Tag: Ashley Owusu

Furious comeback comes up short as Penn State Lady Lions fall to Villanova in WBIT semifinal

The Penn State women’s basketball team saw its season end with a hard-fought loss to Villanova in the WBIT semifinal round.

Despite a heroic effort by [autotag]Leilani Kapinus[/autotag], Penn State was unable to keep its women’s basketball season going for one more game. The Lady Lions fell to Villanova in a seminal matchup in the Women’s Basketball Invitational tournament in Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Monday afternoon. Penn State’s 58-53 loss to the Wildcats brought a tough ending to a season in which the program took some big steps forward overall.

Kapinus led the Lady Lions with 18 points in a defensive battle with Villanova. The Wildcats had three players score in double figures for a much more balanced offensive attack, led by a 21-point effort by Lucy Olsen. Kapinus nearly brought Penn State all the way back in the fourth quarter alone, but she received a helping hand from [autotag]Ashley Owusu[/autotag] as well. Owusu hit a three-point shot with five seconds remaining in the game to bring the Nittany Lions to within three points.

Villanova outscored Penn State by one point in each of the first two quarters of the semifinal matchup to hold a two-point lead at halftime. The Wildcats created some separation after halftime with a 17-9 advantage on the scoreboard in the third quarter. Penn State chipped away in the fourth quarter and outscored Villanova by five points, but it was just enough of a hole that was too big to climb out of for the Lady Lions.

Penn State’s season ends with a 22-13 record, an improvement of 8 wins from the previous season. ending the season with a loss will be tough to take, but the Lady Lions have improved their win total each of the last few seasons and the program does appear to be heading in a positive direction once again, which should bring some sense of optimism for the 2024-25 season.

Villanova will now get a chance to play for the first WBIT championship in NCAA history. The Wildcats will face the winner of Monday’s other semifinal matchup between Illinois and Washington State. The WBIT championship will be played on Wednesday evening. There is no third-place game.

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NCAA WBIT Tournament: Broadcast and stream info for Penn State vs. Mississippi State

No. 1 Penn State takes on Mississippi State in the quarterfinals of the WBIT.

The Penn State Lady Lions have advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA WBIT after defeating Belmont 74-66. Junior guard [autotag]Leilani Kapinus[/autotag] scored her 1,000th career point, and [autotag]Makenna Marisa[/autotag] led the Lady Lion offense with 18 points. This Thursday, both players will be needed when Penn State takes on Mississippi State at the Bryce Jordan Center.

The Bulldogs finished seventh in the SEC with an 8-8 conference record, but they boast two 14+ point per game scorers in JerKaila Jordan and Jessika Carter.

The Lady Lions, on the other hand, offer up five double-digit scorers led by grad transfer [autotag]Ashley Owusu[/autotag] with 17.7 points per game. Penn State is 14-4 at home and will look to continue that success Thursday evening against Mississippi State.

A win would put the Lady Lions into the WBIT semifinals and book them a trip to Indianapolis. On April 1, they would take on the winner of No. 1 Villanova and Saint Joseph’s.

Penn State vs. Mississippi State Women’s Basketball

  • Date: Thursday, March 28
  • Time: 6 p.m. ET
  • TV Channel: ESPN+
  • Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free)

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Penn State Lady Lions advance in WBIT with win over Belmont

The Penn State Lady Lions are moving on to the quarterfinals of the WBIT after a win on Monday night.

The women’s college basketball season will continue with one final home game for the Penn State Lady Lions. Penn State prevailed over Belmont by a score of 74-66 on Monday evening in the Bryce Jordan Center.

Penn State trailed Belmont by three points at halftime but turned in a strong third quarter to take the lead and held off Belmont in the fourth quarter for the win. [autotag]Makenna Marissa[/autotag] led the Lady Lions with 18 points and [autotag]Ashley Owusu[/autotag] added 16 points. [autotag]Leilani Kapinus[/autotag] and [autotag]Jayla Oden[/autotag] each scored in double figures as well with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Kapinus led the team with 7 rebounds.

