Penn State Set For New Year’s Eve Battle Vs. #14 MarylandPenn State Set For New Year’s Eve Battle Vs. #14 Maryland
Mark Selders

Penn State Set For New Year’s Eve Battle Vs. #14 Maryland

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State women's basketball team welcomes #14 Maryland to the Bryce Jordan Center Thursday for a New Year's Eve showdown. Tipoff is set for noon and the game will be nationally televised on the Big Ten Network.
 
FOLLOW ALONG

 
OPENING TIPS

  • Penn State returns to action Thursday at noon to close out the 2020 calendar year with a New Year's Eve battle against #14 Maryland inside the Bryce Jordan Center.
  • Penn State is 3-2 on the season and will be playing its first game since Dec. 20. The Lady Lions are opening a stretch of three-straight games against top-20 opponents.
  • Penn State's balanced offense has shined this season as the Lady Lions are averaging 80.0 points per game. Graduate transfer Kelly Jekot leads the team with 14.6 ppg and 6.8 rpg. Makenna Marisa (14.4 ppg) and Johnasia Cash (12.2 ppg) are also averaging double-digit points.

 
IF PENN STATE BEATS MARYLAND

  • Penn State would beat a team ranked in the top 15 of the AP poll for the first time since Nov. 20, 2016 when unranked PSU defeated #13 Tennessee 70-56 inside the Bryce Jordan Center.
  • The Lady Lions would earn their first victory over the Terrapins since 2003 and first win in the series since Maryland joined the Big Ten.
  • Penn State would snap its two-game losing streak and improve to 4-2 on the season, 1-1 in conference play, and 4-1 at the BJC.

 
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION

  • The 14th-ranked Terrapins come to Happy Valley with a 5-1 overall record and 1-0 mark in Big Ten play.
  • Maryland will be playing its first game since Dec. 19 when the Terrapins beat James Madison 101-59.
  • The Terrapins opened Big Ten play on Dec. 14 with a 91-87 win at Rutgers.
  • Maryland's lone loss of the season came on Nov. 28 against #24 Missouri State, 81-72, at the Beach Bubble Tournament.
  • Six different Terrapins are averaging double-digit points, with Diamond Miller (18.0 ppg) and Katie Benzan (17.0 ppg) leading the way.
  • Chloe Bibby leads the team with 8.0 rebounds per game, while Ashley Owusu is the assists leader with 28 on the season.
  • Katie Benzan is shooting a team-best 57.1 percent (36-63) from the field and 55.3 percent (26-47) from three-point range.

 
AGAINST THE TERRAPINS

  • Penn State will be looking for its first win over the Terrapins since Maryland joined the Big Ten.
  • Maryland holds a slim 16-14 lead in the all-time series and the Terrapins have won the last eight meetings.
  • The 10th-ranked Terrapins won last season's lone meeting 106-69 on Feb. 16, 2020 inside the Bryce Jordan Center.
  • Penn State was within one of #10 Maryland at halftime, but the Terrapins pulled away in the second half for the 106-69 victory. Maryland found its separation in the third quarter as the Terps shot 70 percent (14-for-20) from the field and out-scored the Lady Lions 32-11.

 
HIGH-OCTANE OFFENSE

  • Head Coach Carolyn Kieger's high-octane offense has been on full display through the first five games of the season as the Lady Lions are averaging 80.0 points per game, a mark that ranks in the top 50 in the nation.
  • Penn State scored 87 points in its Big Ten opener against Purdue on Dec. 20. It marked the most points the Lady Lions have scored in a Big Ten game since Jan. 17, 2016 when PSU put up 87 against Michigan.
  • Penn State has scored at least 70 points in all five games this season and has eclipsed the 80-point mark twice.
  • The Lady Lions finished last season averaging 66.6 points per game. Penn State's current margin of improvement in points per game from last season to this season is 13.4 ppg.

 
INTO THE FIRE

  • The strength of the Big Ten will be on full display as Penn State is set to face top-20 opponents in each of its next three games and four of its next five contests.
  • The Lady Lions take on #14 Maryland Thursday, then travel to #17 Ohio State Monday before returning home to host #20 Indiana on Jan. 7.
  • The Big Ten currently has six teams in the AP Top 25, the most of any conference. Two other Big Ten teams are receiving votes in the poll.

 
TRANSFERS MAKING AN IMMEDIATE IMPACT

  • Graduate transfer Kelly Jekot (previously Villanova) and senior Johnasia Cash (previously SMU) have made an immediate impact for Penn State.
  • Jekot leads the team with 14.6 points and 6.8 rebounds per game and has recorded double-doubles in two of Penn State's games thus far this season. Jekot tallied just one double-double in her three years at Villanova and has flourished under Kieger's system, notching the second and third double-doubles of her career in Penn State's first two games.
  • Jekot scored the 1,000th point of her career with her 11th point of the game against Coppin State. Jekot scored 990 points during her three years at Villanova from 2016-2019. She transferred to Penn State in January 2020 and sat out the entirety of the 2019-2020 season with an injury.
  • Cash currently ranks third on the team with 12.2 points and second with 6.6 rebounds per contest. The SMU transfer came to Penn State over the offseason and was granted immediate eligibility for 2020-21. Cash, a McKeesport, Pa. native, provides key post presence for Kieger's squad and recorded her first double-double in a Penn State uniform (13 points, 10 rebounds) at #22 Syracuse on Dec. 6.

 
MARISA COMING INTO HER OWN

  • Makenna Marisa's court vision has grown exponentially in her sophomore season, as she currently ranks 18th in the nation with a mark of 5.8 assists per game.
  • Marisa is coming off a career-best scoring performance in Penn State's Big Ten opener vs. Purdue in which she tallied 26 points behind 12 made field goals.
  • She ranks second on the team with 14.4 points per game.
  • Marisa narrowly missed a triple-double in the non-conference finale at #22 Syracuse, tallying nine points and career-best marks of 11 rebounds and nine assists.

 
YOUNGEST TEAM IN THE BIG TEN

  • Penn State's 2020-21 roster features eight freshmen and five transfers who are seeing their first court time in in the Blue and White this season.
  • The eight freshmen, all true freshmen, are tied for the national lead in number of freshmen on Division I rosters. Oral Roberts and Incarnate Word also have eight freshmen on their rosters. Penn State has the best record (3-2) amongst the three DI teams with eight freshmen.
  • Penn State is ranked as the ninth-youngest team in Division I, and the youngest in the Big Ten, with an average age of 19.56.
  • Penn State has 12 players that have two or less years of Division I playing experience, which equates to 75 percent of its roster. The 12 rostered players with two or less years of DI playing experience is tied for ninth-most amongst all Division I rosters.

 
UP NEXT

  • Penn State hits the road to face #17/15 Ohio State Monday evening.
  • Tipoff from Columbus, Ohio is slated for 6 PM and the game will be nationally televised on the Big Ten Network.