UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – For the first time since February 20, 2012, the Penn State women’s basketball team secured a victory against an Associated Press top 10 opponent in a thrilling 62-59 upset of the No. 9/8 Ohio State Buckeyes inside the Bryce Jordan Center Sunday afternoon.
Elite defending and a quartet of double-digit scorers propelled the Lady Lions to their first AP top 10 win nearly 13 years, an impressive 84-66 win, also against Ohio State. Graduate guard Gabby Elliott, senior guard Jayla Oden, redshirt sophomore guard Moriah Murray and redshirt sophomore center Gracie Merkle were critical in Penn State’s stunning upset victory, with all four student-athletes cracking the double-digit mark in the scoring column. The win guaranteed Penn State’s first Big Ten Conference victory of the season in addition to the first win for the program in the 2025 calendar year.
With the thrilling result in hand, Penn State improved to 10-9 overall and rose to 1-7 in Big Ten Conference competition. Following the 72nd all-time meeting of Ohio State and PSU in women’s basketball, the Lady Lions extended their lead and rose to 38-34 since the inaugural meeting of the two teams in 1976. Penn State secured its first win over the Buckeyes since logging a 69-67 upset victory over the Buckeyes on February 24, 2021, also inside the Bryce Jordan Center. In defeat, the Buckeyes dropped their first contest of the 2024-25 season and fell to 17-1 overall with a 6-1 mark against Big Ten Conference teams.
Penn State hauled in a variety of statistical victories in Sunday afternoon’s upset performance, highlighted by a 48% shooting performance from the floor while holding OSU to a meager 41% clip. PSU also out-shot the Buckeyes from long range, dominated the rebounding battle by a 39-21 margin, outscored Ohio State 12-4 in second-chance opportunities and logged a 19-5 win in scoring off the pine. The Blue & White were the aggressors in the painted area, securing a solid 34-22 differential in paint scoring in Sunday afternoon’s landmark result. The Lady Lion defense came up clutch in the biggest moments, holding Ohio State without a field goal make in the final six minutes and 45 seconds of game action.
Merkle, a native of Mount Washington, Kentucky, was instrumental in her first career AP top 10 victory as a student-athlete. She poured in 12 points and hauled in an additional 10 rebounds, marking her second double-double of Big Ten play, ninth of the season and 28th of her career. Merkle also contributed double-digits in the scoring column for the 38th time in her career and 15th time as a Penn Stater. The Detroit, Michigan, native Elliott finished as Penn State’s leading scorer with 14 points on the day, adding four assists and three rebounds including eight points in the fourth quarter to lead all Lady Lions. Elliott cracked double figures in the scoring column for the 42nd time in her career, 12th time at Penn State and reached 10-or-more points in a fixture for the seventh game in a row.
Murray was a lethal shooting option from deep in PSU’s upset victory, with the Dunmore, Pennsylvania, native hitting a quartet of field goals with all four coming from long range. Murray tallied double digits for the first time against a Big Ten Conference challenger and reached double figures in scoring for the 12th time in her collegiate career following her 12-point outing. Oden impressed in her return to the BJC, logging 13 points, five rebounds and five assists. The Baltimore, Maryland, native mustered her 23rd collegiate double-digit performance and 13th as a Lady Lion, rounding out the quartet of Penn Staters in double figures. Freshman guard Talayah Walker was also pivotal off the bench, pouring in six points with five rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal.
HOW IT HAPPENEDFirst Quarter
Ohio State brought down the opening tip and hit a triple on the second possession of the game to take a quick 3-0 lead, but Elliott responded with a fastbreak layup moments later. The Buckeyes drained another 3-ball to balloon their early lead to four, and turnovers by the Lady Lions kept Ohio State in control early on. Ohio State’s second triple of the game sparked an 8-0 scoring run that forced PSU into a timeout trailing 11-2 with 6:24 left in the opening stanza. OSU kept the hot shooting going beyond the arc out of the break, but a 1-for-2 trip to the line from Campbell briefly stymied the Buckeye momentum. A personal 5-0 run from Oden brought the Blue & White back within six, but Ohio State hit a paint jumper to take an 18-10 lead through one quarter of play.
