UNIVERSITY PARK – Penn State women's basketball faces No. 14/19 Michigan on the road Tuesday at 1 p.m.
OPENING TIP
- Penn State is coming off a 90-72 victory over Rutgers at home last Friday for its first Big Ten victory of the season and second straight win (79-48 at home over Cornell on Dec. 21).
- Makenna Marisa produced 32 points, two off her career-high, with four three-pointers to reach 1,500 career points and tie Lady Lion legend and current assistant coach Maggie Lucas for the third-most 30-point games (seven) in program history.
- Marisa is in 15th place in career scoring by a Lady Lion (1,505) and needs 10 more to pass Vicki Link (1984-87, 1,514 points) for 14th.
- This year she leads the team in scoring (18.6 ppg), assists (4.3 apg), made three's (32) and three-point percentage (45.7%) in addition to 4.5 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game.
- Penn State ranks in the nation ninth in steals per game (12.1), 13th in turnovers forced per game (22.5), 35th in assists per game (16.7), 39th in field goal percentage (45.5), 43rd in scoring offense (76.4 points per game) and 44th in three-point percentage (35.5).
- Leilani Kapinus ranks eighth in the nation in steals (45) and leads the Big Ten.
- Starting in every contest after the first game, freshman Shay Ciezki has averaged 10.2 points, 2.8 assists, 1.8 three-pointers and 1.2 steals per game.
- Penn State owns wins over four reigning conference champions: Norfolk State (MEAC), Fairfield (MAAC), Youngstown State (Horizon League) and Toledo (MAC).
SCOUTING MICHIGAN
- Are 12-2 to start the season and won two of three matchups against conference opponents with victories against Northwestern at home (77-76) and Nebraska on the road (76-59) and a loss at then-No. 3/4 Ohio State (66-57)
- Rank in the nation 12th in field goal percentage (48.0), 22nd in assists per game (17.6), 29th in scoring margin (18.1), 32nd in free throw percentage (76.8), 36th in turnover margin (20.6) and 39th in rebounding margin (8.2).
- Graduate student forward Emily Kiser leads the team in scoring (17.8 points per game), rebounding (7.1 per game) and field goal percentage (57.4) along with averaging 3.1 assists per game.
- Fifth-year guard Leigha Brown has a team-high 5.7 assists per game in addition to 14.8 points per game and 5.1 boards per game.
AGAINST THE WOLVERINES
- Penn State leads the series, 32-18.
- Michigan has won six-straight with the last Lady Lions' win coming on Feb. 26, 2017, 76-75 at home.
ONE OF THE TOP POINT GUARDS IN THE NATION, MAKENNA MARISA
- Senior Makenna Marisa was one of 20 point guards selected to the Nancy Lieberman Award Watch List heading into the season and named to the All-Big Ten Preseason Team by the coaches and media.
- This year she leads the team in scoring (18.6 ppg), assists (4.3 apg), made three's (32) and three-point percentage (45.7%) in addition to 4.5 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game.
- She has recorded 68 double-digit scoring games and 30 20-point games with six this year.
- A 35-game streak of consecutive double-digit games that started at the beginning of last season ended Nov. 26 against Fresno State.
- She has recorded seven 25+ points and 5+ assists games, the 10th most in the Big Ten since 2009-2010 (courtesy of Her Hoop Stats).
- With 1,505 career points, she is 15th in school history.
- Starting this season ranked 24th, she needs 10 more to pass Vicki Link (1984-87, 1,514 points) for 14th.
- In program history she also ranks tied for third in 30-point games (seven), fifth in career free throw percentage (82.3%), eighth in career three-point field goals made (159), ninth in career scoring average (15.5 ppg), tied for ninth in career double-digit assist games (three) and 14th in career assists (372).
- In the nation, she ranks 22nd in career assists, 26th in career free throw percentage and 50th in career points.
- For the 2022-23 season, she ranks in the nation 27th in three-point percentage (45.7), 29th in made field goals (97), 31st in points (261), 57th in assists (60), 63rd in three's made (32) and 82nd in minutes per game (34.4).
- In the Big Ten she is third in minutes per game, third in scoring, fifth in three-point percentage, tied for fifth in made three's eighth in assists, tied for tenth in steals (25), 15th in assist/turnover ratio (1.4) and 16th in field goal percentage (45.5).
