Lady Lions Meets Duquesne For Road Matchup On SaturdayLady Lions Meets Duquesne For Road Matchup On Saturday
Mark Selders

Lady Lions Meets Duquesne For Road Matchup On Saturday

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State women's basketball team continues non-conference play at Duquesne on Saturday in the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. with a broadcast on ESPN+.

The Lady Lions, led by head coach Carolyn Kieger, are 6-5 this season and coming off a 78-58 win over Youngstown State last Sunday.

FOLLOW ALONG

OPENING TIP

  • Penn State continues non-conference play on Saturday as it takes on in-state rival Duquesne.
  • The Lady Lions are 16-1 all-time against the Dukes.
  • Penn State is coming off a 78-58 win over Youngstown State on December 12.
  • Penn State is 5-0 at home for the first time since 2017.
  • Leilani Kapinus led PSU with her first career 20-point game, adding seven rebounds, four assists, four blocks and two steals.
  • Anna Camden recorded her second career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
  • Makenna Marisa scored 12 points and has scored at least 11 points in all 11 games this season.
  • Penn State held the Penguins to 28 percent shooting and 21 percent from three.
  • The Lady Lions held YSU without a field goal for a 19:29 stretch (0-of-26), including the entire second quarter (0-9).
  • The blue and white blocked 10 shots, their first time with 10 blocks in a game since 2018 vs. Jacksonville.
  • Marisa is tied for second among DI players with six 20-point games this season.
  • She's also one of eight with 10+ points in every game this season (min. 11 games).

 
SCOUTING DUQUESNE

  • Duquesne is led by head coach Dan Burt in his ninth season at the helm.
  • Burt has a 163-95 record with the Dukes, leading the team to four WNIT appearances and an NCAA Second Round appearance in 2016.
  • Duquesne is 5-6 this season.
  • In their last game, the Dukes earned a 70-61 win over Saint Francis. Tess Myers paced the squad with 23 points, hitting four three-pointers. Libby Bazelak added 14 points and seven rebounds.
  • On the season, Duquesne is averaging 61.6 points er game and shooting 39 percent from the field.
  • Fatou Pouye leads the team with a 13.9 scoring average, while Myers is averaging 11.6 points per contest.
  • Myers is 13th in the country with 31 three-pointers made.
  • On defense, Duquesne is allowing just 63.0 points per game.
  • Megan McConnell ranks 19th in the country with 29 steals.

 
AGAINST THE DUKES

  • Penn State will meet Duquesne for the 18th time in the series.
  • The Lady Lions lead the series, 16-1. The teams met regularly from 1983-91 as members of the Atlantic 10 conference.
  • In the last matchup, on December 5, 2018, Penn State fell 64-58.
  • Kamaria McDaniel led three Lady Lions in double-figures with 18 points.

 
MARISA'S STRONG JUNIOR CAMPAIGN

  • Junior Makenna Marisa scored at least 11 points in all 11 games this season and has 20+ points in six games.
  • She had 20 points vs. Rider (11/11), 30 vs. Delaware State (11/16), 29 at Clemson (11/21), 25 vs. St. John's (11/26), 23 vs. Kent State (11/28) and 21 at Indiana (12/6).
  • Makenna Marisa ranks third in the Big Ten in scoring (20.0 ppg), good for 19th in the country. Her 20.0 points per game rank third among Power Five guards and seventh among Power Five players.
  • She also sits second in the conference and eighth in the nation in total points (220). Marisa's eighth in the country in field goals made (85).
  • Marisa also holds sixth in the Big Ten in assists per game (4.9), ranking 54th in the nation, and holds fourth in total assists (54), good for 25th in the country. She's also 10th in the conference averaging 2.09 three-pointers per game.
  • Marisa is tied second among DI players with six 20-point games this season and is one of eight DI players with 10+ points in each of their games this season (min. 11 games).
  • Marisa was named Co-Big Ten Player of the Week on November 22. It was Marisa's first career Big Ten weekly honor.
  • She recorded a triple-double in Penn State's 120-51 win over Delaware State on November 16, notching 30 points, on 12-of-16 shooting, 11 assists and 10 steals against the Hornets. Her points, assists and steals totals were all career highs.
  • Marisa's triple-double was Penn State's first since Suzie McConnell on January 3, 1988 (22 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists in a 74-63 win vs. Western Kentucky).
  • Marisa's triple-double is the 25th Points-Assists-Steals triple-double and 20th 30-point triple-double in NCAA Division I history. It's also the third 30-point triple-double and second Points-Assists-Steals triple-double in Big Ten history.
  • Marisa had Penn State's 79th 30-point game and became the first Lady Lion with double-digit assists in a game since Dara Taylor (10 vs. Minnesota, 2014).

