Women’s Basketball Set for First Road Test at Saint Joseph’s on SundayWomen’s Basketball Set for First Road Test at Saint Joseph’s on Sunday
Mark Selders

Women’s Basketball Set for First Road Test at Saint Joseph’s on Sunday

Lady Lions travel to Philadelphia to take on the Hawks

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- Penn State women’s basketball embarks on its first road trip of the 2025-26 campaign as the Lady Lions travel to take on Saint Joseph’s in Philadelphia, Pa. The matchup is set to tip off at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 16 inside Hagan Arena.

Both squads look to extent their win streak to 4-0 with the Lady Lions looking to achieve that record for the 20th time in program history.

GAME INFORMATION

at Saint Joseph’s

  • Date: Sunday, November 16, 2025 | Time: 2 p.m. ET
  • Location: Philadelphia, Pa. | Venue: Hagan Arena
  • Live Stats | Watch: ESPN+ | Notes | Radio
  • Admission: Ticketed

LAST TIME OUT

  • The Lady Lions earned a dominate 90-62 win over the Eagles on Wednesday.
  • Four double-digit point scorers powered PSU to its third victory of the season.
  • Kiyomi McMiller recorded her third consecutive 20-plus-point performance with 21 points. She led the team in scoring, rebounding (9) and assists (4).
  • Gracie Merkle added another double figure scoring performance with 15 points, eight rebounds and three assists.
  • Moriah Murray was effective from three-point range, scoring all 12 of her points from beyond the arc.
  • Shaelyn Steele added her first 10-plus-point performance of her career with 10 points to go with six rebounds, four steals and four assists.
  • As a team, the Lady Lions outrebounded the Eagles by a 51-25 clip including 20 offensive rebounds. This was PSU’s highest rebound total since 2023.
  • Penn State also shot well from the charity stripe, sinking 24-of-28 free shots.

SCOUTING THE HAWKS

  • The Hawks are 3-0 to begin the 2025-26 campaign with wins over West Chester, Maine and Cincinnati, a common opponent of the Lady Lions.
  • Both of their most recent contests have been decided by five points are less.
  • Gabby Casey leads Saint Joesph’s in scoring (14.0) and rebounding (9.3). The Hawks have two other players averaging double figure scoring with Jill Jekot recording 11.7 points per game and Faith Stinson scoring 11.0 points per contest.
  • Jekot played her freshman season at Penn State in 2024-25. She notched 20 points in her first outing with the Hawks.
  • Last season, Saint Joseph’s finished with a 24-10 record including 12-6 in A10 conference action. The Hawks lost in the conference tournament championship to George Mason before making a run to the second round of the WBIT before losing to Villanova.
  • Head coach of the Hawks, Cindy Griffin, was named to the Kath Delaney-Smith Mid-Major Coach of the Year Watch List for the second-straight year.

 PENN STATE – SAINT JOSEPH’S SERIES

  • Penn State owns the all-time series 23-9 with matchups dating back to 1979.
  • This will be the first meeting between the two teams since 2004.
  • The Lady Lions have won the most recent 12 contests against the Hawks.

LADY LIONS IN THE RANKS

  • Merkle finished the 2024-25 campaign ranked third in the nation and first in the conference in field goal percentage (.670). Among power 4 players, she ranked first in field goal percentage, 15th in double-doubles (13), 20th in rebounds per game (8.6) and 23rd in blocks per game.
  • Moriah Murray sat 21st in the nation in three pointers per game (2.63) and second in the B1G in 2024-25.
  • As a team, the Lady Lions ranked 14th in the nation in assists per game (17.7) and fifth in the Big Ten last season.
  • After three games to kick off the 2025-26 campaign, Merkle sits 24th in the country in field goal percentage (67.6) and fourth in the B1G.
  • McMiller ranks 10th in the nation in field goals (29) and 15th in field goal attempts (60), ranking first across the B1G in both categories. She sits 20th in points per game (21.7) across the country and is first in the conference in steals (11).

NEW FACES

  • Kieger added two transfers to her roster, Kiyomi McMiller and Amiya Evans. Sophomore transfer from Rutgers McMiller, averaged 18.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists in her rookie campaign. Evans, a senior transfer from Georgia, combined for 2.3 points and 3.2 rebounds per game career average in her first three collegiate seasons.
  • Senior Penn State volleyball athlete Maggie Mendelson will join the Lady Lions at the conclusion of her volleyball season. Mendelson was a two-sport athlete at her previous stop in Nebraska where she averaged 2.0 points and 2.2 rebounds per game.
  • Five freshmen round out the 2025-26 roster. Tèa Clèante, Viktoria Ranisavljevic and Rachael Okokoh alll bring a high level of international basketball experience to the Lady Lions. Clèante has played for the French national team for numerous years and Ranisavljevic has played for the Swiss national team since she was 13 and Okokoh has spent a number of seasons with the Canadian national squad. Shayla Smith from Philadelphia arrives in Happy Valley after breaking the all-time scoring record at Universal Audenried Charter, finishing her campaign with 2,666 points. She became the fastest player to reach 1,000 career points, a record previously held by Dawn Staley. Nyla McFadden is the final freshman on the PSU squad, after graduating from St. Thomas Aquinas. She helped her team to back-to-back state championships.

2024-25 IN REVIEW

  • Penn State finished the 2024-25 campaign with a 10-19 overall record and a 1-17 Big Ten conference record.
  • The Lady Lions concluded last year’s campaign with a loss on the road at Rutgers.
  • PSU recorded a win over no. 9 Ohio State on January 18, marking the team’s first win over a top 10 opponent since defeating no. 8 Ohio State in 2012.
  • The Lady Lions set a program record for non-conference home wins, spanning over three seasons of 17-straight wins in the Bryce Jordan Center against out-of-conference opponents. Their win over Drexel last season marked the program record.