It’s been a tough season for the Penn State Lady Lions.
In a loaded Big Ten conference, they finished the season with a 13-16 overall record and 4-14 in conference play. They closed the regular season with seven losses in a row, earning them the 13th seed in the tournament.
The Lady Lions did receive good news at the end of February when senior guard [autotag]Makenna Marisa[/autotag] was voted first team all-conference by the media. Averaging 17 points, four assists and four rebounds this season secured her second all-conference honor.
For a struggling team, the conference tournament can be a fresh start. The records are wiped out and all that matters is winning one game per day.
Penn State took advantage of this fresh start on Wednesday, beating Minnesota 72-67 in the opening game of the tournament.
Marisa led the team with 22 points, shooting just under 50%. Three other starts joined her in double figures. Underclassmen guards [autotag]Shay Ciezki[/autotag] and [autotag]Leilani Kapinus[/autotag] scored 16 and 11 points respectively, while fellow senior [autotag]Alexa Williamson[/autotag] added 11 as well.
This was a dominate effort for the Lady Lions. They never trailed in the game and led by 18 at one point. They also hit 49.1% of their shots and forced Minnesota into 22 turnovers.
[autotag]Mara Braun[/autotag] was the game’s leading scorer with 25 points. [autotag]Amaya Battle[/autotag] was the only other Golden Gopher to join Braun in double figures with 16 points.
Penn State now faces the fifth seeded Michigan Wolverines on Thursday. This will be a rematch of the early January game in Ann Arbor that saw the Lady Lions lose by 10.
The game will air on Big Ten Network 25 minutes after the conclusion of Michigan State and Nebraska on Thursday, March 2.
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