UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – A strong third quarter helped the Penn State women's basketball team to climb back within one point, but Nebraska pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 76-61 victory. Penn State is now 9-12 overall and 3-8 in Big Ten play, while Nebraska moved to 17-4 overall and 6-4 in conference action.
Makenna Marisa led Penn State with 27 points, including 8-of-10 from the free-throw line, three assists and two steals. Leilani Kapinus added 10 points and two steals. Niya Beverley had seven points off the bench, while Shay Hagans recorded four points and eight rebounds. Penn State shot 39 percent from the field.
Marisa now has 13 games with 20+ points this season and nine games with 25 or more.
Nebraska was led by Alexis Markowski's 18 points. Isabelle Bourne and Allison Wiedner each had 14 points. Jaz Shelley notched six points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists. The Huskers shot 42 percent from the floor.
The Lady Lions took an early 4-2 lead on jumpers by Ali Brigham and Hagans, but Nebraska answered with a short 7-0 run, including five points by Markowski. Penn State re-took the lead with three-pointers by Marisa and Sabel and a jumper by Marisa. PSU led 12-11 with 4:49 to go in the quarter. However, the Huskers closed out the period with a 9-2 run, including a three by Ruby Porter. Freshman Kayla Thomas scored on a layup in the final seconds of the quarter to cut the deficit to 20-14.
Penn State trimmed the deficit to 26-23 with 3:19 remaining in the half. Brigham had four of PSU's nine points and Kapinus added a three. The Huskers expanded their lead to nine with a layup by Bourne and back-to-back threes by Ashley Scoggin and Shelley. A free throw by Kapinus and a jumper with three seconds left in the half by Marisa send Penn State into the break trailing 34-28.
The Lady Lions outscored Nebraska, 22-19, in the third quarter. Marisa scored nine of the 22, while Beverley had five including a three to cut the deficit to 51-47 with 1:05 remaining in the quarter. A jumper by Marisa and a free throw by Hagans closed out the quarter with Nebraska leading 53-50.
A Marisa jump shot to open the fourth quarter cut the deficit to one, 53-52. Jumpers by Kapinus and Marisa helped PSU to maintain a one-possession deficit. Back-to-back layups by Nebraska's Weidner ignited a 12-1 run, which featured two free throws by Weidner and six points by Markowski, to push the Huskers' advantage to 70-57 with four minutes remaining on their way to the final margin.
Penn State is hosting its 16th annual Play4Kay Game Benefiting Pink Zone on Sunday, February 6 against Northwestern. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Bryce Jordan Center.
