PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Penn State women’s basketball moves to 4-0 with 89-77 win at Saint Joseph’s on Sunday afternoon. Efficient team three-point shooting was a difference-maker in the contest for the Lady Lions. Five different PSU players contributed to the team total of 12 shots from long range throughout the afternoon.
Freshman guard Tèa Clèante led the team in three-point shooting with five makes from beyond the arc to combine for 23 points. She also contributed four rebounds, three assists and two steals while shooting nine-of-11 from the field. Redshirt-junior center Gracie Merkle recorded her second double-double of the season while leading the team in scoring with 25 points to go with 11 rebounds including seven on the offensive side. Sophomore guard Kiyomi McMiller added her first double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 boards. She also posted five assists and three steals. Senior guard Vitoria Santana rounded out the doube figure scorers with 11 points while shooting three-for-three from the three-point line.
As a team, the Lady Lions shot lights out from beyond the arc, making 12-of-17 attempts (70.6), their best mark since 2024. PSU also recorded 57.4% shooting from the field and outscored the Hawks 42-20 in the paint. Penn State outrebounded Saint Joseph’s by a 44-31 margin.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter
St. Joe’s got off to a quick start, scoring on a grab off the opening tip. The Hawks extended their lead by as many as six before a steal for Penn State allowed a wide open Santana to drain a shot from beyond the arc to creep within two at a 9-7 score. St. Joe’s responded with back-to-back three-pointers of its own to widen the gap to eight. Santana netted another shot from long range following a steal from Murray once again to advance to a 15-12 score at the media break. Saint Joseph’s added seven points while PSU could only manage two to extend to a double-digit margin. Four points from the charity stripe allowed the Lady Lions to decrease the deficit to 22-17 with 20 seconds remaining in the stanza. The PSU defense came up with a stop on the other end of the court, giving McMiller one last shot at the buzzer. She drained a bucket from three-point range as the clock hit zero to cut the score to 22-20.
Second Quarter
The Lady Lions continued their hot streak beyond the arc coming out of the break, adding another three-pointer out of the hands of Viktoria Ranisavljevic to capture the lead for PSU for the first time. Merkle built on the advantage with a set of points of her own, extending to a 27-22 lead for the Blue & White. Clèante joined in on the three-point-party, causing the home team to utilize a timeout as Penn State took a 30-22 lead. McMiller added a two-point jumper to her tally before a defensive stop, allowing Clèante to nail her second shot from three-point range, moving the margin to 35-22. Saint Joe’s finally added points using three free throws to inch within 10 but a steal and score for Ranisavljevic extended the margin to 12. Both teams had shots from long range but the Hawks would add two more after to narrow the deficit to six. The Lady Lions put up three points to increase their lead using a layup from Ranisavljeciv and Clèante’s fourth three of the contest but the Hawks produced eight more points, narrowing the margin to three. The squads traded baskets to close out the first quarter at a 47-45 score in favor of Penn State.
Third Quarter
The Lady Lions ignited an 11-1 run to begin the third stanza, led by Clèante and Merkle with four points a piece to go with a three-pointer from Murray. Penn State ballooned its edge to 58-46, forcing the Hawks to call a timeout at the 6:29 mark. McMiller added two points before each team drained their next shots from three-point range with Clèante adding her fifth of the day. The Hawks tacked on nine points to close the gap to 63-58. A free throw for the Lady Lions ended the Saint Joseph’s scoring stretch but the home team would have one final opportunity on offense before time ran out in the quarter. The PSU defense forced a turnover to close out the third frame with a 68-58 lead.
Fourth Quarter
Seven-straight points for Penn State ballooned its lead to 75-58 including a three-point shot from Murray. St. Joe’s added nine points of its own from beyond the arc to narrow the deficit to nine. Merkle put back a basket for Penn State but the Hawks found another three points from long range to pull within eight. Despite a pair of points for McMiller, St. Joe’s earned four free shots to move the margin to six. Merkle and McMiller added baskets to grow the gap to 83-74 with just over two minutes to play. Santana sank her third three-pointer of the contest to give Penn State an 86-74 lead. The Lady Lions added three points while holding the Hawks to three to finish the game with a 89-77 final score.
POSTGAME NOTES
Penn State at Saint. Joseph’s
November 16, 2025
Hagan Arena (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Penn State improved to 4-0 on the season for the 20th time in program history.
- The Lady Lions move to 24-9 in their all-time series against St. Joseph’s.
- Penn State recorded 12 three pointers, its most in a game since posting 10 against Rutgers on Jan. 26, 2025. The team also shot 70.6% from three-point range, their best mark since shooting 61.5% against Maryland on Jan. 28, 2024.
- Clèante posted five-of-six shooting from three-point range, shooting perfect from long range until the final quarter.
- Merkle added her 34th double-double of her career to go with her 49th double figure scoring performance of her career.
- McMiller posted her first double-double of the season and fourth of her career. She also notched her 22nd career double-digit scoring outing.
- Santana recorded a career high 11 points and matched her personal best three, three-pointers.
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