Game Grades: Penn State Women’s Basketball vs. Rutgers
The Lady Lions took on the Scarlet Knights Thursday night in an exhilarating matchup that led to an overtime victory for Rutgers.
Penn State started out hot in the opening quarter before Rutgers would storm back to make it a one-point game at the half. The Scarlet Knights would come out of the locker room hot, scoring 29 points and taking a five-point lead.
In the fourth quarter, Johnasia Cash would hit a clutch jumper to tie the game and send it into overtime. In the extra quarter, Penn State would struggle from the field which led to Rutgers winning after the Scarlet Knights hit two clutch shots from the field and went 4-7 from the charity line.
Offense: B
The offense came up huge in this one for Penn State but it all came at the wrong times. The Lady Lions scored more than 20 points in three of the four quarters before overtime.
In the second quarter, the Lady Lions went 0-5 from three and 4-16 from the field. After dominating the other three quarters, it looked like the Blue & White would run away with it, but the struggle in the second quarter came back at the worst time.
After a free throw from Leilani Kapinus, Makenna Marisa would hit a clutch three to make it 82-80 with three minutes left in regulation. Unfortunately for the Lady Lions, that would be the last time that the team would find the basket as time expired and Rutgers took the lead.
Defense: C+
The Lady Lions’ defense set the tone early by holding the Scarlet Knights to 12 points in the first quarter. They would then struggle before and after the half, but finished strong, forcing Rutgers to go on prolonged scoring droughts in the final minutes of overtime.
Penn State’s defense allowed only two of Rutgers' 16 three attempts to fall while forcing 16 turnovers which were taken back for 12 points.
Those turnovers and missed points were given back to Rutgers from Penn State’s 27 fouls that led to Rutgers scoring 24 points from the charity line. Four of Penn State’s five starters had four fouls or more, one of those players being Marisa who had a season-high five fouls.
Coaching: C
The rotation just wasn’t there for the Lady Lions. Cash, Ali Brigham and Chanaya Pinto were the only ones that got valuable minutes and they all combined for 12 points in 42 minutes.
The struggle continues in the ACC and Big Ten Challenge for Penn State as they are now 5-9 since entering the stretch. A big part of that has been the inability to win on the road which has become a huge problem for this team as they are now 0-6 in enemy territory.
The Blue & White fall to 12-9 on the season with a 3-7 conference record and are now 1-4 in their past five games. The Lady Lions will look to get their first road win of the season on Monday against No. 11 Maryland.
Micheal Bolger is a sophomore majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email mpb6233@psu.edu.
