Lady Lions Open Big Ten Action At No. 6 IndianaLady Lions Open Big Ten Action At No. 6 Indiana
Mark Selders

Lady Lions Open Big Ten Action At No. 6 Indiana

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State women's basketball team begins Big Ten play on Monday at No. 6 Indiana. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. in Assembly Hall with a broadcast on Big Ten Network.

The Lady Lions, led by head coach Carolyn Kieger, are 4-4 this season and looking to get back on track after an 86-69 setback at Boston College.

FOLLOW ALONG

OPENING TIP

  • Penn State travels to No. 6 Indiana to begin Big Ten play on Monday.
  • The Lady Lions are 33-17 all-time in the series, but the Hoosiers have won each of the last four matchups.
  • Penn State has 41 all-time wins over Top 10 opponents with its last coming against No. 8 Ohio State (84-66) on February 20, 2012.
  • The Lad Lions are 14-15 all-time in Big Ten openers.
  • Penn State fell 86-69 at Boston College in its Big Ten/ACC Challenge matchup.
  • Ali Brigham led PSU with 18 points and grabbed five boards.
  • Makenna Marisa contributed 14 points and six assists, while Niya Beverley added 10 points.
  • The Lady Lions tallied 20 assists, its fourth game with 20+ assists this year.
  • Makenna Marisa sits 12th in the country, and second in the Big Ten, averaging 21.4 points per contest.
  • She holds second in the Big Ten in field goals made (64), fourth in assists per game (5.5) and fifth in three-pointers made per game (2.38).
  • Ali Brigham is fourth in the conference in field-goal percentage (58.0) and seventh in blocks (10).

 
SCOUTING INDIANA

  • Indiana is led by head coach Teri Moren, in her eighth season.
  • Moren is 153-82 in her time at Indiana.
  • The Hoosiers are 5-2 this season, including an 88-67 win over No. 13 Kentucky, and ranked No. 6 in the AP Poll.
  • In their last game, Indiana fell 66-58 against No. 2 NC State. Mackenzie Holmes led the Hoosiers with 24 points, while Grace Berger and Ali Patberg each had 10.
  • Holmes leads five Hoosiers averaging double-figures with 16.6 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. Berger and Patberg are each averaging 13.3 points per contest.
  • Indiana is averaging 70.0 points per game, ranking seventh in the Big Ten, while allowing 59.6 points per contest, holding fourth in the conference.

 
AGAINST BOSTON COLLEGE

  • Penn State will meet Indiana for the 51st time in program history.
  • The Lady Lions lead the all-time series, 33-17, but Indiana has claimed the last four meetings.
  • In the last meeting, Penn State fell 90-65 at Indiana.
  • Niya Beverley led PSU with 16 points, including three three-pointers, while Maddie Burke had 13 and Anna Camden had 12.

 
MARISA'S STRONG JUNIOR CAMPAIGN

  • Junior Makenna Marisa scored at least 11 points in all eight games this season and has 20+ points in five games.
  • Marisa was named Co-Big Ten Player of the Week on November 22.
  • It was Marisa's first career Big Ten weekly honor.
  • She recorded a triple-double in Penn State's 120-51 win over Delaware State on November 16 and followed with a 29-point, eight-assist performance at Clemson on November 21.
  • Marisa notched 30 points, on 12-of-16 shooting, 11 assists and 10 steals against the Hornets. Her points, assists and steals totals were all career highs.
  • Marisa's triple-double was Penn State's first since Suzie McConnell on January 3, 1988 (22 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists in a 74-63 win vs. Western Kentucky).
  • Marisa's triple-double is the 25th Points-Assists-Steals triple-double and 20th 30-point triple-double in NCAA Division I history.
  • It's also the third 30-point triple-double and second Points-Assists-Steals triple-double in Big Ten history.
  • Marisa had Penn State's 79th 30-point game and became the first Lady Lion with double-digit assists in a game since Dara Taylor (10 vs. Minnesota, 2014).

 
LADY LIONS RANK AMONG NATIONAL LEADERS

  • Penn State's numbers sit among the best in the nation and Big Ten early in the season.
  • The Lady Lions sit 28th in the country averaging 79.2 points per game.
  • Penn State ranks 23rd in the nation and fourth in the conference averaging 17.8 assists per game. The Lady Lions have at least 20 assists in four games this season.
  • Penn State is fourth in the Big Ten in three-point field goals per game (8.1).
  • PSU sits second in the Big Ten in steals per game (10.8).
  • Makenna Marisa ranks second in the Big Ten in scoring (21.4 ppg), good for 12th in the country. She also sits second in the conference and sits seventh in the nation in total points (171). Marisa's sixth in the country in field goals made (64).
  • Marisa also holds fourth in the Big Ten in assists per game (5.5), ranking 31st in the nation, and holds third in total assists (44), good for 14th in the country. She's also fifth in the conference averaging 2.38 three-pointers per game.

 
BRIGHAM DOMINATING THE PAINT

  • Sophomore forward Ali Brigham made a big impact in her first game as a Lady Lion, vs. LIU, after transferring from George Washington, scoring 20 points and tallying nine rebounds and three blocks. She followed that with a 23-point performance against Rider, shooting 11-of-13 from the floor.
  • Brigham became the first Lady Lion to score 20+ points in the first two games of a season since Brianna Banks in 2015.
  • She collected her first career double-double against St. John's with 19 points, on 8-of-12 shooting, and 10 rebounds.
  • She had 10 points against No. 13 Iowa State and a team-high 18 points at Boston College.
  • Through eight games, Brigham ranks fourth in field-goal percentage (58.0), seventh in field goals made (47) and seventh in blocks per game (1.25) in the Big Ten.

 
KAPINUS DOING IT ALL

  • Freshman Leilani Kapinus is consistently filling up the box score this season.
  • She's averaging 6.0 points per game.
  • She scored 10 points in the fourth quarter in Penn State's 80-75 win over St. John's.
  • Kapinus is averaging 4.3 rebounds per contest and led the team in rebounds in three games.
  • The freshman has 12 assists on the year, including three in each game vs. Rider and Boston College.
  • She also has 13 steals, with three in each contest against Rider, Kent State and Boston College.
  • The Wisconsin native has seven blocks with at least one in six different games and two blocks at Boston College.

 
MULTIPLE CONTRIBUTORS

  • Penn State has five players averaging at least 6.5 points this season, led by Marisa's 21.4 average.
  • Ali Brigham is averaging 13.0 points per contest and reached the 20-point mark vs. LIU (20) and Rider (23), while Niya Beverley is scoring 9.9 points per game, including a 20-point effort vs. Rider.
  • Anna Camden is averaging 6.8 points per game and Shay Hagans is scoring 6.6 points per contest.
  • Penn State has also balanced out its minutes with nine players averaging at least 11.2 minutes per game.

 
STRENGTH OF THE BIG TEN

  • The November 29th AP Poll features five Big Ten teams: No. 6 Indiana, No. 8 Maryland, No. 9 Iowa, No. 12 Michigan and No. 18 Ohio State. Purdue is among teams receiving votes.
  • Penn State opens Big Ten play at Indiana on December 6.
  • The Lady Lions played 10 ranked opponents in 2020-21, the most among Big Ten schools, and earned a 69-67 win over No. 15 Ohio State on February 24, 2021.

 
UP NEXT

  • Penn State continues the early portion of Big Ten play, hosting Rutgers on Thursday, December 9. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. on B1G+.