Penn State women’s basketball (7-11, 0-7 Big Ten) was dismantled by Ohio State (16-2, 6-1 Big Ten) 108-84 in Columbus on Wednesday night.

The Lady Lions went down big early, and despite a comeback effort led by Moriah Murray, Gracie Merkle, and Kiyomi McMiller, they could never get back in it and dropped their sixth game in a row.

How It Happened

It was a bleak start for Penn State. The Buckeyes opened the game with a 14-0 run, with two threes being made by Jaloni Cambridge. A McMiller three ended the run and gave the Lady Lions their first points over halfway through the first quarter.

Penn State started to crawl back with four layups by Merkle and a 3-pointer by Murray. Cambridge would hit two more 3-pointers before the end of the first to keep the Buckeyes lead at five after one.

The second quarter started with a layup by Merkle, then Ohio State’s Chance Gray traded three with McMiller to make it 24-21 Buckeyes.

Two layups by Nyla McFadden and another 3 by chance followed. Cambridge continued her strong game with another 3, a layup, and a mid-range jumper on three straight possessions. Merkle answered with a layup followed by two 3-pointers by Murray and another by McMiller to close the Penn State deficit to six.

Cambridge and the duo of Murray and McMiller would continue to exchange buckets, with Murray hitting another 3 and draining a free throw. Ohio State would take an eight-point lead into the half after Ava Watson made one from beyond the arc with just two seconds left.

The second half began with a mid-range jumper by McFadden that was followed up by a Cambridge layup on the ensuing possession.

Kylee Kitts was the next score, making a 3-pointer to extend the Buckeye lead to 11. Tèa Clèante followed that up with two layups.

Elsa Lemmila made a 3-point play off of drawing a foul on a made layup. Murray would answer with a 3, but Lemmila would make another layup to make it 67-55 with just under five minutes left in the third.

Gray hit back-to-back 3s help the Buckeyes start pulling away. After two made free throws by Cambridge, a Shaelyn Steele turnover led to another Cambridge layup.

A Murray 3-pointer would close the Buckeye lead marginally, but the Lady Lions would still be down 82-63 going into the final quarter.

Merkle started off the fourth quarter hot, hitting a layup then drawing a foul to get the 3-point play to close the Ohio State lead to 12. Cambridge came back with a jumper on the next possession. Then followed it up with a floater over Merkle.

The Buckeyes would make five more from beyond the arc, with four being by Gray in just under two minutes.

Ohio State would hit two more 3s, but this time Murray would respond with two more of her own to close out the game with the Buckeyes being on top, 108-84.

Takeaways

• Ohio State couldn’t miss from deep, going 17-36 from three-point range.
• The Buckeyes capitalized on Penn State turnovers, scoring 39 points off of 24 forced turnovers.
• Moriah Murray, Gracie Merkle, and Kiyomi McMiller were bright spots on a dim game for Penn State, with Murray in particular making eight 3-pointers.
• The Lady Lions couldn’t contain Jaloni Cambridge or Chance Gray, as they had 33 and 23 points, respectively.

What’s Next?

The Lady Lions will travel back home to take on Rutgers on Sunday, January 18, at Rec Hall. The opening tip is scheduled for 1 p.m., with the game being broadcast on Big Ten Plus.