Penn State women’s basketball (6-2, 0-1 Big Ten) lost to Nebraska (9-0, 1-0 Big Ten) 101-83 in the team’s first game at the Bryce Jordan Center this season.

Despite Gracie Merkle leading the way with 23 points on 11-13 shooting, the Lady Lions couldn’t keep pace with Nebraska’s fourth-quarter performance.

How It Happened

Merkle won the tip, getting the Lady Lions started. Viktoria Ranisavljevic looked to feed Merkle inside, but her pass was stolen by Petra Bozan. Bozan and Jessica Petrie converted on back-to-back buckets inside to start the game for Nebraska, and after Kiyomi McMiller’s pass went out of bounds, Petrie worked her way to the line, where she made one of her two free throws. Tea Cleante was forced into a turnover on the next play, ending in a fastbreak layup for Hailey Weaver, forcing Carolyn Kieger to call an early timeout after going down 7-0 just 2:08 into play.

Out of the timeout, Victoria Santana tried to feed Moriah Murray, but the pass was mishandled as it went out of bounds. Bozan took advantage of the turnover and turned it into two points on the other end. After both teams exchanged misses, the Lady Lions got their first basket to fall, coming from Victoria Santana. On the next offensive possession, Merkle was fed inside to make it 9-4. After a Cornhuskers miss and Viktoria Ranisavljevic’s offensive rebound, Murray knocked down a deep three from the top of the key.

Two Nebraska buckets made it 13-7, but McMiller responded after hitting Merkle inside for the easy deuce. Amiah Hargrove knocked down two free throws, and then Kennadi Williams connected on a shot from deep after a Lady Lion turnover with 2:30 to go in the first quarter. After Logan Nissley hit two free throws to extend the lead to double digits, Amiya Evans cleaned up Cleante’s miss and worked her way to the free-throw line, knocking down both shots from the line. McMiller was able to hit her first shot with 44 seconds to go in the quarter, bringing the lead down to seven. Britt Prince then made two free throws for the Cornhuskers before the first quarter expired with a score of 22-13.

McMiller was stripped by Callin Hake on the opening play of the second quarter, which ended in two points at the line for the Cornhuskers. Merkle answered for the Lady Lions with her third basket of the afternoon, and then Murray immediately hit a three-pointer after a Nebraska turnover to close the gap to six points. Britt Prince responded with a baseline jumper on the next play for Nebraska, but Merkle one-upped her by connecting on the and-one bucket down low. Merkle made the free throw to make the score 26-21, Nebraska.

With just over six minutes to go in the half, Cleante hit a corner three to make it a single-possession game, and moments later, Murray connected on her third three to tie the game. Penn State forced Nebraska into a shot clock violation, and then McMiller found the open Merkle inside, giving Penn State its first lead of the afternoon, 29-27.

Prince evened the score with a tough layup inside, but Cleante took the lead right back with a layup of her own. Petra Bozan then connected on a shot inside before Merkle successfully put back Murray’s attempt to give the Lady Lions the lead back. Amiah Hargrove hit a three for the Cornhuskers to make it a one-point game, but Murray erased it with yet another three, sending the Lady Lions into halftime with a 38-24 lead.

Prince connected on a shot from deep to get the second half underway for Nebraska. McMiller answered with a deuce inside, followed by a basket from Merkle on the next possession. Merkle scored again on the next offensive possession after Prince hit two free throws at the line. Hargrove then scored five straight points for the Cornhuskers after knocking down a layup and three-pointer, shrinking their deficit to one, at 45-44.

Penn State and Nebraska traded free throws, knocking down all four shots before Hargrove found the bottom of the net once again. McMiller then pulled up from mid-range, connecting on the jumper. Petrie connected on a layup, and then Hake knocked down one free throw at the stripe, giving Nebraska the lead back at 51-49. McMiller drew a foul and went one-for-two at the line to make it a one-point game, but Prince immediately responded with a layup inside. Murray answered that on the other end, before McMiller hit a turnaround mid-range jumper to re-capture the lead. Hargrove answered back with a deuce before McMiller added two more points to her total at the line.

Petrie connected on a and-one plus the foul with 2:19 to go in the third quarter, and then Logan Nissley knocked down a shot from distance. Prince then found the bottom of the basket again, McMiller responded with back-to-back buckets for the Lady Lions, and in the blink of an eye, Nebraska jumped out to a five-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Bozan went one-for-two at the line to open the fourth quarter, and then hit back-to-back layups on the ensuing Nebraska possessions to give the Cornhuskers a double-digit lead. Ranisavljevic picked off Nissley’s pass and went the other way for the and-one, also connecting on the free throw to make it a seven-point game.

Bozan scored two more layups, with Cleante also getting a bucket to fall for the Lady Lion layup. After gaining possession back, Cleante knocked down a three-pointer to make it 74-68. Cleante then hit another shot, this time a driving layup, but it was answered immediately by Nissley. Ranisavljevic and Bozan exchanged missed three-pointers before Merkle banked in her shot. Nissley hit a three-pointer to make it 80-72, but Merkle was there to answer for the Lady Lions inside. Hargrove and Nissley then hit back-to-back three-pointers, jumping out to a 12-point lead.

McMiller hit the mid-range jumper to bring her point total up to 20, but Petrie was there to answer for Nebraska. Hargrove and Prince both connected on three-pointers, giving Nebraska a 98-78 lead.

The teams would trade possessions for the final 1:15, as Nebraska earns its first conference victory of the season.

Takeaways

• Nissley and Hargrove’s back-to-back threes with under five minutes left completely flipped the game’s energy, sucking the life out of the Bryce Jordan Center.
• Bozan took over the start of the fourth quarter, scoring nine quick points and burying the Lady Lions on their first three defensive possessions of the quarter.
• The Lady Lions turned the ball over 18 times, and Nebraska turned those mistakes into 28 points.

What’s Next?

The Lady Lions are set to host Arizona State at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, December 9, at the Bryce Jordan Center. The game will be streamed on BTN+.