Penn State Women’s Basketball 2021-22 Season Preview
Penn State is back and ready for an action-packed schedule that is filled with key matchups throughout the 2021-22 campaign.
Last season the Lady Lions finished the season with a record of 9-15 and their season was cut short when they fell to Michigan State 75-66 in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.
The blue and white are looking to have a bounce-back season and it all starts on Nov. 9 when they take on LIU.
Penn State is led by Carolyn Kieger who enters her third season as head coach. Kieger was a 2019 Naismith Women’s Coach of the Year Award semifinalist and she looks to get back there this season.
The Nittany Lions got a big boost this offseason when graduate student guard Kelly Jekot announced she is coming back for a sixth season.
Jekot played in just nine games last season before suffering an ACL tear in her left knee and what many people thought was an injury that would end her collegiate career.
Having Jekot back is a big boost for the blue and white as she was the leading scorer last year averaging 16 points.
Playing alongside Jekot in the backcourt is junior guard Makenna Marisa. Marisa will look to build off her strong sophomore season where she was named an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention.
Marisa finished fifth in the conference with five assists a game while also pouring in 13.4 points a game.
Moving to the frontcourt the Lady Lions are led by junior forward Anna Camden who averaged 7.8 points and 3.3 rebounds last season.
The blue and white have the reigning sixth player of the year in sophomore guard Maddie Burke. Burke made an immediate impact in her freshman season averaging 8.9 points and 3.5 rebounds while being a threat from beyond the arc.
This offseason the Lady Lions brought in sophomore guard Alli Campbell who transferred from Notre Dame. Campbell is playing for her hometown school as in high school she was named 2019 USA Today Pennsylvania Player of the Year.
With the regular season set to begin on Tuesday, Penn State will look to get off to a strong start against several non-conference opponents.
The season will start to heat up for the blue and white when they face Boston College on Dec. 2 for the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
From then on, the Lady Lions will look to improve on a dismal 6-13 conference record from last campaign as it faces the Big Ten’s best, starting with Indiana on Dec. 6
Alex Rocco is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email afr5646@psu.edu
