UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – In its largest Big Ten Conference victory since 2013, Penn State women's basketball utilized swarming defense and placed four student-athletes in double figures in a 95-55 win over the Northwestern Wildcats on Tuesday night inside the Bryce Jordan Center. Head Coach Carolyn Kieger picked up her 150th career victory in PSU's first B1G win of the 2023-24 campaign.
Penn State's 40-point margin of victory against a Big Ten opponent was the largest at PSU since an 84-40 win over the Wisconsin Badgers on January 17, 2013, inside the Bryce Jordan Center. The monumental result saw the Lady Lions climb to 10-4 overall and 1-2 against Big Ten competitors this season while simultaneously improving to 8-1 in games played on the PSU campus. In defeat, Northwestern drops to 6-8 and 1-2 in conference contests. PSU maintains a dominant lead in the all-time series with the Wildcats, holding a 41-12 record against Northwestern.
PSU's relentless three-quarter court pressure yielded a season-high 30 turnovers which the Lady Lions converted into a whopping 42 points. The Blue & White surrendered just 12 giveaways and held the Wildcats to just four points off turnovers in the game. The Lady Lions were dominant in practically every statistical category Tuesday night, outscoring NU by a 27-12 tally off the bench with a striking 44-28 differential in points in the paint. Penn State recorded 26 assists on 37 made baskets and shot 49% from the field while holding Northwestern to a mere 38% clip.
Senior forward Ali Brigham was dominant on both ends of the court, contributing 17 points on 7-for-9 shooting from the floor in addition to her first 3-point basket of the 2023-24 campaign. The Franklin, Massachusetts, native Brigham dealt a season-high five assists and hauled in four rebounds with a block. Graduate guard Tay Valladay continued her stretch of impressive offensive performances, logging 16 points on 60% shooting with three assists and three steals. Sophomore guard Shay Ciezki finished the night with 15 points and five rebounds, also matching her season high in assists from PSU's previous game against Michigan State with six dishes.
All 10 available Lady Lions found their way onto the scoresheet Tuesday night, with redshirt junior guard Leilani Kapinus rounding out the four Penn Staters in double digits with 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting with a pair of 3-point makes. Kapinus matched her season high in rebounds with nine boards, her third instance of at least nine rebounds this season. Redshirt freshman guard Moriah Murray and junior guard Jayla Oden finished with eight points, graduate forward Chanaya Pinto and redshirt sophomore forward Grace Hall each contributed six, sophomore forward Kylie Lavelle added three points and redshirt junior guard Alli Campbell finished the night with two.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter
Pinto opened the scoring for the Lady Lions on Penn State's first possession of the evening, accepting a pass from Kapinus down low and driving past her defender for the bucket. Northwestern replied with a spinning layup, but the Blue & White saw Kapinus drain a left-wing triple to go up 5-2 early on. The Wildcats rattled off a quick 6-0 run to lurch ahead, and the teams traded baskets in the ensuing possessions, affording Northwestern an 11-9 lead at the first media timeout. PSU came out of the intermission with a relentless mindset, as Oden drilled a right corner 3-pointer just before Brigham hit her first triple of the season from straight-on. Stellar defense and a brilliant driving layup from Valladay punctuated a 17-0 Lady Lion run to close out the period, one of the most dominant stretches from PSU this season. The Blue & White took a solid 24-11 advantage at the end of the first 10 minutes.
Second Quarter
Brilliant defense on one end led to a successful driving layup from Kapinus to open the second quarter, as Penn State's torrid stretch on both ends continued. Northwestern finally returned to the scoreboard around 90 seconds into the frame, but a pick-and-roll bucket from Brigham sparked a quick 7-0 run that featured a personal 5-0 stretch from Valladay. Both teams played it fairly even over the next two minutes, with Penn State ultimately holding on to a 40-18 lead at the second quarter media break with 4:39 left in the frame. An intentional foul by Northwestern afforded PSU a pair of shots at the charity stripe, and a second-chance bucket from Kapinus put Penn State up four with three minutes to go. Northwestern hit a trio of jumpers down the stretch, but a late triple on the right wing from Murray afforded Penn State a 49-29 lead at the half.
Third Quarter
Stellar ball movement to open the second half afforded Brigham a wide-open layup opportunity under the basket that she converted to put PSU ahead by 22. Brigham continued dealing as the early moments of the quarter continued, with the forward finding Ciezki for a triple on the right wing. Northwestern got four points back on consecutive offensive trips, but an exchange of baskets over the next two minutes saw Penn State preserve its 20-plus point lead. A jumper from Murray saw the Lady Lions cement their momentum, and a perfectly executed bounce pass from Ciezki on the fastbreak culminated in a Campbell layup which sparked a 13-2 Penn State run to close the third quarter. The Blue & White entered the final 10 minutes of action boasting a 74-41 lead.
Fourth Quarter
Both offenses traded baskets inside the arc to open the fourth quarter, with Penn State maintaining a 35-point lead with 7:20 to play in the game. Another triple from Ciezki sparked a 7-2 Lady Lion run, with Penn State leading by an astonishing 87-48 margin with less than four minutes to go in the contest. Both Lavelle and Murray drained 3-pointers of their own in the waning moments of the competition, with Murray's triple in the final minute of work finalizing the 40-point differential. Penn State would hang on to their 95-55 lead, celebrating Kieger's 150th career victory at midcourt at the conclusion on Tuesday night's action.
POSTGAME NOTES
Michigan State at Penn State
January 2, 2024
Bryce Jordan Center (University Park, Pa.)
- This win marked head coach Carolyn Kieger's 150th career win.
- The Lady Lions earned their first conference win of the season and first win of the 2024 calendar year.
- The 95-55 score is Penn State's largest margin of victory in a Big Ten game since defeating Wisconsin by 44 points on Jan. 17, 2013.
- Ali Brigham nailed her first three-pointer of the season and only the second of her career. She also collected a season high 17 points.
- The Lady Lions forced a season high 30 turnovers and converted 44 points from their defense throughout the game.
- Every player to touch the floor wearing blue and white scored at least two points.
- Four Lady Lions totaled double digit points: Brigham scored 17 points off 7-of-9 shooting from the field, Valladay had 16 points, Ciezki scored 15 points and Kapinus had 14.
- Penn State compiled a 21-0 run at the end of the first quarter into the second.
- Penn State's biggest lead of the game was in the fourth quarter with a 40-point margin after only allowing the Wildcats to take the lead once early in the first quarter.
- Moriah Murray nailed two shots as the shot clock was expiring throughout the game.
- The team totaled 17 steals, a season high for the squad. Kapinus led the way with six of them, a season high for the redshirt junior.
- The team met their season high assists at 26 on the night led by Ciezki with six, her season high and Brigham with five, a season high and Moriah Murray with five.
Head Coach Carolyn Kieger Postgame Press Conference
Leilani Kapinus and Ali Brigham Postgame Press Conference
Highlights
UP NEXT
The Lady Lions hit the road on Wednesday, Jan. 10 to take on Indiana in Bloomington. Tipoff against the no. 14 Hoosiers is set for 7 p.m.
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