UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State women’s basketball team completed the 2025 calendar year on Wednesday afternoon, falling by a 97-61 differential to the fourth-ranked UCLA Bruins inside Rec Hall on New Year’s Eve.
Redshirt junior center Gracie Merkle and sophomore guard Kiyomi McMiller led the way for Penn State in its final game of the calendar year, with the Mount Washington, Kentucky, native Merkle finishing as PSU’s leading scorer with 15 points. The nation’s leader in field goal percentage continued her momentum on the offensive end against the Bruins, connecting on all six of her field goal attempts to notch a perfect 100% finish from the field. McMiller, a native of Silver Spring, Maryland, notched 13 points with six rebounds in a team-high 33 minutes of work.
Following Wednesday’s year-end action in University Park, UCLA improves to 13-1 overall and 3-0 against Big Ten Conference competitors while the Blue & White drop to 7-7 overall and 0-3 in B1G matchups heading into the new year. Following the fifth all-time meeting between the two programs and second fixture as conference opponents, UCLA improved on its all-time series lead to mark a 4-1 margin against the Lady Lions since the first contest in 1978. UCLA returns home to Los Angeles on Saturday, January 3, to face the archrival USC Trojans, while PSU christens the new year at Wisconsin on January 4.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter
UCLA came away with the opening tip and booked the game’s first points in the paint on the opening possession of the game, but a quick answer from mid-range by McMiller tied things up early on. The Bruins went on a quick 11-0 scoring run from there to take a 13-2 lead and force a PSU timeout at the 7:17 mark of the opening frame. A steal by Santana moments later set up a driving layup for Clèante, but the Bruins were able to respond with an and-one bucket to extend their lead. Baskets fell both ways in the ensuing moments, but UCLA embarked on an 11-2 scoring run to balloon their advantage to 29-11 with less than two minutes to play in the first. A split trip to the line by Mendelson marked the final scoring of the opening stanza, with the Bruins managing a 29-12 lead through 10 minutes of play.
Second Quarter
Smith buried a contested mid-range jumper to get the second period underway for PSU, and stifling defense on the other end paved the way for an easy layup down low for Merkle moments later. The Bruins tallied their first points of the quarter with a triple from the left wing, kickstarting an 11-0 scoring stretch that culminated in a 40-16 UCLA advantage with less than four minutes remaining in the first half. Mendelson broke up the Bruin run with a short jumper in the painted area, and despite a UCLA layup the other way, McMiller was able to connect on a fallaway jumper from the left wing to keep PSU in the hunt. Murray drilled a 3-pointer from the left corner on a baseline out of bounds play to close out a 5-0 Lady Lion stretch, but UCLA rattled off four unanswered points to close the half with a 46-23 lead.
Third Quarter
UCLA drove for a quick layup to open the second half, but Merkle replied with a gritty and-one bucket down low to mark PSU’s first three points of the third period. The teams traded blows from there, with Smith concocting an impressive coast-to-coast layup at the 8:28 mark to make it a 50-28 UCLA advantage. Murray drilled a triple from the left corner with just over seven minutes left in the quarter, but the Bruins replied with a pair of jumpers to make it 56-31. After a pair of free throw makes from Mendelson, UCLA rattled off a 15-3 scoring run to push their lead beyond 30 points and close the third period of play with a 71-36 edge.
Fourth Quarter
Mendelson hit a jumper to get the scoring started in the final frame and immediately made a dominant defensive play on the other end moments later to help give the Blue & White a jolt of momentum. Both teams mustered made field goals in a three-plus minute exchange to the tune of an 81-44 Bruin score. Merkle and McMiller both booked impressive buckets in the painted area, and despite a quick reply by UCLA, Murray connected on a fallaway right-corner 3-ball to make it 83-51 with four minutes left in the final game of 2025. The Bruins capitalized on multiple opportunities at the free throw line down the stretch and managed to hold on to their advantage as the nation’s fourth-ranked team came away with a 97-61 result in Happy Valley on Wednesday afternoon.
POSTGAME NOTES
#4 UCLA at Penn State
December 31, 2025
Rec Hall (University Park, Pa.)
- Penn State moves to 7-7 overall and 0-3 against Big Ten Conference competition while the fourth-ranked Bruins improve to 13-1 overall and 3-0 in B1G matchups.
- Following the fifth all-time meeting between the Lady Lions and Bruins, UCLA improves to 4-1.
- Penn State’s paint defense was the highlight of the day, registering three blocks on the defensive side of things while surrendering zero offensively. Senior center Maggie Mendelson matched her season and Big Ten Conference career high with a pair of swats, while redshirt junior center Gracie Merkle notched one.
- Merkle cracked double figures for the 13th time in the season’s first 14 games, dropping a team-high 15 points. The nation’s leader in field goal percentage went 6-for-6 from the field, added four rebounds and three makes from the charity stripe. Merkle contributed double figures for the 57th time in her collegiate career and 34th time at Penn State, leading PSU in scoring for the eighth time this season.
- Sophomore guard Kiyomi McMiller logged her 13th double-digit scoring performance in Happy Valley and her 30th such performance at the collegiate level, scoring 13 points with six rebounds in a team-high 33 minutes of play.
- Freshman guard Shayla Smith set a Big Ten career-high mark in rebounding with seven boards to lead all Lady Lions. The Philadelphia native led PSU in rebounding for the first time in her collegiate career while adding eight points and a steal in 20 minutes as a member of the starting five.
- Freshman guard Tèa Clèante led the Blue & White in assists with seven, marking her fourth time this season pacing the Lady Lions in that category while setting a B1G career-high mark in that statistic. The Dunkerque, France, native added four points and two rebounds in 31 minutes of work.
- Penn State utilized the starting lineup of Moriah Murray, Maggie Mendelson, Tèa Clèante, Kiyomi McMiller and Shayla Smith for the first time in the 2025-26 season, moving to 0-1 when using that that starting five.
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