Lady Lions Travel To No. 10 Maryland On ThursdayLady Lions Travel To No. 10 Maryland On Thursday
Mark Selders

Lady Lions Travel To No. 10 Maryland On Thursday

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State women's basketball team resumes Big Ten play as it travels to No. 10 Maryland on Thursday in the Xfinity Center. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. on Big Ten Network.

The Lady Lions, led by head coach Carolyn Kieger, are 7-5 this season and return to action after a 68-60 win at Duquesne on December 18.

FOLLOW ALONG

OPENING TIP

  • Penn State resumes Big Ten play on Thursday as it travels to No. 10 Maryland.
  • The Lady Lions return to action for the first time since December 18 at Duquesne.
  • Penn State is riding a three-game win streak and has allowed 55.3 points per game during the streak.
  • The Lady Lions earned a 68-60 win at Duquesne to end non-conference play with a 6-4 mark.
  • Penn State averaged 82.0 points per game in non-conference play.
  • Makenna Marisa led PSU with a career-high 33 points, her second 30-point game of the season.
  • She is one of 19 Division I players and one of two Big Ten players with multiple 30-point games.
  • Marisa is tied fifth in the nation with seven 20-point games this season.
  • The junior ranks 10th in the country averaging 21.1 points per game.
  • She's also 15th in field goals made (97) and field goal attempts (215).
  • Ali Brigham is averaging 12 points and seven rebounds per game coming off the bench the past three games.
  • Leilani Kapinus ranks 15th among Division I freshmen with 13 blocks and leads Big Ten freshmen with 19 steals.

 
SCOUTING MARYLAND

  • Maryland is led by head coach Brenda Frese in her 20th season.
  • Frese is 522-134 in her time at Maryland and 579-165 overall.
  • Former Lady Lion Lindsey Spann is an assistant coach on Maryland's staff. Spann's in her second year as an assistant coach after serving one season as director of recruiting operations.
  • Spann scored 1,091 points in her Penn State career and earned All-Big Ten honorable mention honors in 2016.
  • Maryland is averaging 81.4 points per game, good for 12th in the nation.
  • The Terrapins are second in the nation in free throws made (227) and seventh in attempts (301).
  • Angel Reese leads Maryland and ranks sixth in the Big Ten averaging 18.4 points per game.
  • Reese paces the Big Ten with eight double-doubles this season and leads the country with 5.2 offensive rebounds per game.
  • Ashley Owusu is averaging 16.1 points per contest, joining Reese as one of five Terrapins averaging double-figures.

 
AGAINST THE TERRAPINS

  • Penn State will meet Maryland for the 33rd time in the series.
  • The Lady Lions trail 18-14 in the all-time series.
  • In the last matchup, on March 6, 2021, Penn State fell 88-61.
  • Niya Beverley paced the Lady Lions with 15 points while Makenna Marisa added 10.

 
MARISA'S STRONG JUNIOR CAMPAIGN

  • Junior Makenna Marisa scored at least 11 points in all 12 games this season and has 20+ points in seven games and two 30-point games.
  • She had 20 points vs. Rider (11/11), 30 vs. Delaware State (11/16), 29 at Clemson (11/21), 25 vs. St. John's (11/26), 23 vs. Kent State (11/28), 21 at Indiana (12/6) and a career-high 33 at Duquesne (12/18).
  • Makenna Marisa ranks third in the Big Ten in scoring (21.1 ppg), good for 10th in the country. Her 21.1 points per game rank third among Power Five guards.
  • She also sits third in the conference and 16th in the nation in total points (253). Marisa's 15th in the country in field goals made (97) and field goal attempts (215).
  • Marisa also holds sixth in the Big Ten in assists per game (4.8), ranking 61st in the nation, and holds eighth in total assists (58). She's also ninth in the conference averaging 2.17 three-pointers per game.
  • Marisa is tied fifth among DI players with seven 20-point games this season and is one of 19 DI players with multiple 30-point games this year.
  • Marisa is one of 21 DI players with double-figures in all of their games this season (minimum 12 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, notching 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.

 
LADY LIONS RANK AMONG NATIONAL LEADERS

  • Penn State ranks 45th in the nation and fifth in the conference averaging 16.2 assists per game. The Lady Lions have at least 20 assists in four games this season.
  • Penn State is sixth in the Big Ten in three-point field goals made per game (6.8).
  • PSU sits second in the Big Ten in steals per game (10.1) and fourth in total steals (121). Penn State has at least eight steals in its last five games.

 
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.
  • Brigham tallied 13 points off the bench against Rutgers and 15 points at Duquesne.
  • Through 12 games, Brigham ranks fourth in field-goal percentage (57.8) and seventh in blocks per game (1.17) in the Big Ten.

 
KAPINUS DOING IT ALL

  • Freshman Leilani Kapinus has 19 steals, with three in each contest against Rider, Kent State and Boston College, leading Big Ten freshmen.
  • The Wisconsin native has a team-high 13 blocks, which is good for third among DI freshman guards and 20th among all Division I guards.
  • She's averaging 6.3 points and 4.5 rebounds per contest and led the team in rebounds in three games.
  • She had a career-high 20 points vs. Youngstown State, adding seven rebounds, four assists, four blocks and two steals. She scored 10 points in the fourth quarter in Penn State's 80-75 win over St. John's.
  • The freshman has 20 assists on the year, including three in each game vs. Rider, Boston College and Indiana and four vs. Youngstown State.

 
MULTIPLE CONTRIBUTORS

  • Penn State has seven players averaging at least 5.0 points this season, led by Marisa's 21.1 average.
  • Ali Brigham is averaging 12.3 points per contest and reached the 20-point mark vs. LIU (20) and Rider (23), while Niya Beverley is scoring 6.6 points per game, including a 20-point effort vs. Rider.
  • Anna Camden is averaging 6.5 points per contest and Leilani Kapinus, owning a 20-point effort vs. Youngstown State, is averaging 6.3, while Shay Hagans are averaging 6.2 points per contest. Tova Sabel owns a 5.0 scoring average.
  • Penn State has also balanced out its minutes with nine players averaging at least 11.3 minutes per game.

 
NON-CONFERENCE PLAY

  • Penn State went 6-4 in non-conference play this season, its sixth straight season with a .500 or better record in non-conference play.
  • The Lady Lions averaged 82.0 points per game overall, including 85.7 ppg in its non-conference wins and averaged a 22.5 margin of victory in their wins.

 
STRENGTH OF THE BIG TEN

  • The January 3rd AP Poll features four Big Ten teams: No. 6 Indiana, No. 8 Michigan, No. 10 Maryland and No. 22 Iowa.
  • Ohio State and Nebraska are receiving votes.
  • Penn State opened 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 returns to the Bryce Jordan Center for the first time in over a month to welcome No. 8 Michigan on Thursday, January 13. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. with a broadcast on B1G+.