Second Quarter
Penn State rallied to open the second quarter, rattling off a quick 7-0 reply to make it a three-point game and force an Ohio State timeout with 6:01 to play leading by a narrow 18-17 margin. Out of the short intermission, the Buckeyes capitalized with a straight-away 3-pointer and PSU missed a corner try their next trip down the floor before answering with a straight-away triple on the next possession. Both squads traded paint buckets, but back-to-back-to-back scores from Campbell and Walker and a pair of free throws from Oden put the Lady Lions in front for the first time, 28-25. Baskets fell both directions as the half wound down, with Penn State ultimately carrying a 30-27 advantage into the halftime break.
Third Quarter
Ohio State opened the second half of action with a layup down low, but a triple from Murray kept the Lady Lions in front. The Buckeyes responded with a triple of their own, and baskets rained in back-and-forth until OSU drilled a left-corner triple to take a 37-35 lead with less than seven minutes to go in the third. Ohio State’s run continued and eventually grew to 10-0 to force a PSU timeout, trailing 42-35 at the 5:56 mark. Murray halted the Buckeye run with a prayer from deep that reached the bottom of the net, and both teams capitalized on paint buckets to keep it a close game. Murray’s miraculous shooting quarter continued and brought PSU back within one to force a Buckeye timeout call. OSU got things rolling again with a quick 5-0 run out of the timeout, but the Lady Lions connected on consecutive layups to tie things at 51 heading into the fourth.
Fourth Quarter
Merkle hit a layup on Penn State’s first possession of the final period and Elliott banked in a shot from the logo to give the Lady Lions a five-point advantage. Ohio State capitalized with a layup the next time down the floor and added a triple less than a minute later to deadlock the score once more at 56-all. Over two minutes passed before Elliott hit a layup down low to give Penn State a narrow two-point advantage. OSU split a trip to the line and Elliott scored once again to make it a three-point game with just over a minute to go. A pair of makes from the stripe brought the Buckeyes back within one point of the lead, with PSU calling timeout to draw up a play for the ensuing possession with 40 seconds remaining. Elite-level defending from the Blue & White powered Penn State in the waning moments of the fourth quarter, and makes at the charity stripe provided the Lady Lions a window to close things out. Pristine defense on the final possession of the game lifted Penn State to its historic 62-59 win over OSU and closed the book on the program’s first AP top 10 win in over a decade.
POSTGAME NOTES
No. 9/8 Ohio State at Penn State
January 19, 2025
Bryce Jordan Center (University Park, Pa.)
- This was Penn State’s first top 10 win since defeating no. 8 Ohio State on Feb. 20, 2012.
- The Lady Lions handed Ohio State their first loss of the season, after the Buckeyes were one of only three remaining unbeaten teams this season.
- Oden surpassed the 10-point mark for the seventh time this season, totaling 13 points.
- Murray found her way back to double figure scoring for the first time since Dec. 15, 2024. She put up 12 points using four shots from behind the arc.
- Merkle posted 12 points on six-of-seven shooting from the field. Her 12 points marked her 15th double figure scoring performance of the season. With her 10 rebounds, Merkle secured her ninth double-double of the season.
- Elliott produced her seventh-straight double figure scoring performance with 14 points.
- There were five lead changes and three tie scores throughout the contest.
- The Lady Lions outscored the Buckeyes 20-9 in the second quarter and 11-8 in the fourth quarter, holding OSU scoreless from the field for the last 6 minutes and 45 seconds.
- Penn State led 30-27 at the halftime break, marking its ninth time being ahead through two quarters this season.
- 9 Ohio State was Penn State’s third consecutive top 10 opponent played in the last seven days after taking on no. 4 USC and no. 1 UCLA last week.
- The Lady Lions outrebounded the Buckeyes 39-21, marking their 15th time outrebounding opponents this season.
- Penn State outscored Ohio State in the paint 34-22.
- The Lady Lions put forth better shooting numbers from the field and from beyond the arc shooting at 48.1% and 46.7% respectively.
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