UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State women's basketball team opened its 2021-22 regular season with an 85-66 victory over LIU Tuesday evening at the Bryce Jordan Center.
The Lady Lions were led by sophomore forward Ali Brigham who scored 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting in her Penn State debut. She also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and three blocks. Junior guard Makenna Marisa also poured in 19 points with three three-pointers and dished out six assists while grabbing six boards. Graduate student Kelly Jekot added 11 points, also with three triples. Penn State tallied 20 assists on 30 made field goals. The Lady Lions held LIU to 38.5 percent shooting and forced 13 steals.
LIU was paced by Erykah Russell's 15 points, while Kiara Bell had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Emaia O'Brien contributed 11 points.
Penn State began the game hot and took their first extended advantage of the evening thanks to three consecutive three-pointers on three-straight possessions with Marisa, Shay Hagans and Jekot each drilling a triple in the stretch to put Penn State in front, 18-12, with 2:31 left in the first quarter. The Lady Lions shared the ball well on offense in the first quarter with seven assists as a team. They ended first ended the with a wide-open layup by Brigham, thanks to good ball movement, to lead 23-14 at the first break.
A 20-3 run spanned the end of the first and early second quarter to give Penn State a 29-15 advantage at the 7:22 mark in the second quarter. Six Lady Lions contributed to the stretch, with Brigham contributing six points and Hagans scoring five.
Penn State kept a good margin over the Sharks through the second quarter as its lead never dipped below six points. With time winding down in the half, Marisa went coast-to-coast and made a spinning step-back jump shot as time expired to send the Lady Lions to the half leading 41-30.
A strong start in the third quarter for Penn State further increased the Lady Lions' advantage. Penn State made five of its first six shots in the third quarter and led by as much as 19, at 53-34, thanks to back-to-back tough baskets by Leilani Kapinus. Penn State took a 58-44 advantage into the fourth quarter.
LIU's last spark came on an eight-point spurt early in the final period, but Penn State roared back with an eight-point run of its own that included a Brigham layup sandwiched between threes by Marisa and Jekot to quickly re-extend the double-digit margin. PSU cruised from there to its 19-point victory.
The Lady Lions return to the Bryce Jordan Center on Thursday, November 11, to welcome Rider. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. with a broadcast on B1G+.
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Ali Brigham