Penn State will now host Mississippi State in the quarterfinal round of the WBIT on Thursday evening. A victory over the SEC program would send Penn State to Indianapolis for the semifinal of the postseason tournament. The winner of the Penn State-Mississippi State game will meet the winner of Thursday night’s matchup between Villanova and Saint Joseph’s on Monday, April 1.

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Lady Wins win WNIT opener in overtime vs. George Mason

Penn State Lady Lions advance to the second round of the WNIT after a come-from-behind overtime victory.

The Penn State women’s basketball team will see its season continue following Thursday night’s overtime victory over George Mason in the first round of the WNIT. Penn State won the first-round matchup by a final score of 84-80 to advance into the second round of the inaugural WNIT.

Penn State needed a furious fourth-quarter rally after falling behind by as many as 12 points in the final quarter of regulation. [autotag]Leilani Kapinus[/autotag] capped the fourth-quarter comeback with a pair of free throws to tie the game at  70-70 in the final seconds to highlight her double-double in the game. It was her fourth double-double of the season.

Penn State took control in overtime with [autotag]Ashley Owusu[/autotag] helping set the tone on a night she scored 20 points to lead the team. Strong defense and clutch free throw shooting helped keep Penn State on top in overtime and allowed Penn State to move on to the second round.

Penn State will now prepare to face Belmont in the second round of the WNIT. The Lady Lions will host Belmont on Monday evening at 6 p.m. ET in the Bryce Jordan Center.

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NCAA WBIT Tournament: Broadcast and stream info for Penn State vs. George Mason

No. 1 Penn State takes on George Mason in the opening round of the WBIT

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)

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Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes prove too much for Penn State

A top-two Iowa scoring record was broken on Thursday evening against Penn State, but it’s not the person you are thinking of.

Coming off a loss at home to Michigan last weekend, the Lady Lions ran into one of the best teams in the country, the No. 2 Iowa Hawkeyes. As many might have expected, it wasn’t [autotag]Caitlin Clark[/autotag] that led to Penn State’s demise, but rather sophomore forward Hannah Stuelke, who completely stole the show.

Stuelke scored a career-high 47 points on 17-20 shooting, good for second most in Iowa history, pacing Iowa to a 111-93 victory. Stuelke became the first player not named Caitlin Clark to score 30-plus points since 2022. Clark was no slouch, scoring 27 points of her own and distributing the ball beautifully with 15 assists for her 56th career double-double. She is now just 39 points away from becoming the NCAA women’s basketball all-time leading scorer.

Penn State was able to force Clark into 12 turnovers, but the points in the paint were the game’s real story. Stuelke dominated with her 6-foot-2-inch frame and was no match for the Lady Lions inside. Stuelke had a chance to break Megan Gustafson’s Iowa record for most points in a single game (48), but only making 13 of her 21 free throws ended her chance. Stuelke did, however, surpass Clark’s second-place points record of 46 points.

The points in the paint favored the Hawkeyes 56-30, and despite the Lady Lions keeping it close heading into halftime, the dominance inside was just too much to overcome.

[autotag]Ashley Owusu[/autotag] led Penn State with 18 points, but like the rest of her team, she was inefficient from the field, only hitting four of her 15 shots and missing all five of her 3-point attempts. [autotag]Makenna Marisa[/autotag] and [autotag]Leilani Kapinus[/autotag] added 12 points each but also couldn’t get much to go in the bucket.

Penn State could not score inside to match the physicality of Shuelke and Iowa. The Lady Lions had more shot attempts than the Hawkeyes but could not convert on enough of them to take down the number two team in the nation.

Penn State women’s basketball team will be back in action on Sunday to take on the Wisconsin Badgers. The Lady Lions will be looking to snap their two-game skid and grab a road in Madison. The game will tip off at 3 p.m. and broadcast on Big Ten Network Plus.

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