 
LADY LIONS RANK AMONG NATIONAL LEADERS

  • Penn State ranks 46th in the nation and fifth in the conference averaging 16.5 assists per game and 18th in the country in total assists (181). The Lady Lions have at least 20 assists in four games this season.
  • Penn State is sixth in the Big Ten in three-point field goals made (77).
  • PSU sits second in the Big Ten in steals per game (10.2) and third in total steals (112).

 
BRIGHAM DOMINATING THE PAINT

  • Sophomore forward Ali Brigham made a big impact in her first game as a Lady Lion, vs. LIU, after transferring from George Washington, scoring 20 points and tallying nine rebounds and three blocks. She followed that with a 23-point performance against Rider, shooting 11-of-13 from the floor.
  • Brigham became the first Lady Lion to score 20+ points in the first two games of a season since Brianna Banks in 2015.
  • She collected her first career double-double against St. John's with 19 points, on 8-of-12 shooting, and 10 rebounds.
  • She had 10 points against No. 13 Iowa State and a team-high 18 points at Boston College.
  • Brigham tallied 13 points off the bench against Rutgers.
  • Through 11 games, Brigham ranks sixth in field-goal percentage (57.5) and 10th in field goals made (61) in the Big Ten.

 
KAPINUS DOING IT ALL

  • Freshman Leilani Kapinus has 18 steals, with three in each contest against Rider, Kent State and Boston College, sitting fifth among Power Five freshmen.
  • The Wisconsin native has a team-high 12 blocks, which is good for second among DI freshman guards and 12th among all DI freshmen.
  • She's averaging 6.5 points and 4.3 rebounds per contest and led the team in rebounds in three games.
  • She had a career-high 20 points vs. Youngstown State, adding seven rebounds, four assists, four blocks and two steals. She scored 10 points in the fourth quarter in Penn State's 80-75 win over St. John's.
  • The freshman has 19 assists on the year, including three in each game vs. Rider, Boston College and Indiana and four vs. Youngstown State.

 
MULTIPLE CONTRIBUTORS

  • Penn State has seven players averaging at least 5.3 points this season, led by Marisa's 20.0 average.
  • Ali Brigham is averaging 12.1 points per contest and reached the 20-point mark vs. LIU (20) and Rider (23), while Niya Beverley is scoring 7.2 points per game, including a 20-point effort vs. Rider.
  • Anna Camden is averaging 6.6 points per contest and Leilani Kapinus, fresh off a 20-point effort vs. Youngstown State, is averaging 6.5, while Shay Hagans are averaging 6.2 points per contest. Tova Sabel owns a 5.3 scoring average.
  • Penn State has also balanced out its minutes with nine players averaging at least 11.3 minutes per game.

 
STRENGTH OF THE BIG TEN

  • The December 13th AP Poll features five Big Ten teams: No. 9 Maryland, No. 10 Indiana, No. 13 Michigan, No. 14 Iowa, and No. 24 Ohio State. Nebraska is among teams receiving votes.
  • Penn State opened Big Ten play at Indiana on December 6.
  • The Lady Lions played 10 ranked opponents in 2020-21, the most among Big Ten schools, and earned a 69-67 win over No. 15 Ohio State on February 24, 2021.