UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 18 Penn State Nittany Lions (8-0) conclude the team’s California adventure with the start of Big Ten play against the University of Southern California Trojans (6-2) on Thursday, March 12th at 9 p.m. Eastern at Rawlinson Stadium. The primetime match up is the second time the two programs have faced each other and the first on the west coast.
The 8-0 start by the Nittany Lions this season matches the best start to a women’s lacrosse season since 1991 when Penn State also started out 8-0. The Blue and White only need one more win to hit 600 in program history and are set to join Maryland and Loyola University Maryland as the only other women’s college lacrosse programs to secure 600 or more total wins. Head Coach Kayla Treanor’s undefeated start to the season is the best by any Penn State women’s lacrosse first year head coach since the 1986 season when Head Coach Susan Delaney-Scheetz started out 10-0 and is the second-best start of her head coaching career.
As of March 9th, the Penn State offense ranks inside the top-20 nationally in assists per game (11th), points per game (seventh), scoring offense (10th) and shot percentage (sixth). The Nittany Lions are also ranked top-four offensively in the Big Ten in assists per game (fourth), free position percentage (first), points per game (second), scoring offense (second) and shot percentage (first). The Blue and White have the Big Ten’s top-ranked scoring defense and are the second-best team in the conference in picking up ground balls while having the third-highest save percentage and have caused the third-most turnovers in the Big Ten.
LAST TIME OUT
Penn State began its California trip with a win over San Diego State, 18-6, and the Nittany Lions offense had one of the team’s most balanced attacks all season.
Rocquette Allen, Maddie Greco, Erika Ho, Delaney Radin and Payton Wainman all had two goals, and 13 different Penn State players recorded a goal. Graduate transfer Anna Salerno had a game-high four points, her second consecutive effort with four points, off a goal and a career-high three assists. Radin and Ho both contributed an assist to aid in the scoring effort and to push the pairing’s points to three and Minka Martinez added an assist as well. Emma Kelly, along with a goal, added 12 draw controls more than doubling the Aztecs’ total in the circle and securing the second-highest draw control total this season for the Nittany Lions.
Penn State had an equally impressive and balanced game on the defensive end. The nine caused turnovers by the Nittany Lion defense is the most since the team’s game against Drexel earlier this year with seven different players responsible led by Maggie Driver and Susannah O’Connell with a pair each. Allen, Lilly Spilker and Sydney Manning each picked up two ground balls each while, in the cage, Penn State recorded the team’s sixth game with a save rate of 50% or higher split between Manning and Arden Jansen.
THE ASSIST QUEENS
Radin and Kelly MacKinney have been on a tear to start the pair’s junior campaigns. Through seven games, the duo has combined for 44 assists and 69 points, the most assists by any pairing in the country and one of the highest point totals, along with 25 goals.
In her electric start to the 2026 season, Radin has already set new career-highs for most goals, assists, points, shots, shots on goal, free position shots and free position goals that she’s had in a single-season. Her 26 assists on the year have more than doubled her previous combined total in 17 less games and has nearly doubled her combined point total with 37 points this season. As of March 9th, the New Yorker has the most assists in the Big Ten, the second-most by any Power Conference player and the third-most in Division I. Radin is just behind Taylor and Angello for the third most points by any Big Ten player, tied for 13th-most points in the NCAA. For her efforts against Colgate and San Diego State, Radin earned her first Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honor, her first collegiate accolade.
MacKinney has followed closely behind the Florida transfer and had a more balanced approach to her success this season with 56% of her 32 points, the second-most by any Nittany Lion, coming from goals and is just one score away from setting a new single-season high for herself. Even though she’s been able to cash in more than in years past, MacKinney still remains a passing threat and sees the field extremely well. Her 18 assists are top-15 nationally, and the fourth-most in the Big Ten.
THE FRESHMAN PHENOM
The Big Ten Conference office announced on March 10th that Allen earned her third consecutive Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor. She is the first three consecutive week winner of the award since Tewaaraton Finalist Madison Taylor and was previously the first back-to-back recipient of the Big Ten Freshman of the Week Award since Northwestern’s Madison Smith during the 2024 season.
Allen’s consecutive honors was the first time Penn State had earned Big Ten weekly honors in consecutive weeks since April of 2024 when MacKinney was selected as Big Ten Freshman of the Week after Manning secured the award and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week prior.
In the two games against then-No. 20 Pitt and Drexel, with the primary defender on her, she totaled three goals, four assists and seven points. Allen scored twice against No. 20 Pitt, including the golden goal. Against Drexel, she dished out a game and career-high three assists and netted a goal to help snap a two-game losing streak against the Dragons.
Her hat trick proved to be the difference to keep the Nittany Lions undefeated in Penn State’s second ranked victory of the year over then-No. 25 Cornell, 11-9. At the time, freshman’s three goal effort was only the second time this year that the top-five scoring defense of the Big Red have given up three goals to a single player. Allen also dished out an assist, caused a turnover that led to the first Penn State goal of the day and picked up a ground ball in the win over Cornell.
Against San Diego State and Colgate, the reigning freshman of the week drew the toughest defensive assignments in both games and faced constant slides towards her. Despite that, Allen was still able to score a pair of goals in each game, shooting an efficient 80% between her two showings and still leads the Nittany Lions’ offense in goals scored. Along with her stellar shooting, the Colorado native also picked by two ground balls in both games, the fifth and sixth time she’s done so this season and caused a turnover that led to a Penn State goal against Colgate.
The Mountain Vista product currently leads the Nittany Lions with 22 goals on the year, the fourth highest in the Big Ten this year and the most by Power Four conference freshman. Her 29 points are most by any freshman in the Big Ten, the 10th-most by any Big Ten player.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
USC enters Thursday’s primetime opener after downing Niagara, 19-10, and received votes from the KANE Women’s D1 Media Poll for the first time this season.
The Trojans offense is led by a trio of 20-plus point scorers in Emma Bunting (seven goals, 15 assists), Reese Robinson (11 goals, 11 assists) and Kaylee Fravert (13 goals, eight assists). Alex May, Hollis Mulry and Vivian Luthold join Robinson and Fravert as double-digit goal scorers and the five, along with Hannah Barron and Bunting, are the seven Trojans with double-figure points.
On the defensive end, Barron and Mulry lead USC with 14 ground balls with Asjia Roberson and Sophie Gangemi not far behind with 13 and 12, respectively. Barron also leads the Trojans in caused turnovers with 10, followed by Roberson with 8 and Gangemi with 7. In the cage, Ellie Thomas has received the lion’s share of the minutes and decisions. The sophomore goalie has registered 36 saves for a 40% save rate while giving up 10.8 goals on average on 119 shots faced. At the helm for the USC women’s lacrosse program in her 14th year with the program is Lindsey Munday along with associate head coach Lauren Gunning and assistant coaches Jill Rizzo and Cassidy Spilis.
The Nittany Lions have won the only other game between the two programs last year in Panzer Stadium when Penn State defeated then-No. 22 USC on Senior Day, 16-8, thanks to a 10-2 second half push. MacKinney recorded five points in last year’s competition and Ho netted four goals.
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