Lady Lions knock off No. 15 Ohio State 69-67 on Senior Night

Story posted February 24, 2021 in CommRadio, Sports by Trevor Grady

The No. 15 Ohio State Buckeyes traveled to State College to take on Penn State on Wednesday for the Lady Lions’ senior night. Ohio State came into the game with a 13-4 record, and Penn State with an 8-11 record. The Lady Lions got the victory 69-67.

Ohio State started off strong, taking an 8-0 lead early on and pushing the lead to 17-6. But Penn State came fighting back to end the first quarter on a 9-1 run of its own to end the first quarter. Once the game was knotted up at 20, it was back and forth the rest of the say.

The Lady Lions used a lethal guard combo of Niya Beverley and Makenna Marisa to headline their offense for most of the game. Beverley finished with a career high 21 points ,shooting 9-11 from the floor. Marisa flirted with a triple double and tallied 17 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists.

Johnasia Cash got into foul trouble early on, as she has many times this year and only played four minutes in the first half. Penn State Head Coach Carolyn Kieger let her loose in the second half, though, and Cash came back with a vengeance.

Cash finished the game with 16 points, shooting 8-16 from the floor.

Dorka Juhasz was spectacular for Ohio State in the first half, but sophomore guard Jacy Sheldon did most of the scoring down the stretch for the Buckeyes. Juhasz finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Sheldon notched 19 points on the night.

This is Coach Kieger’s second season at Penn State. The Lady Lions had not won a top-25 game in the Kieger era, and coming into this senior night they were eager to break that streak.Coach Kieger spoke on just that after the game.

“We had been chasing that top 25 (win), and those teams ahead of us in the conference for a while,” Kieger said. “Testament to our defense tonight, we weathered the storm there with a not so great start.”

It was senior night on Wednesday night, and Nia Staples was honored before the game. Coach Kieger also talked about what it meant to get this big time win on senior night for their team’s only senior.

“I’m so happy we were able to get that win for her tonight. I felt bad we weren’t able to get her in, but it’s not her last home game and we talked about that,” Kieger said. “She has been a testament to fight, and she has handled her injuries with grace and humility. She’s done a phenomenal job of showing up every day to do whatever it is we need her to do.”

This win certainly feels like one that can set the tone for the program for years to come. The Lady Lions are in action again on Sunday when they will host No. 25 Rutgers in their final game of the regular season.

Trevor Grady is a junior majoring in management information systems and minoring in journalism. To contact him, email tmg5685@psu.edu.