Penn State women's basketball saw one of it best regular season performances in five years, finishing with a 19-12, 9-9 Big Ten record, numbers the Lady Lions haven't achieved since the 2016-17 season. On top of its best regular season record in half a decade, Penn State broke numerous team records as well as individual records and saw several Lady Lions surpass significant milestones.
The successful record was backed by Penn State's consistent representation in the national statistical rankings. The team ranked in the top-10 in three major categories, scoring offense, field goal percentage and three-point percentage for 11-straight weeks.
The Lady Lions basketball team earned their 1,000th program win, they became only the 29th division I program to have reached the milestone. The legacy of Penn State women's basketball dates back to 1965 with contributions from every player to wear the jersey throughout the 60 years to come to the 1000th program win achieved by the squad this year on Jan. 14, 2024.
Penn State shattered the program three pointers made in a single-game record on two different occasions throughout the 2023-24 campaign. On Dec. 20, 2023, the Lady Lions notched 14 three pointers against Central Connecticut State and then proved they could do the same in conference play, breaking their own record later in the season with 16 three-point baskets against Maryland in a historical game. In that contest, not only did Penn State shatter its own three-point record, it beat the Terrapins for the first time since 2008 and scored the second highest points on the Terps in their history and first most in B1G play.
The Lady Lions scoring average through the regular season, 84.4, sits fourth all-time in program history. It is the team's largest points per game average since the 1989-90 campaign when they averaged 84.6.
Five different Lady Lions earned postseason conference awards. This is the most Penn State players recognized with conference awards since 2008. The five Lady Lions are also the most representation from a school in the postseason awards, with Ohio State also landing five players on the lists.
Several individual Lady Lions achieved major career milestones this season. Makenna Marisa has her name inked all over the Penn State record book. She surpassed 2,000 career points on Jan. 25 and earned her 500th career assist on March 3 in the regular season finale and senior day. Marisa became the only Lady Lion to notch 2,000 career points, 500 rebounds, 500 assists, 200 three-pointers. And 175 steals. The Pennsylvania native has also played in and started in the most games of any Lady Lion in history as of this season. Marisa currently ranks fourth all-time in scoring with 2,145 points, is tied for second in career 30-point performances with eight and moved into the second all-time spot in career three pointers with 233.
Graduate transfer Ashley Owusu made a statement when she returned to the court for the first time in 322 days. She has scored in double figures in all but one of her performances so far this year and leads Penn State in scoring average with 17.7 points per game. The Virginia native surpassed 1,500 career points and 500 career assists this season.
Leilani Kapinus is a defensive weapon for the Lady Lions, leading the team in rebounds blocks and steals. While her defensive efforts are massive, she has also been a consistent double figure scorer this season averaging 11.4 points per game and leading the team in scoring on five occasions and rebounding 18 times. The redshirt-junior is nearing the 1000 career point mark with 978 as of now.
Tay Valladay was a graduate transfer this season as well. Before her injury, she was Penn State's most effective three level scorer. Valladay posted a 56.5 field goal percentage and 52.6% percentage beyond the arc. The Chicago native was on her way to 1,000 career points, capping her career at 924 points.
Sophomore guard Shay Ciezki is another elite three level scoring weapon for the Lady Lions. She sat in the top-five in the conference nearly all season in three-point percentage, three pointers per game and total three pointers. The sophomore guard also came up one three pointer shy of breaking the single-game individual three point record with eight made on Dec. 20. In that same game she dropped 40 points, the third highest single-game point total in program history.
Penn State has contributions from every player on the team, averaging 25.6 bench points per game to sit in the top-two in the conference and 19th in the country.
To cap off the regular season, the Lady Lions earned a dominant 90-34 win over Minnesota, their largest margin of victory in a Big Ten game since defeating Northwestern by 65 in 2008. Penn State's commanding win over the Golden Gophers was the largest margin of victory of any team in the Big Ten in a conference match up this season. The Lady Lion's 40-point win over Northwestern is the fourth largest margin of victory this season.
Penn State also earned their largest margin of victory in program history by defeating St. Francis 119-43 on Dec. 17. Their 119 points in that game was one-point shy of breaking the program's all-time points scored in a single-game record.
Lady Lions basketball saw a successful regular season with contributions from every player on the team, to make the 2023-24 campaign a memorable one for the books.
