For the Penn State Lady Lions, it’s not the NCAA Tournament but postseason basketball. After a successful regular season with the best record since the 2016-17 season, Penn State was one of the first teams out of the NCAA Tournament to take on the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament.
Penn State will host George Mason on Thursday, March 21. The Patriots finished fourth in the Atlantic 10 conference with a 14-4 record and lost to No. 5 Duquesne in the A10 Tournament about ten days ago. George Mason is led by senior guard Sonia Smith, who averages 15.2 points per game.
Penn State is one of four No. 1 seeds in the tournament, joining James Madison, Villanova, and Washington State. The Lady Lions’ scoring leader is grad transfer [autotag]Ashley Owusu[/autotag], averaging 17.7 points per game. Forward [autotag]Makenna Marisa[/autotag] drops 13.3 ppg while shooting 38% from the 3-point line.
As a team, Penn State shoots 49% from the field and 37.5% from the 3-point line, while George Mason only shoots 39% from the field. On paper, this matchup sets up nicely for the Lady Lions, who own a tremendous offense, but it is March, and anything can happen.
Should Penn State take down the Patriots, they will host the second-round matchup against the Ball State and Belmont winner. If Penn State makes it to the Final Four of this tournament, it will head to Indianapolis for the semifinals (and potentially the finals) to be played in Hinkle Fieldhouse.
Penn State vs. George Mason Women’s Basketball
- Date: Thursday, March 21
- Time: 6 p.m. ET
- TV Channel: ESPN+
- Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free)