UNIVERSITY PARK — Coach Carolyn Kieger and the Penn State Lady Lions watched their bubble slowly burst on Sunday, March 17.
One by one, the teams selected for the NCAA basketball tournament were announced. Teams the Lady Lions beat were selected, along with teams the Lady Lions almost beat who got No. 1 and 2 seeds.
But not the Lady Lions.
The Lady Lions had to wait until later in the evening when the committee for all intents and purposes admitted Penn State was one of the top four teams not selected by making them a 1-seed in the inaugural Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament.
The Thursday, March 21, first round home game against George Mason is what Kieger intends to be the first step in a five-game stretch to make a statement to the selectors and prove what the program is becoming.
“We have a chip on our shoulder. We have something to prove,” Kieger said. “We are so close to being that team that we want to be, and this is a great opportunity to earn it.”
This will be the Lady Lions’ first foray into a national postseason tournament since 2018. Penn State takes a 19-12 mark into the WBIT, which is under the NCAA umbrella, having won three in a row before losing to eventual champion Iowa in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament.
Penn State built one of the highest NET ratings, an analytic used to compare the quality of teams. This rating is supposed to weigh heavily on the NCAA selection committee when it comes to distributing at-large bids. Penn State had wins over March Madness-bound Kansas and Maryland, lost to top seed USC by a point and took second seed Ohio State to overtime on the road without its top two scorers.
Still, a six-game losing streak in February after the injury to guard Tay Valladay proved insurmountable.
Now, the Lady Lion goal is to show everyone they were good enough to belong in the main tournament by going out and winning the new tournament in dominating fashion.
“Obviously, it’s been a hard 48 hours. We set a goal. We wanted to be playing in the NCAA Tournament. We’re disappointed, but this team is so resilient,” Kieger said in a conference call on Tuesday, March 19. “Our team did a really good job taking a punch, getting hit in the gut on Sunday night and came back on Monday and have a phenomenal practice. That just speaks to our maturity, our resiliency and the character of this team.”
If Penn State defeats the 23-7 Patriots on Thursday, March 21, the Lady Lions will host the winner of the game between 28-5 Ball State and 25-8 Belmont on Sunday, March 24. A win in the first two rounds would earn Penn State a home game in the quarterfinals on Thursday, March 28, likely against either Mississippi State or Texas Christian.
The semifinals and championship game are set for Monday, April 1, and Wednesday, April 3, at the famed Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Even if the Lady Lions don’t go the distance, Kieger described this as an opportunity to be a springboard in the rebuilding of the program. Kansas last year was the first team left out of the NCAA Tournament but went on to win the Women’s National Invitation Tournament as consolation.
“This is definitely new life. Last year we were sitting at home just strategizing how to get in this spot,” Kieger said. “We want to be playing in the NCAA Tournament, but I’m super-proud of this team, our players and the staff in the job and improvement we made to put ourselves in the conversation. We are so close to being that team that we want to be.”
Penn State enters the tournament averaging 83.6 points, shooting 49% from the field and forcing 18.4 turnovers per game.
Not counting Valladay, four Lady Lions enter the tournament scoring in double figures, led by senior guards Ashley Owusu and Makenna Marisa, who are scoring at a 17.7- and 13.3-point clip, respectively. Redshirt junior Leilani Kapinus checks in with an 11.4-point scoring average, while also leading the team by pulling down 6.4 rebounds per contest and coming up with team highs of 64 steals and 35 blocked shots.
George Mason has made its bones on defense. The Patriots hold opponents to 57.9 points per night and are only allowing their foes to shoot 37.7%.
Sonia Smith, a 5-foot-7 graduate student guard, leads the Patriots in scoring with 15.3 points per game. George Mason’s only other scorer averaging in double figures is sophomore forward Zahirah Walton, who does it coming off the bench.
While their methods are different, Kieger said the Lady Lions’ and Patriots’ approaches are similar.
“They’ve got a lot of depth. Defensively, they’re gritty, they’re tough, they get in the passing lanes,” Kieger said. “They pound the glass really hard. They’re just a team that plays their tails off.”
Sometime over the next couple of weeks will be the last time Lady Lion seniors Marisa, Owusu, Chanaya Pinto and Ali Brigham will get to play competitively on the same floor. They want to make it last as long as they can.
“I think we’re really excited to keep playing together,” Kieger said.
