UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State women’s basketball saw a quintet of student-athletes crack double figures as the Lady Lions roared to an 82-77 win over the Cincinnati Bearcats on Friday night inside Rec Hall.
The Lady Lions improved to 2-0 on their 2025-26 season and prevailed in their inaugural meeting with the Bearcats, who dropped to 0-2 ahead of their next matchup Tuesday, November 11 at 7 p.m. (ET) against Saint Joseph’s. Penn State climbed to 2-0 for the sixth consecutive season, accomplishing that feat every year under head coach Carolyn Kieger since her first campaign in the Blue & White back in 2019-20.
Penn State impressed in its second contest of the season, logging five student-athletes in double figures in the scoring column for the first time since November 10, 2024, against the Duquesne Dukes inside the Bryce Jordan Center. The Lady Lions finished the night shooting 49.3 percent from the field and an astounding 47.4% clip from beyond the arc, holding Cincinnati to meager 37.5 percent and 33.3 percent marks in those statistics, respectively. PSU dominated the battle for fast break points, outpacing the Bearcats by a 17-6 margin in transition scoring. The Blue & White also logged a 42-26 win in paint scoring, and did a spectacular job of creating scoring chances off Cincinnati miscues, logging a 28-17 win in terms of points off turnovers.
On an individual basis, sophomore guard Kiyomi McMiller finished the night with a game-high 20 points in addition to seven assists, five rebounds and five steals. The Silver Spring, Maryland, native cracked double figures for the 20th time in her collegiate career and hit 20-plus points for the 12th time as a collegian and second time as a Lady Lion. Elsewhere on the final box score, redshirt junior center Gracie Merkle mustered her first double-double of the 2025-26 season as well as the 33rd of her collegiate career, logging 14 points on 70 percent shooting from the floor in addition to hauling in a game-high 12 rebounds. Redshirt junior guard Moriah Murray booked 18 points highlighted by a 5-for-10 effort from long range, freshman guard Téa Cléante dropped 14 points in her Lady Lion debut and freshman guard Viktoria Ranisavljevic rounded out the quintet of Penn Staters in double figures with 10 points on 50 percent shooting.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter
Penn State began the game on a 6-0 run behind successive layups from Merkle and McMiller, plus a layup from Cléante, before the Bearcats responded by scoring the next four points. Penn State then went on a 6-2 run before McMiller made the game’s first shot from beyond the arc, ultimately giving the Blue & White a 15-6 lead at the 6:29 mark. The Lady Lions led by as many as ten following a McMiller layup, but Cincinnati slowly came back to tie the game at 18 heading into the media timeout with 2:39 remaining in the quarter. Two free throws by the Bearcats gave them the lead, capping a 12-0 run, before a Cléante layup tied the game once again. Both teams traded successive 3-pointers and layups, but a late Cincinnati layup gave the visitors a 25-23 edge through 10 minutes.
Second Quarter
The Lady Lions missed their first shot of the second quarter while the Bearcats made a jumper, growing their lead to four. A Merkle layup gave Penn State its first points of the quarter and Murray’s 3-pointer put the home team back in front at the 7:54 mark. Merkle’s next layup gave her double digits before each side made a jumper. Neither team found the hoop for the next 1:43 until another Merkle layup increased the Lady Lions’ lead to five. The Bearcats responded with their fourth 3-pointer of the game, but Evans’ second bucket of the game gave Penn State a four-point lead at the media timeout with 3:24 remaining in the first half. Cincinnati used a 7-2 run to reclaim the lead but a late blocked shot from Evans helped ensure the Bearcats kept a narrow 41-40 advantage heading into halftime.
Third Quarter
The Blue & White began the third quarter in style with Cléante recording two steals and scoring a layup in transition to reclaim the lead. McMiller joined the fast break train, converting a layup of her own before the Bearcats responded with a jumper. Evans and Cléante made both of their free throws, expanding Penn State’s lead to five. A 6-0 Bearcat run gave the visitors the lead back but an open Merkle layup on the ensuing possession reclaimed the lead for Penn State. A 3-pointer from Cléante put the Lady Lions in front 53-49 into the media timeout with 4:27 remaining in the frame. Cincinnati made two free throws before a Viktoria Ranisavljevic layup and another 3-pointer from Murray gave Penn State a seven-point edge. The teams split the final dozen points of the quarter, with all the Lady Lions’ points coming from two Ranisavljevic 3-pointers, giving Penn State a 64-57 lead at the end of the third.
Fourth Quarter
The Bearcats began the final frame on a 9-0 run, tying the game on a 3-pointer before taking the lead on a layup with 8:17 to go. A McMiller layup tied the game at 66 but the Bearcats made a layup to go back in front. Murray’s steal prompted Penn State to take a timeout with 6:38 to go, but it couldn’t capitalize as a Bearcats pullup jumper grew the lead to four. The Blue & White used a 6-2 run, capped off by a and-one layup from Cléante, to tie the game at 72-all with 4:36 to go. McMiller’s layup off a steal gave Penn State a lead but neither team found the hoop again until Murray’s and-one layup with 2:33 to go. After a Bearcat jumper, Murray’s fifth 3-pointer and a Ranisavljevic layup grew the Penn State lead to eight, forcing a Cincinnati timeout with 1:11 remaining. The Bearcats added a 3-pointer, but none of their final four shots went in as Penn State escaped with the 82-77 win.
POSTGAME NOTES
Cincinnati at Penn State
November 7, 2025
Rec Hall (University Park, Pa.)
- Following the first meeting between Penn State and Cincinnati in program history, Penn State improves to 1-0 against the Bearcats.
- McMiller reached double-digits for the 20th time in her career, surpassing 20 points for the 12th time. The Silver Spring, Maryland, native finished the night with 20 points, five boards and seven assists with five steals to her credit.
- Merkle recorded her first double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds, marking the Lady Lion’s first double-double since a February 16 game against Wisconsin last year.
- Cléante played her first game with the Lady Lions, recording double-digits for the first time in her career with 14 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the field and a perfect 3-for-3 night at the charity stripe.
- Murray reached 18 points, entering double-digits for the 16th time in her career and first time in the 2025-26 campaign. The Dunmore, Pennsylvania, native went 5-for-10 from long range and also contributed three rebounds and three assists
- Five Lady Lions recorded double figures in the scoring column on Friday night, marking the first performance of that nature by a PSU team since November 10, 2024, against the Duquesne Dukes.
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