Women’s Basketball Hosts St. John’s in Nationally Televised ContestWomen’s Basketball Hosts St. John’s in Nationally Televised Contest
Mark Selders

Women’s Basketball Hosts St. John’s in Nationally Televised Contest

The Lady Lions welcome the Red Storm on Monday, Dec. 2

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- Coming off of a historic night in the Bryce Jordan Center on Nov. 27, Penn State women’s basketball is set to take on St. John’s on Monday, Dec. 2. The game will be nationally televised on the Big Ten Network as the Lady Lions look to extend their record to 9-0, while also earning their 18th consecutive non-conference win at home. Tip time in Happy Valley is slated for 7 p.m.

GAME INFORMATION

vs St. John’s

LAST TIME OUT

  • A historic night in the Bryce Jordan Center came at the foot of a Lady Lions overtime win, marking their eighth win of the season. Penn State moved to 8-0 for the first time since 1993-94 after it defeated Drexel 86-78 in overtime.
  • The Blue & White also extended their non-conference home court win streak to 17 consecutive games, the longest stretch of the kind in program history.
  • Gracie Merkle notched her fourth-straight double-double with a career best 31 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.
  • Gabby Elliott earned her first career double-double using 16 points and 10 rebounds.
  • Alli Campbell posted 11 points for her third-straight game reaching double figure scoring. She also collected seven boards and matched her personal best eight assists.
  • Moriah Murray contributed a career high eight assists.
  • The Lady Lions posted their seventh game with 20-or-more assists with 26 on the afternoon.
  • Penn State put up 30 points in the first quarter, the fifth time this season scoring 30-plus-points in the first period of play.

LADY LIONS IN THE RANKS

  • Moriah Murray sits ninth in the Big Ten in points per game (17.6) and seventh in total points (141). She sits 44th in the nation in total points, first in three pointers per game (4.5) and is first in total three pointers (36). Murray is also one of six players to remain perfect from the free throw line this season.
  • Merkle ranks 11th in the country in total points (169) and first in the conference. She also sits second in the conference in points per game (21.1). Merkle is fifth in the nation in field goals made (69) and eighth in field goal percentage (64.5). Her five double-doubles ranks her fourth in the country and second in the B1G. She also ranks fifth in offensive rebounds per game across the nation (5.1).
  • Alli Campbell is ranked 17th in the country in assists (43).
  • Penn State leads the nation in total assists (175) and sits fifth in assists per game (21.9). The team is first in the conference in total assists and ranks second in assists per game.
  • The team ranks eighth in the country in shooting percentage from the field (50.3) and second in the Big Ten.
  • The Lady Lions also have the 11th-best scoring offense across the country, averaging 87.4 points per contest.
  • Penn State is one of only 26teams that remain undefeated across the NCAA Division I level.

SCOUTING THE RED STORM

  • The Red Storm hold a 6-1 overall record to begin the 2024-25 campaign. After winning five consecutive games, St. John’s dropped its first game of the season to Harvard on Thanksgiving Day. The team owns wins over Saint Peter’s, LIU, Loyola Maryland, URI, Marist and Stony Brook.
  • Lashae Dwyer leads the team on offense, averaging 13.8 points per game. She also leads the team in rebounds (5.0 per game) and assists (19).
  • Skye Owen also averages double figure scoring for SJU, at a 10.0 clip.
  • Dywer has earned a spot on the Big East Weekly Honor Roll twice this season in back-to-back weeks after averaging 14.0 points, 3.0 assists and 2.5 steals per game against Saint Peter’s and LIU. The senior transfer then averaged 15.0 points, 2.0 steals and shot 87.5% from the free throw line in the Red Storm’s two wins over Loyola and URI. She broke a SJU school record with 12 made shots from the charity stripe against Loyola.
  • Last season, the Red Storm put together and 18-15 overall, 11-7 Big East record. They earned a bid to the inaugural WBIT Tournament, as did the Lady Lions. St. John’s advanced to the second round of the tournament after beating Florida in Gainesville in the first round and lost to Toledo to end its season.

PENN STATE – ST. JOHN’S SERIES

  • Penn State has won both games played against St. John’s in the series history.
  • The first meeting was in 2021 at the Gulf Coast Showcase.
  • Penn State traveled to Queens last season for the first game of the home-and-away series.

2023-24 SEASON IN REVIEW

  • Penn State produced its best overall record in a decade with its 22-13 season.
  • The Lady Lions advanced to the Final Four of the Inaugural Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament, marking their first postseason appearance since 2017-18.
  • Penn State was one of four one-seeds in the tournament after just missing a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
  • The Lady Lions finished ranked sixth in the Big Ten.
  • Penn State consistently ranked in the top-10 in three major statistical categories throughout the 2023-24 campaign. PSU produced one of the highest level offenses in the country with steady recognition in field goal percentage, three-point percentage and scoring offense.
  • The Lady Lions had for 100-plus-point performances, 13 90-plus point games and 21 80-plus point performances.
  • Penn State shattered its single game three-point record on two different occasions last season. Once against Central Connecticut on Dec. 20 with 15 three-pointers and then again when it hosted Maryland on Jan. 28 with 16.