UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State women's basketball team returns from a two-week layoff and opens Big Ten action Sunday afternoon when the Lady Lions host Purdue. Tipoff from the Bryce Jordan Center is set for 2 p.m. and the game will be nationally televised on the Big Ten Network.
FOLLOW ALONG
- TV: Big Ten Network – Chris Vosters (pxp) and Megan McKeown (analyst)
- Listen: Penn State Sports Network with Justin Antweil and Joe Putnam – 93.3 FM, 1390 AM and online
- Live Stats: Live stats
- Game Notes: Penn State Notes
OPENING TIPS
- The 2020-21 Big Ten season tips off for Penn State Sunday afternoon when the Lady Lions welcome Purdue to the Bryce Jordan Center.
- Penn State finished non-conference play with a 3-1 record. The Lady Lions rode a pair of 30-plus point wins against Coppin State and St. Francis (Pa.) and a thrilling buzzer-beater finish over Rhode Island to a 3-0 start before taking nationally-ranked Syracuse down to the wire on the road.
- Penn State's balanced offense has seen six different Lady Lions score in double figures thus far. Transfers Kelly Jekot (14.8 ppg & 7.5 rpg) and Johnasia Cash (12.5 ppg & 7.5 rpg) have made an immediate impact as PSU's two leading scorers and rebounders.
IF PENN STATE BEATS PURDUE
- Penn State would improve to 4-1 on the season.
- PSU would remain undefeated at home and move to 4-0 at the Bryce Jordan Center.
- The Lady Lions would win their Big Ten opener for the first time since the 2015-16 sesaon when PSU beat Northwestern 79-72 on Dec. 31.
SCOUTING PURDUE
- The Boilermakers enter Sunday's game with a 3-2 overall record and 0-1 mark in Big Ten action.
- Purdue opened its conference slate Thursday night at home against Northwestern, falling to the #16 Wildcats 70-54. Fatou Diagne led the Boilermakers with 13 points and nine rebounds. Purdue turned the ball over 27 times which resulted in 29 Northwestern points.
- Kayana Traylor leads the team with 14.2 points and 4.1 assists per game. Brooke Moore follows with 12.2 points and 3.0 assists per contest.
- Tamara Farquhar rounds out Purdue's double-digit scorers with 11.4 ppg in addition to a team-best 9.8 rebounds per game.
AGAINST THE BOILERMAKERS
- Purdue leads the all-time series 31-21, but Penn State holds a 12-10 advantage when playing the Boilermakers in Happy Valley.
- The home team has won each of the last five meetings between Penn State and Purdue.
- Purdue won last season's matchup, 81-68, on Jan. 26, 2020 in West Lafayette, Ind.
- The Lady Lions weren't able to cool off a hot-shooting Purdue team in last season's lone meeting between the two squads as the Boilermakers shot 55.6 percent from the field compared to Penn State's 44.4 percent clip. Kamaria McDaniel led Penn State with 35 points, while Dominique Oden (28) and Ae'Rianna Harris (21) both scored 20-plus for Purdue.
NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS
- Penn State wrapped up non-conference play with a 3-1 record. The Lady Lions got off to their first 3-0 start since the 2017-18 season before taking nationally-ranked Syracuse down to the wire on the road in the non-conference finale.
- Penn State's first two wins were fueled by a pair of 30-plus point victories as the Lady Lions took down Coppin State 84-45 on Nov. 25 before defeating St. Francis (Pa.) 87-54 on Nov. 30. It was the first time PSU has opened a season with consecutive 30-point victories in nearly 40 years, dating back to Dec. 2 & 5, 1980, when it started off the season with wins over Howard (82-44) and Fairleigh Dickinson (106-66).
- Penn State secured its 3-0 start in thrilling fashion when sophomore Makenna Marisa hit a game-winning, buzzer-beating layup to seal a 70-69 victory over Rhode Island on Dec. 3. Marisa's game-winner marked the first time that a Penn State player hit a game-winning field goal with less than 10 seconds to play since Julia Trogele did so on Jan. 27, 2011 at Illinois.
- Penn State was within four of nationally-ranked Syracuse in the final minutes, but the then-#22 Orange pulled away down the stretch to hand the Lady Lions their first loss of the season, 82-72, in PSU's non-conference finale on Dec. 6.
TRANSFERS MAKING AN IMMEDIATE IMPACT
- Graduate transfer Kelly Jekot (previously Villanova) and senior Johnasia Cash (previously SMU) have made an immediate impact for Penn State.
- Jekot leads the team with 14.8 points and 7.5 rebounds per game and has recorded double-doubles in two of Penn State's games thus far this season. Jekot tallied just one double-double in her three years at Villanova and has flourished under Kieger's system, notching the second and third double-doubles of her career in Penn State's first two games.
- Jekot scored the 1,000th point of her career with her 11th point of the game against Coppin State. Jekot scored 990 points during her three years at Villanova from 2016-2019. She transferred to Penn State in January 2020 and sat out the entirety of the 2019-2020 season with an injury.
- Cash currently ranks second on the team with 12.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per contest. The SMU transfer came to Penn State over the offseason and was granted immediate eligibility for 2020-21. Cash, a McKeesport, Pa. native, provides key post presence for Kieger's squad and is coming off her first double-double in a Penn State uniform (13 points, 10 rebounds) at Syracuse.
TOP-10 FACILITATOR
- Makenna Marisa's court vision has grown exponentially in her sophomore season, as the McMurray, Pa. native currently ranks fourth in the nation with a mark of 7.0 assists per game.
- Her 4.0 assist-to-turnover ratio is also a top-25 mark amongst all Division I players.
- Marisa narrowly missed a triple-double in the non-conference finale at #22 Syracuse, tallying nine points and career-best marks of 11 rebounds and nine assists.
- In addition to her 7.0 assists per game, Marisa is also averaging 11.5 ppg and 6.3 rpg.
SHOOTERS!
- Freshmen Tova Sabel and Maddie Burke have provided a key three-point threat for Kieger's squad through the first four games.
- The two combined for eight three-pointers (Sabel 5, Burke 3) in the non-conference finale at #22 Syracuse on Dec. 6. Sabel shot a blistering 5-for-7 from downtown against the Orange.
- Sabel and Burke have combined for 13 of Penn State's 29 three-pointers thus far this season, equating to 44.8 percent of PSU's production from outside the arc. The two are shooting a combined 48.1 percent (13-for-27) from three-point range.
NEW FACES? NO PROBLEM!
- Penn State's 2020-21 roster features eight freshmen and five transfers who are seeing their first court time in in the Blue and White this season.
- The eight freshmen, all true freshmen, are tied for the national lead in number of freshmen on Division I rosters. Oral Roberts and Incarnate Word also have eight freshmen on their rosters. Penn State has the best record (3-1) amongst the three DI teams with eight freshmen.
- Penn State is ranked as the ninth-youngest team in Division I, and the youngest in the Big Ten, with an average age of 19.56. Penn State has 12 players that have two or less years of Division I playing experience, which equates to 75 percent of its roster. The 12 rostered players with two or less years of DI playing experience is tied for ninth-most amongst all Division I rosters.
UP NEXT
- Penn State hits the road on Wednesday, Dec. 23 to take when the Lady Lions travel to Ann Arbor, Mich. to face #19 Michigan at 12:30 p.m.