Game Grades: Penn State Women’s Basketball vs. Iowa

Story posted February 6, 2023 in CommRadio, Sports by Logan Bourandas

Penn State ended its Pink Zone game with a 95-51 loss against the No. 6 Iowa Hawkeyes on Sunday, dropping to 13-11 on the season.

It also marks the Lady Lions’ eighth consecutive loss against Iowa dating back to the 2017-18 season.

Here’s a look at how each position group performed in the loss at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Offense: F

Nothing was pretty about the Lady Lions’ performance, but let’s start with the offense.

The Lady Lions only went over 15 points in a quarter one time in the third quarter as several key players went cold.

Senior guard Taniyah Thompson led the blue and white with 11 points while hitting four of her 10 shots.

The team's leading scorer in Makenna Marisa was held to just nine points as she drew a ton of attention from the Hawkeyes defense and only hit one of her 10 shots.

Penn State had early opportunities to stay in it with the Hawkeyes but couldn’t convert and it ended with a field goal percentage just north of 27 percent.

The 51 points from the Penn State offense ties for the lowest number of points in a game with the other coming in early January against Nebraska.

Defense: F

Star Caitlin Clark could not be stopped at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Clark showcased her talents on both sides of the ball and ended the day with the ninth triple-double of her career.

Her 23 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds led a potent Hawkeyes attack which saw three double-digit scorers.

The Hawkeyes were also very efficient throughout the game shooting above 59% from the field.

Penn State was significantly outrebounded as well as the Hawkeyes corralled 51 compared to the Lady Lions’ 24

It was one of the worst defensive performances of the season for the Lady Lions’, topped only by when the Hawkeyes scored 108 points against the Lady Lions last month.

Coaching: F

Straight F’s across the board for the blue and white.

It was clear to see that the Lady Lions were out coached by Lisa Bluder’s squad who played clean basketball from start to finish.

Penn State led just once in the entire game which came early in the first quarter.

There was no point in the game aside from the opening minutes where it looked like the blue and white had any sort of momentum against a talented Iowa squad.

The Hawkeyes led in just about every category aside from forced turnovers which the Lady Lions led by two.

Carolyn Kieger’s squad had no answer for Clark just like in her previous trip to the Bryce Jordan Center where she set a program record with 18 assists.

The Lady Lions remaining schedule appears tough with a ranked Ohio State team and two teams receiving votes so they will need to bounce back quickly.

Logan Bourandas is a senior majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email lxb5412@psu.edu.