UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- Penn State women’s basketball returns to Rec Hall to host Yale on Sunday, Nov. 30. Tip off in Happy Valley is slated for 1 p.m. as the Lady Lions round out their November game schedule.
The Blue & White looks to improve to a 6-1 record after a win over San Diego State and a loss to Princeton at the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament. The Bulldogs are in search of their second win of the season following losses in their first six games of the year.
GAME INFORMATION
vs. Yale
- Date: Sunday, November 30, 2025 | Time: 1 p.m. ET
- Location: University Park, Pa. | Venue: Rec Hall
- Live Stats | Watch: B1G+ | Notes | Radio
- Admission: Ticketed
LAST TIME OUT
- The Lady Lions secured an 83-67 win over San Diego State in the second game of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament on Monday, Nov. 24.
- Penn State climbed back from an early deficit in the first quarter to take the lead in the final minutes of the first stanza.
- Gracie Merkle powered Penn State once again with a game-high 26 points on 12-of-15 shooting from the field. She also recorded her third double-double of the season with 12 rebounds.
- McMiller reached the double-digit scoring mark for the sixth consecutive game, posting 19 points to go with six rebounds and four assists.
- Nyla McFadden had the best game of her young freshman career, totaling 10 points, five rebounds, four steals and two assists.
- Penn State outscored SDSU in the paint by a 48-22 margin, marking the sixth game the Lady Lions have outscored their opponent in the paint.
- PSU outrebounded the Aztecs 45-32.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
- Yale began the season 0-6 before earning its first victory over American on Wednesday, Nov. 26.
- Ciniya Moore leads the team averaging 16.0 points per game. Kiley Capstraw (13.6) and Luisa Vydrova (10.3) also average double figure scoring for the Bulldogs.
- In her most recent outing against American, Moore produced 22 points, 12 of which came from three-points range. Capstraw and Vydrova also reached the double-digit mark with 12 and 11 points respectively.
- Last season, the Bulldogs finished 4-23 overall and 3-11 in conference action.
PENN STATE – YALE SERIES
- Penn State and Yale have only faced once in the history of both programs.
- The meeting occurred in 1985, also inside Rec Hall.
- The Lady Lions earned a 50-point 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 six games to kick off the 2025-26 campaign, Merkle sits second in field goals (65) and fourth in the country in field goal percentage (72.2). She is first in the B1G in both categories. Merkle is sixth in the nation in points per game (23.8) and 11th in total points (143).
- McMiller ranks 13th in the nation in field goals (52) and seventh in field goal attempts (117), ranking third and first across the B1G consecutively in those categories.
- Murray is 15th in three pointers per game (3.17) and 28th in three pointers (19), ranking first and second across the conference in each category.
- As a team, the Lady Lions are seventh in the country in both field goal percentage (51.6) and three-point percentage (40.2). They sit third and second in the Big Ten respectively. PSU has the 13th-best scoring offense across the nation (86.7) and ranks 10th in assists per game (20.5).
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.