ROSEMONT, Ill.- Penn State women’s basketball’s Gracie Merkle is named to the Big Ten Weekly Honor Roll on Nov. 24. The redshirt-junior center picks up her first weekly B1G award of the season and fourth of her career.
Merkle earns the conference nod after a career performance in Penn State’s first game at the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament. The 6-6 center posted 39 points on 19-of-23 shooting from the field. In addition to being personal best marks, both statistics also represent new tournament records for Battle 4 Atlantis. Both previous records were set in 2021.
The Mount Washington, Ky. native has recorded double figure scoring in all six contests throughout the 2025-26 campaign thus far. On top of her 39-point performance against Princeton on Saturday, Merkle notched a game high 26 points and 12 rebounds in the Lady Lions win in the second game of the tournament this weekend. She has three double-doubles and four 20-plus-point performances on her resume in six games. Merkle was named to the Lisa Leslie Center of the Year Preseason Watch List ahead of the season, a prestigious award that honors the top center in the country in women’s college basketball.