UNIVERSITY PARK — After throttling Maryland on National Girls and Women in Sports Day at the Bryce Jordan Center on Sunday, Jan. 28, Penn State senior guard Makenna Marisa talked about how much basketball had brought to her life.
Marisa has brought a lot to Lady Lion basketball over the past five years, too, and she might have just completed the most validating five-day stretch of her college career.
The 5-foot-11 guard became just the seventh Penn State women’s basketball player to reach 2,000 career points in a 76-65 victory at Northwestern on Wednesday, Jan. 24. Four days later, she was honored for it in front of her home crowd at the BJC before going out and scoring 24 points on 10-for-13 shooting as the Lady Lions dispatched the visiting Terrapins for the first time since 2003 in resounding fashion, 112-76.
“It was really cool. There’s a lot of history at Penn State, a lot of great players before, so it was an honor. Just a really cool moment,” Marisa said after reaching the 2,000-point benchmark on a third-quarter layup en route to a 20-point night. “I love playing with this team.”
Marisa passed Khadejaah Herbert on the Lady Lion scoring charts in the rout of Maryland, when the Lady Lions dished out 25 assists and shot an astounding 61.5% from the field. Eleven of the 12 players on the Penn State roster scored, with four of them reaching double figures.
The outcome put Penn State’s record at 15-5, surpassing the Lady Lions’ previous most wins in a season under fifth-year coach Carolyn Kieger. The Lady Lions scored more than 30 points in each of the last two quarters and put up their second-most points of the season against the perennial Big Ten powerhouse.
“Could not be more proud of this group. We’ve been on the other side of a game like that a lot of times in the last four years. To see them — everybody — from top to bottom, everyone on the roster, everyone playing well, everyone contributing, everybody having juice on the bench, I just told them in the locker room that’s probably the most fun I’ve had coaching a basketball game in a long time. Or ever,” Kieger said.
“This was huge for us. We needed a game like this to prove to ourselves that we belong.”
Although she didn’t say it, the Maryland result probably was gratifying to Lady Lion senior guard Ashley Owusu, as well. Owusu helped lead the Terrapins to a pair of Big Ten titles before transferring to Virginia Tech and then Penn State.
She finished with 16 points, a team-high seven assists and six rebounds against her former school.
“I’m a big fan of Ashley’s game. Her vision is top tier. She can find anyone on the court,” Marisa said. “We’re lucky to play with her.”
Penn State is 5-0 since Owusu has been cleared to play from an injury that kept her out to start the season.
“I think this is the most fun I’ve had anywhere,” Owusu said. “We had a game plan. I think we followed the game plan perfectly at the time. Other than that, I just came in ready to play.”
“Everyone, whether shooting a 3, layup, mid-range, everyone steps up with confidence to knock it down.”
Improving to 6-3 in the conference, Penn State made 16 of 26 3-pointers before the 3,532 in attendance on Sunday. Leilani Kapinus scored 15 points to go along with a team-high seven rebounds. Tay Valladay netted 14.
Chanaya Pinto and Shay Ciezki just missed double-figures with 9 and 8 points, respectively. Ciezki had a 40-point game in December.
“We have a lot of weapons,” Marisa said.
Marisa is one of them. Her 20-point game against Northwestern was the fourth time this season she reached that mark but the first time since she came back after missing a month following an ankle injury in an overtime loss at Ohio State in early December.
She was 7-for-13 from the floor and 4-for-7 from 3-point land versus the Wildcats, sharing team scoring honors with Owusu.
“I’m really happy for Makenna to be able to celebrate her 2,000 points and then to come out and have the game she had (against Maryland),” Kieger said.
Owusu also registered seven rebounds and five assists at Northwestern, when Ciezki and Ali Brigham each scored 8 and Kapinus and Valladay 7 apiece.
Penn State made 10 steals and forced 19 turnovers.
The Lady Lions jumped out to a 12-point first-quarter lead at Welsh-Ryan Arena, but Northwestern went ahead 44-41 on Maggie Pina’s third-quarter trey.
The Lady Lions, though, turned it around and took a 6-point lead on a Marisa 3 near the end of the frame, then pulled away in the fourth quarter.
Penn State was in sole possession of fourth place in the Big Ten entering the week, two games behind Indiana, Iowa and Ohio State.
The Lady Lions travel to Iowa to face the two-time defending conference champion Hawkeyes and All-American Caitlin Clark on Feb. 8. It’s been a long time since the Lady Lions have been part of such a marquee matchup.
“I really can’t say enough about the growth of this team and where we’ve taken this program. Obviously, we’re not done yet. We’ve got a lot of things to work on, but this is a big moment for the team and, I think, a statement,” Kieger said.
“Rebuilds aren’t for everybody. They test you. I knew it wasn’t going to happen overnight.”
