Women’s Basketball Takes on San Diego State in Battle 4 AtlantisWomen’s Basketball Takes on San Diego State in Battle 4 Atlantis

Women’s Basketball Takes on San Diego State in Battle 4 Atlantis

NASSAU, Bahamas- Penn State women’s basketball readies for its second game of the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament against San Diego State. The matchup is slated for noon on Monday, Nov. 24 in the Imperial Ballroom inside Atlantis.

The Lady Lions look to bounce back from their loss in the first game of the tournament to Princeton while the Aztecs are in search of their fifth win of the season and second of the weekend.

GAME INFORMATION

vs. San Diego State

  • Date: Monday, November 24, 2025 | Time: noon ET
  • Location: Nassau, Bahamas | Venue: Atlantis, Paradise Island
  • Live Stats | Watch: none | Notes | Radio
  • Admission: Ticketed

LAST TIME OUT

  • Penn State fell to Princeton 100-93 in first game of the tournament on Saturday. Despite leading for most of the high-scoring game, the Tigers made a comeback in the third quarter that the Lady Lions could not claw back from.
  • Redshirt-junior Gracie Merkle notched a personal best 39 points on 19-of-23 shooting from the field. In addition to being personal best marks, her 39 points and 19 made field goals are Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament records. Dyashia Fair previously held the record with 36 points when Buffalo played Syracuse on Nov. 22, 2021. Christyn Williams of UConn previously held the field goal record at 12 when the Huskies took on Minnesota on Nov. 21, 2021. Her 39 points is also the fifth-most by a Lady Lion in a single-game in program history.
  • Merkle surpassed the 1,000-career point mark, becoming the 42nd Lady Lion in program history to do so.
  • The 193 combined point total between both squads was a tournament record as well, previously set by Oregon (98) and Oklahoma (93) in 2021.
  • Sophomore guard Kiyomi McMiller recorded double figure scoring for her fifth-straight outing. She posted 19 points to go with eight assists, four rebounds and three steals.
  • Redshirt-junior guard Moriah Murray rounded out the double figure scorers, recording 20 points. 18 of her 20 points came from three-point range, posting her seventh career performance with six-plus three-pointers.

SCOUTING THE AZTECS

  • The Aztecs are 4-2 to begin the 2025-26 campaign, their most recent win coming in the first game of the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament against Maryland Eastern Shore. SDSU won the contest 58-45 on Saturday.
  • San Diego State was ranked second in the preseason Mountain West Poll.
  • Nala Williams is a transfer from Cal State Dominguez Hills where she was the 2024-25 WBCA DII National Player of the Year. She currently leads the team, averaging 14.0 points per game.
  • Naomi Panganiban also averages double figure scoring with 10.4 points per game.
  • On the glass, Baily Barnhard guides the Aztecs, averaging 6.0 rebounds per game.
  • Last season, San Diego State finished with a 25-10 record. After making a run to the Mountain West Conference Tournament Championship, the Aztecs fell to Wyoming in triple overtime. SDSU earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament where it fell to LSU 103-48 in the first round.

PENN STATE – SAN DIEGO STATE SERIES

  • Penn State and San Diego State have only faced twice in the series history, both meetings occurring consecutively in 1997 and 1998.
  • The Lady Lions own both games with a 70-56 win and a 76-53 victory.

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 five games to kick off the 2025-26 campaign, Merkle sits second in field goals (53) and fourth in the country in field goal percentage (70.7). She is first in the B1G in both categories. Merkle is 10th in the nation in points  per game (23.4) and 14th in total points (117).
  • McMiller ranks 11th in the nation in field goals (44) and ninth in field goal attempts (97), ranking third and first across the B1G consecutively in those categories.
  • Murray is 13th in three pointers per game (3.4) and 22nd in three pointers (17), ranking first across the conference in btoh categories.

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.