Penn State women’s basketball (8-17, 1-13 Big Ten) dropped its 13th conference game of the season with an 81-62 loss to No. 20 Maryland (20-6, 8-6 Big Ten).

After a strong start, the Lady Lions would collapse in the second half for the second straight game to fall to 1-13 in Big Ten play despite 30 points by Kiyomi McMiller.

How It Happened

Maryland won the opening tip to start the game. After turnovers by both teams, Yarden Garzon opened scoring with a second-chance three to put the Terrapins on the board first.

A missed layup by Amiya Evans allowed Maryland to go up by five after a jumper by Saylor Poffenbarger. The Terrapins would extend their lead to eight with a three-point play by Isimenme Ozzy-Momudu. Gracie Merkle would get the Lady Lions on the scoreboard with a made layup.

After some misses by both teams, Tèa Clèante would make a driving layup to make it 8-4 just under halfway through the first quarter.

After a Terrapin offensive foul, Nyla McFadden would hit Penn State’s first three to close the Maryland lead to one.

The teams exchanged layups before a Mir Mclean jumper made it 12-9 Maryland. The Terrapins would capitalize on another Penn State turnover before Kiyomi McMiller would get on the score sheet with a three-pointer. She would then hit a two-point jump shot to tie the game.

Maryland made it 16-14 with a mid-range bucket by McLean. A three-point play by Merkle gave Penn State the 17-16 lead after the opening quarter.

Ozzy-Momudu and Clèante exchanged layups to start the second quarter. Maryland retook its lead with a fastbreak layup off a Penn State turnover.

A McMiller three-ball from deep would tie the game at 22-all. She then hit a floater to tie it again after a made Maryland layup.

The Terrapins capitalized on two more Penn State turnovers to go up four before a McFadden layup, and a McMiller jumper would tie the game at 30.

Merkle gave Penn State the lead with a layup after a Maryland travel. She would extend the lead to four with another layup.

Maryland closed the quarter on an 8-0 run to take a 38-34 lead into halftime.

A McMiller jumper opened the second half. Vitória Santana gave Penn State the lead with a three, but the Terrapins would respond with two threes of their own, before getting a fastbreak layup to go up seven.

A made free throw and layup gave Maryland its largest lead of the night around halfway through the third quarter. McMiller would end the run with a pull-up jumper, but the Terrapins would respond with two jumpers, one of them from three-point range.

A McMiller mid-range jumper and two made free throws by Viktoria Ranisavljevic brought the Lady Lions within nine.

A McMiller three, and a Merkle layup closed in on the Maryland lead to make it 58-50 after three.

The Terrapins would start the final quarter with six quick points before a Santana three-ball made it 63-54 Maryland.

A layup and three gave Maryland a 16-point lead with six minutes left to play. Both teams would trade layups and free throws to make it 73-57.

McMiller made yet another bucket to make the Terrapin lead 14. Maryland would proceed to go on a 9-0 run before a McMiller three-point play in the final minute to make it an 81-62 final score.

Takeaways

• Second-chance points were a clear difference-maker, with Maryland scoring 24 compared to a measly four by Penn State.
• Turnovers also killed the Lady Lions, giving the ball up 21 times, leading to 28 Terrapin points.
• After leading through the first quarter, Penn State couldn’t hold on and would be outscored in every other quarter.
• Kiyomi McMiller was the lone highlight for the Lady Lions; she had her third consecutive 30-point game.

What’s Next?

The Lady Lions will continue to fight for a Big Ten Tournament bid when they host Northwestern. The game is scheduled for Sunday, February 15, with tip-off set for 4 p.m. The game will be at Rec Hall and is available for streaming on the Big Ten Network.