UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- Penn State women’s basketball’s Gracie Merkle is named to the Big Ten Weekly Honor Roll as announced by the conference on Monday afternoon. Merkle led the Lady Lions to two dominant, 100-plus-point wins last week with two double digit scoring performances including one double-double.
The 6’6’ center from Mount Washington, Ky. combined for 44 points on 19-of-25 shooting from the field (76.0%) in two games. She also posted 19 boards, 12 coming in the Lady Lions’ second win of the week over Monmouth to notch her second double-double of the season using 20 points on the offensive end. Merkle is the only Penn State player to score in double figures in all five games of the season thus far with two of her five outings came in 20-plus-point fashion. Through the pair of games, Merkle totaled 44 points, 19 rebounds, five blocks and two assists.
The Kentucky native joined the Lady Lions as a transfer from Bellarmine this season. Before being sidelined due to injury during her sophomore season, she led the country in field goal percentage her freshman campaign. The tallest Lady Lion in program history, produced 70.2% shooting from the field, leading her to collect ASUN Freshman of the Year honors in 2023.