out with an 83-67 win in the Bahamas.

Takeaways

• The Lady Lions jumped out to a double-digit second-quarter lead and eventually carried a 51-34 lead into halftime. Every time San Diego State made a push, Penn State answered with a run of its own.
• Merkle has been the most dominant player on the floor all weekend. She posted a career-high 39 points on 19-for-23 shooting in the loss to Princeton, then followed it up with a 26-point performance on 12-for-15 shooting against San Diego State. Whether it’s finishing through contact, cleaning up the offensive board, or locking down the paint defensively, Merkle has been the anchor of everything Penn State has done in the Bahamas.
• McMiller and Murray dictated the tempo from the jump, with McMiller continuing to knock down mid-range shots, and Murray connecting on timely threes to help push the lead anytime the Aztecs threatened to close the gap.

What’s Next?

The Lady Lions will head back to State College to take on Yale at 1 p.m. on Sunday, November 30, at Rec Hall. The game will be streamed on BTN+.