After 22 games, the Lady Lions are 7-15 with a winless conference record. However, head coach Carolyn Kieger says the team is keeping its foot on the gas as reinforcements arrive.

“We’re excited to keep getting pieces back, get healthy here, and get a full squad together. I think that’s kind of rejuvenating us right now,” Kieger said during weekly media availability. “We’ve had our best three practices probably of the year, you know, this week with some off week to get back to us.”

Kieger says she views Wednesday’s upcoming road matchup against Purdue as a chance to build some much-needed momentum.

“I think we’re really excited going into this game to have players back and players healthy, and build the possible momentum from getting our full squad together.”

While she couldn’t go into specifics, Kieger strongly hinted that Gracie Merkle and Amiya Evans are nearing a return to the court for Penn State.

Merkle, who leads Penn State with 19.3 points per game and boasts a best-in-the-nation 74.2 field goal percentage, has missed the last two games due to injury. If the redshirt junior is in fact able to go against Purdue, she will undoubtedly provide a spark on both ends of the floor for the Lady Lions.

Evans, who serves as the other part of Penn State’s front court, hasn’t been in the lineup since appearing on the injury report on January 11, but her return to action has already paid dividends for the team according to Kieger.

“Getting Amiya back has been huge for us in practice. She’s such an emotional leader for us, and we’ve missed her drastically over the last couple of weeks here. So having her back in the gym, having her back at practice has been a huge spark for us. She’s got a joyful energy that she brings, and she also holds people accountable.”

With the team’s health on the uprise, Penn State is motivated to pick up its first conference win as it heads into an easier part of its schedule.

“We have some games of [teams] that are around us in the rankings, and we have an opportunity to jump up here and win against people and play against people who are around where we’re at in the conference. We’re going to do everything we can to take advantage of that.”

Kieger says the off-week has allowed her squad to emphasize the basics, starting on defense.

“[We] worked on team defense, gaps, rotations, drops, all the things where you’re covering for each other.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Lady Lions practiced pushing the tempo and moving the ball around.

“Getting the ball out of our hands quicker, pitching it up. If someone’s open ahead of us, pitching it up, playing [with] great spacing. I think the ball’s been sticking too much lately. So we worked these last three days on really moving it, spacing, spotting, and being great passers, and making the extra pass and valuing shot quality. Those are two things we’ve been spending a ton of time on, and I think it’s been paying off.”