Penn State women’s basketball (7-14, 0-10 Big Ten) fell to Oregon (15-7, 3-6 Big Ten) 89-59 at Matthew Knight Arena on Saturday night.

Despite trailing by just six points at halftime, the Lady Lions were unable to keep pace on offense throughout the second half without their leading scorer, Gracie Merkle, who was ruled out with an injury just before tip-off.

How It Happened

Penn State jumped out to a hot start, stacking layups from Tea Cleante and Shaelyn Steele, along with a 3-pointer from Nyla McFadden, to go up 7-0 early in the first quarter.

Seven unanswered #LionMentality pic.twitter.com/Hxo83hKJNE

— Penn State Women's Basketball (@PennStateWBB) January 24, 2026

McFadden attacked the basket with a spin move, leading to a foul and a trip to the line, but she missed both opportunities. Finally, after missing its first eight shots, Oregon finally got on the board with a layup from Sarah Rambus.

Vitoria Santana splashed a 3-pointer to extend Penn State’s 10-6 lead. Then, Cleante weaved her way through the paint to scoop a layup into the basket despite contact, but the refs deemed it an offensive foul, wiping away the basket.

Katie Fiso tied the game at 10-10 with a layup, but Viktoria Ranisavljevic took back the lead with a bucket of her own. Oregon continued to attack the Merkle-less paint, finding a pair of layups to go up 16-12.

The Ducks began the second quarter with a layup from Astera Tuhina and a pair of free throws from Amina Muhammad.

Avary Cain caught her defender sleeping and splashed a corner three to extend Oregon’s 25-17 lead. After Cain knocked down another 3-pointer off the bench, Carolyn Kieger quickly called a timeout.

Kiyomi McMiller missed a jump shot out of the break, leading to another layup by Fiso for Oregon. Rambus took another shot from her spot and cashed it, giving Oregon a 34-23 lead.

Ranisavljevic pushed the tempo during a fastbreak, converting an and-one opportunity to cut into the Ducks’ lead. Then, Sweden-native splashed a late clock 3-pointer, helping Penn State claw back within two possessions as the second quarter dwindled.

OKAY VIKI FIRE US #LionMentality pic.twitter.com/lPiwJ4dIaT

— Penn State Women's Basketball (@PennStateWBB) January 24, 2026

After Cleant drew first blood of the second half with a free throw, Oregon peppered on two layups to remain ahead 44- 35. Oregon suddenly caught fire thanks to a flurry of deep balls from Mia Jacobs and Ari Long, forcing Kieger to cool them off with a timeout.

Penn State turned over the ball right out of the break, leading to a putback bucket from Ehis Etute that extended Oregon’s 55-40 lead. The Ducks continued to attack, as Fiso converted an and-one opportunity after being fouled by Steele. Then, Cain hit her third deep ball of the night to put Oregon up 64-42, essentially putting the game out of reach.

Fiso knifed through a lifeless Penn State defense to extend Oregon’s 80-47 lead with a pair of buckets in the paint. After a handful of airballed 3-pointers from the deflated Penn State offense, McFadden strung together two buckets, but still, the Lady Lions trailed 82-52 with three minutes to play.

With under a minute, Santana went up and under on the baseline for Penn State’s last score of the night.

Takeaways

• The absence of Gracie Merkle allowed Oregon to deploy a two-big lineup throughout the night, which overpowered the Lady Lions in the interior, as the Ducks scored a whopping 50 points in the paint.
• Penn State was unable to protect the basketball on offense, turning the ball over 15 times, which led to 20 points off turnovers for the Ducks.
• The Lady Lions’ offense was simply inadequate down the stretch, scoring just 25 second-half points on 37.5% shooting from the field.

What’s Next?

The Lady Lions return home to the Bryce Jordan Center for a matchup against Minnesota on Wednesday, January 28, at 6 p.m. EST. The game will be broadcast on Big Ten Plus.