BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Penn State women’s basketball falls to Indiana 93-59 inside Assembly Hall in regular season finale on Saturday afternoon. The Lady Lions drop to 11-18, 4-14 Big Ten while the Hoosiers improve to 17-13, 6-12 Big Ten.
Redshirt junior guard Gracie Merkle led Penn State with her ninth double-double of the season. She compiled 22 points and 10 rebounds in addition to four assists. Redshirt junior guard Moriah Murray posted her 24th career game with four our more threes, compiling 12 points. Freshman forward Nyla McFadden produced her second consecutive double figure scoring outing and sixth of the season with 11 points and five rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter
Penn State won the opening tip off, but Indiana found the first points from a corner three. Neither team could convert on their next possessions until Indiana found a hook shot at the rim. Merkle responded for Penn State on her next try. The Hoosiers drained three back-to-back three-pointers to take a 14-2 lead. IU continued its 18-0 stretch out of the break with nine more points. Murray broke the Penn State dry spell with a shot from beyond the arc, but the Hoosiers responded with six-straight points to take a 29-5 lead at the 1:43 mark. Murray drained her second three-pointer to chip at the deficit, but Indiana added two more points in response to close out the first frame up 31-8.
Second Quarter
Indiana netted another shot from long range to widen its lead to open the second quarter. Merkle answered with a layup at the rim which the Hoosiers replicated on the fast break. Amiya Evans pulled up for a mid-range jumper to bring the score to 36-12. Indiana added six consecutive points to widen its lead to 30 points. Murray found her third triple of the day before another set of points for IU to give the home team a 44-15 advantage at the media break. Merkle converted a basket out of the break, but a pair of free throws allowed the Hoosiers to balloon their lead back to 29 points. A duo of shots from the charity stripe for McFadden was quieted by two triples for the Hoosiers. Kiyomi McMiller found her first points of the day using an open lane to the rim. IU earned a trip to the free throw line where it converted both and Tèa Clèante had a driving layup to cut the deficit to 53-23. The Hoosiers added four points to close out the first half with a 57-23 lead.
Third Quarter
McFadden netted a corner three to begin the scoring in the second half, but IU put up two points on its next trip down the court. Merkle made two free throws before four-straight points for the Hoosiers. Merkle compiled eight-straight points to cut the deficit to 27 before five consecutive points for the home team. Penn State added six-straight tallies comprised of Murray’s fourth triple of the day in addition to two points from both Merkle and Viktoria Ranisavljevic. Indiana put up four in consecutive fashion in response to pull ahead 72-43 at the end of the third stanza.
Fourth Quarter
Merkle added the first two points on a tip-in layup. The Hoosiers earned two trips to the charity stripe where they secured their first three points of the quarter. Indiana added another two baskets to its 7-0 run to widen the lead to 79-45, forcing PSU to use a timeout. Out of the break, the Hoosiers compiled five more unanswered points to complete a 12-0 run. Merkle broke the Penn State scoring drought with a hook shot and McMiller added a pair of free shots to decrease the margin to 84-49. Indiana pulled up for a jumper before Penn State utilized another timeout. The Hoosiers added seven points while the Lady Lions put up 10 over the last three minutes to finalize the 93-59 IU victory.
POSTGAME NOTES
Penn State at Indiana
February 28, 2026
Assembly Hall (Bloomington, Ind.)
- Merkle produced her 69th double figure scoring outing of her career and 25th of the season while posting her 31st 20-plus-point outing of her career and 10th of the year.
- Merkle tallied her 41st career double-double and ninth of the season. She currently sits fifth all-time at PSU in career double-doubles.
- Murray combined for four triples, marking her 24th career contest with four-plus made threes.
- Indiana improves to 33-22 in the all-time series with Penn State.
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