- In the win over Rutgers, she produced a game-high 32 points with four made three-pointers and six free throws in addition to five rebounds.
- At Drexel in the second to last game played, she notched one of the best games in her career, pouring in 28 points off 10-16 shooting from the field, including tying a career-high seven made three's, along with five assists, three boards and a steal.
- In the Big Ten-opener at Minnesota she recorded one of the best games as a Lady Lion, recording a career-high 34 points (13-21 from the field, seven three-pointers, six assists, two blocks and two steals.
- In the program's largest comeback against Syracuse, she produced 22 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter, eight rebounds and seven assists.
- She notched a double-double in the first two contests: 24 points and 11 rebounds against Norfolk State and 14 points and 10 assists against Fairfield.
A TRIO OF 1,000 POINT SCORERS
- Johnasia Cash notched her 1,000 career point in the win over Youngstown State, becoming the third current Lady Lion to accomplish the feat (Makenna Marisa and Taniyah Thompson).
- Cash has produced 389 combined from the 2020-21 and 2022-23 seasons as a Lady Lion for an average of 10.5 ppg.
- She had 659 in her seasons at SMU.
- Thompson accomplished the feat in her three seasons at East Carolina.
- Among active career scoring leaders in Division I, Marisa ranks 50th (1,505), Thompson 103rd (1,309) and Cash 227th (1,048).
CASHING REBOUNDS
- Johnasia Cash has pulled down the 11th most career rebounds (923) among active Division I players in the nation and is also 28th in double-doubles (25).
- In her fifth season, Cash has averaged 7.3 boards per game in her career and 7.6 in her two seasons at Penn State (2020-21 and 2022-23).
- In her first season as a Lady Lion in which she earned Third-Team All-Big Ten from the media, she recorded a double-double in all 11 games in which she gathered 10+ rebounds.
- After readjusting due to missing last season, her rebounding picked up with a three-game streak of 10+ rebounds (Bryant-11, Syracuse-12 and Toledo-10).
- This year she ranks tied for 21st in rebounding (5.7 per game) in the B1G.
SOPHOMORE CAMPAIGN FOR ALL-FRESHMAN KAPINUS
- Much like last season, Leilani Kapinus has proven she can do it all for the Lady Lions.
- This year she leads the squad in steals (45), rebounds (5.9 per game), blocks (12) and free throw percentage (76.5) and has put up 11.6 points, 40 assists and a 49.6 field goal percentage.
- Kapinus is eighth in the nation in steals and leads the Big Ten in overall steals and steals per game (3.2) while 13th in free throw percentage, tied for 10th in blocks, 21st in rebounding and 25th in assists.
- She has scored in double-figures in six-straight games and 10 overall, pulled down at least seven rebounds in six contests and gotten at least three steals eight times.
- She racked up nine steals in the win over Fairfield along with 11 points and eight boards.
- In the win over Youngstown State, she nearly produced a double-double with 21 points and nine boards along with five assists and four steals.
- Against Fresno State, she produced 12 points, six steals and five assists.
- She notched 18 points on 8-10 shooting from the field and had five steals and four assists.
- Making all five free throws, she got 15 points, seven rebounds, four blocks and three steals in the win over West Virginia.
FRESHMAN IMPACT
- Shay Ciezki has made an instant impact as a freshman.
- After coming off the bench in the opener, Ciezki has started every game since.
- In 399 minutes of action as the main ballhandler after Marisa, she has committed just 29 turnovers with 39 assists.
- She is one of three Lady Lions averaging at least double-digit points (10.2), has made the second most three's (25) and averaged 1.2 steals.
- She was pivotal in the team's 21-point comeback against Syracuse, scoring 16 of her 18 points during the team's second half rally.
- She followed the game with 16 points and three assists with two three-points against Toledo.
- She notched her first double-digit scoring performance against Youngstown State with 16 points along with five rebounds and three assists.
- She produced her first collegiate basket as part of a seven-point, four-rebound and two-steal performance against Fairfield.
- She notched a career-high six assists along with 14 points and four three-pointers in the win over West Virginia.
UP NEXT
Penn State returns home to face Purdue Saturday at 2 p.m. for its PRIDE Game.