Lady Lions Fall On the Road at NebraskaLady Lions Fall On the Road at Nebraska

Lady Lions Fall On the Road at Nebraska

Penn State returns home to Bryce Jordan Center Thursday against Oregon

LINCOLN, Neb. – Despite knotting the score at 59-all with less than five minutes to play, the Penn State women’s basketball team dropped a hard-fought 72-61 decision to the Nebraska Cornhuskers Sunday afternoon inside Pinnacle Bank Arena.

Following Sunday afternoon’s matchup in Lincoln, the Lady Lions drop to 9-6 overall and 0-4 against Big Ten Conference competitors through the early portion of the league slate. Nebraska picked up its first victory of the New Year and moved back to .500 in league play following their win, rising to 11-4 and 2-2 in the B1G. The 21st all-time meeting between the Lady Lions and Cornhuskers saw Nebraska pick up their 12th victory in the series. Penn State and Nebraska have exchanged victories on each respective team’s home court since 2022, with the series moving to 2-2 through the last four fixtures.

Despite the final scoreline, Penn State was able to pick up a strong 32-26 victory in terms of points in the paint, registering a win in that statistical category for the 11th time in the 2024-25 campaign. Graduate guard Alli Campbell was a standout in the Lady Lions’ effort against the Cornhuskers on Sunday, setting a career-high in the scoring column with 19 points while matching her season-high in 3-point baskets with a 2-for-3 showing behind the line. Graduate guard Gabby Elliott was the only other Penn Stater in double digits, mustering her third-straight game with 10-or-more points following a 14-point, six-rebound showing in Lincoln.

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Quarter

The Cornhuskers corralled the opening tipoff and nailed a 3-point jumper on their opening possession of the game, and both squads exchanged misses their next time down the floor to make it a 3-0 game just over 90 seconds into Sunday’s matinee. Over two minutes passed before the next scoring occurred, with a dribble-drive and foul turning into a 2-for-2 trip to the line for the Huskers. Nebraska connected on a layup their next possession to make it a 7-0 start, and a left-corner 3-pointer made it a 10-0 game before the first media timeout. Both offenses struggled out of the brief intermission, but the Lady Lions were able to get themselves on the board with a tip-in layup from Merkle and follow that up with a 2-for-2 trip to the line from Campbell. Nebraska replied with a layup and a 1-for-2 trip to the line, but another tip-in bucket from Merkle kept the Lady Lions within single digits. Just before time expired, Campbell drilled a triple from the left wing to make it a 13-9 Nebraska lead through 10 minutes of play.

Second Quarter

Penn State saw a 3-pointer from Campbell open the second period’s scoring, bringing the Blue & White back within one point of the Husker lead. Tough work on the offensive boards from Merkle saw her register yet another tip-in bucket, providing PSU with a narrow 14-13 advantage. Gritty defense from PSU forced a Cornhusker turnover from their own baseline, and a quick transition bucket by Campbell on a feed from Murray forced a Nebraska timeout at the 6:38 mark with PSU up, 16-13. The Lady Lion defense remained stifling on the other side of the break, with Penn State able to continue pouring scores on offensively to make it 18-13 following a 9-0 PSU run. A paint jumper from the Huskers punctuated a 7-0 Nebraska run, and despite a bucket from the Blue & White, Nebraska was able to hit a left-wing 3-ball to make it 23-20 with 2:24 left in the half. Both offenses came alive after a PSU timeout, with the teams trading buckets over the next seven possessions, but Nebraska was able to close the half on a 7-2 run to take a 30-25 advantage into the halftime break.

Third Quarter

Hall opened the scoring for PSU out of the short intermission, but the Huskers were able to answer back with a 1-for-2 trip to the charity stripe followed by a short paint jumper to make it 33-27 in Nebraska’s favor. Nebraska made it a 7-0 reply following back-to-back paint buckets, ballooning the home squad’s advantage to 10 points to force a Lady Lion timeout at the 7:39 mark. Each squad exchanged blows on the other side of the Penn State timeout, but the Huskers were able to bury a contested triple from the left wing to make it a 42-29 contest with less than five minutes in the period. Campbell split a pair of free throws on the other side of the media timeout, and Nebraska snapped back with another 3-pointer. Penn State capitalized on overly aggressive defending from the Huskers to book a pair of trips to the free throw line, but PSU was unable to extend that into a continuous scoring run. Campbell was able to connect on a pair of paint baskets for the Lady Lions within a minute of one another, but Nebraska ultimately carried a 53-40 lead into the final 10 minutes.

Fourth Quarter

The early moments of the final period passed largely without incident, but Elliott was able to get the scoring started in the fourth with a jumper inside the arc. Johnson followed that up with a personal 5-0 scoring run with a layup and a 3-pointer from the left corner to make it a six-point game at the 7:45 mark, forcing Nebraska into a timeout. Hall kept the scoring coming for the Lady Lions following the Husker’s intermission, and Campbell hit a pair of free throws to make it an 11-0 scoring run and cut the Nebraska lead back to two points. The Huskers replied with a triple from deep, but Elliott kept it close with a layup on the other end. Nebraska and PSU continued to battle back-and-forth over the ensuing two minutes of play, but a basket by hall and an and-one opportunity from Elliott tied the score at 58-all. After each squad split trips to the stripe, Nebraska was able to rattle off a 13-2 run to close the game out and come away with a 72-61 victory at home in Lincoln.

 POSTGAME NOTES

Penn State at RV Nebraska

January 5, 2025

Pinnacle Bank Arena (Lincoln, Neb.)

  • Campbell scored in double figures for the 15th time this season with a career best 19 points. She surpassed the 10-point mark in the second quarter on her way to the personal best mark, shooting six-of-11 from the field including two-of-three from three-point range.
  • Elliott posted her third consecutive double figure scoring performance and eighth of the campaign with 14 points. She also contributed six boards.
  • Hall met her personal scoring record in a Big Ten game with eight points on four-of-seven shooting from the field.
  • Merkle led the team in rebounding with seven for the 11th time this season.
  • The Lady Lions were down by as many as 17 points in the third quarter and came back to tie it in the fourth.
  • There were two lead changes and six tie scores in the game.

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