MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – In the team’s first Big Ten Conference road game of the 2024-25 campaign, the Penn State women’s basketball team dropped a 90-54 decision to the Minnesota Golden Gophers inside Williams Arena Saturday afternoon.
Following the Blue & White’s inaugural B1G fixture on the road, the Lady Lions dropped to 9-4 overall and 0-2 against Big Ten competition through the team’s final contest of the 2024 calendar year. Penn State returns home to the Bryce Jordan Center and will face off against the Iowa Hawkeyes in a 1 p.m. (ET) contest on New Year’s Day. In the all-time series with the Golden Gophers, Minnesota snapped a three-game losing streak to Penn State and edged closer to PSU’s lead, with the Lady Lions leading 32-26 since the first meeting of the two programs. With the win, Minnesota remains unbeaten on its home floor while moving to 13-1 overall and 1-1 in the Big Ten.
On Saturday’s final box score, the Lady Lions came away with a 10-9 win in the offensive rebounding battle with a 4-3 win in the block column. Graduate guard Gabby Elliott booked a Penn State career-high with 19 points against the Golden Gophers, marking the most points she has scored against a Big Ten opponent in her three combined seasons at PSU and Michigan State. Senior guard Jayla Oden tallied eight points, redshirt junior forward Grace Hall contributed seven and graduate guard Alli Campbell finished the afternoon with six.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter
A pair of giveaways by each team resulted in a sluggish start in the early going, with the Golden Gophers registering a 2-for-2 trip to the charity stripe to open Saturday’s scoring. Minnesota utilized an open right-wing triple and a mid-range turnaround jumper to give the home squad a quick 7-0 start. After a Lady Lion timeout around two and a half minutes into the game, Minnesota tallied another bucket inside just before Campbell got the scoring started for PSU with a mid-range jumper just inside the arc. UMN logged a layup down low just before the Lady Lions rattled off three straight points at the free throw line to make it an 11-5 contest. Back-to-back baskets for the Golden Gophers saw the lead balloon back to 10 points, but a fastbreak jumper from Hall brought things back to single digits. Minnesota connected on a three-point play the next trip down the floor, but both sides would exchange buckets as the opening frame continued to wind down. Minnesota closed the first quarter out on a 6-0 scoring run over the final two minutes of the frame to take a 24-9 lead into the second period.
Second Quarter
The Golden Gophers kept the run going on the other side of the short break, with a left-wing triple starting the scoring in the second quarter for the home side. Solid patience in the offensive set from the Lady Lions culminated in a sweet left-elbow mid-range jumper from Elliott on an assist by Campbell. Both defenses began to settle in over the ensuing moments, with the Blue & White holding the Golden Gophers scoreless for a stretch that neared four minutes. Minnesota found the bottom of the net with a three-ball from the left wing that sparked a 7-0 run for the Golden Gophers, making it 34-11 at the media break with 3:44 left to go in the half. Minnesota hit another triple on the other side of the timeout, but both squads would exchange baskets over the next five possessions to make it a 42-16 affair with a minute to go in the period. Each squad exchanged 2-for-2 trips to the charity stripe over the final 60 seconds of the half to make it a 44-18 Golden Gopher lead at the intermission.
Third Quarter
Minnesota got the offense rolling to open the second half of Saturday’s action, utilizing an athletic driving layup to find the bottom of the net early in the third. A mid-range jumper for the Golden Gophers led to the largest Minnesota lead of the afternoon, but back-to-back driving layups from Elliott provided the Lady Lions with a spark. Following the offensive surge from PSU, the Golden Gophers replied with back-to-back baskets of their own from beyond the 3-point line to make it a 54-22 game before the media timeout. Walker connected on a pair of free throws on the other end of the timeout, but Minnesota buried another long-range shot followed by a quick layup to punctuate a 5-0 reply. Oden connected on a jumper inside the arc, but both squads continued to trade blows toward the end of the period. Over a 40-second stretch toward the end of the quarter, PSU called on Murray and Oden to provide the Lady Lions with a 5-0 scoring stretch, but the period ended with Minnesota boasting a 69-34 advantage.
Fourth Quarter
The Golden Gophers capitalized on a baseline out-of-bounds situation to book the opening bucket of the fourth period, adding a 3-pointer and fastbreak layup to start the final frame on an 8-0 scoring run. Elliott continued to produce for the Lady Lions, nailing both of her free throw attempts at the 8:06 mark in the quarter. Minnesota bookended a successful mid-range jumper from Campbell with a pair of layup attempts in the painted area, with UMN carrying a commanding lead into the fourth quarter media timeout. Jekot tallied a layup on the other end of the media intermission and Elliott logged another layup, but the Golden Gophers snapped back with a 6-0 reply. Penn State mustered a 10-2 scoring run inside the final three minutes of play, but Minnesota was ultimately able to come away with a 90-54 result on its home floor.
POSTGAME NOTES
Penn State at Minnesota
December 28, 2024
Williams Arena (Minneapolis, Minn.)
- Elliott notched her sixth double-digit scoring performance of the season with a season best 19 points, shooting three-of-four from long range.
- Oden shot perfect from the free throw line at a four-of-four mark.
- Gracie Merkle contributed three blocks.
- This is the Lady Lions’ largest margin of defeat since losing to Iowa by 33 in the 2023-24 Big Ten Tournament.
FOLLOW THE LADY LIONS
Visit GoPSUSports.com for more information on Penn State women’s basketball. Fans can keep up to date with the Lady Lion women’s basketball team on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @PennStateWBB.