UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- For the Penn State Lady Lions, prioritizing strong defensive play has led to offense success.
In Sunday's 90-72 home win over Illinois, the Lady Lions found themselves successful by starting off strong and keeping the energy high in the first half. With five different key players contributing in the first half, the Lady Lions jumped out to a strong lead of 49-26.
"I want to say how proud I am of our team for that bounce back performance," said Head Coach Carolyn Kieger. "I thought that was one of the best first halves of basketball we've played in a really long time."
Led by junior guard Makenna Marisa who posted a double-double with 25 points and 10 assists, Penn State saw tremendous success on the offensive end by being able to include a variety of players. However, the success they were able to see on offense is credited to their amazing performance on defense.
"It all goes back to practice and how hard we've been working there," said Marisa on the performance of the team in the first half. "We've been working on our defense and creating opportunities to get steals. I think that has been a huge difference for us and we're going to continue to work on that in practice to keep getting better at it."
To secure wins, Penn State is doing everything they can on the defensive end. Their defensive work in practice has led to success on the court which was shown in the Illinois game. The Lady Lions tallied 30 defensive rebounds, 12 steals, and 6 blocks leading to the Big Ten victory.
Due to their defensive success, a variety of players were able to contribute in making vital plays on offense. Junior guard Shay Hagans, who the Lady Lions refer to as their "defensive captain," arguably had one of her best games of the season recording her season best of 17 points, four assists, and four steals.
"I think her defense led to offense tonight," said Kieger on Hagan's performance against Illinois. "She got in the passing lane and got some terrific steals. She sets the tone for us on defense. Definitely Shay was the person who set the tone for us early in the game and continued to do so throughout."
Like Hagans, freshman guard Leilani Kappinus holds a vital role in locking down the defense for the Lady Lions and made a mark for herself offensively against Illinois. She contributed 14 points, four rebounds, two steals, and two blocks. In just her debut collegiate season, she already holds an extremely important role for the Blue and White.
"From the beginning of the year to where she is now it's light years," said Kieger. "The defensive end is where she wrecks the most havoc and where she really sets the tone for us, but I'm really proud of her offensive development. The only way to get better is to put work into the gym and she's done that."
Sophomore guard Maddie Burke also contributed to keeping the energy high on the court by recording 12 points for the Lady Lions, hitting four of five 3-point attempts.
"It feels great to be back," said Burke. "All of my teammates have been giving me confidence and I am just happy to hit shots for them."
Coming off of a win that allowed a variety of different players to contribute, the Lady Lions are excited to take that energy with them on the road for their next two away games against Northwestern and Wisconsin.
Penn State will need both effort and execution to compete in the Big Ten, and the way their defense and offense played Sunday can only help lead to more success.
