UNIVERSITY PARK — The Penn State women’s basketball team, coming off a historic night against Drexel, had its chances coming down the stretch against St. John’s in the nationally televised home game on Monday, Dec. 2.
Each Lion advance was answered by the Red Storm, however, as St. John’s was able to hold on for an exciting 75-67 win over the Lady Lions.
It was the first loss of the season for Penn State after eight consecutive wins, and it broke a 17-game win streak of non-conference wins at the Bryce Jordan Center.
The loss followed what was one of the season’s high points so far when the Lions went on a 12-4 run in overtime to finally prevail over Drexel at home on Wednesday, Nov. 27.
Drexel overcame a 66-61 deficit in the fourth quarter to force the overtime, but 5 points by high-scorer Gracie Merkle and two clutch late baskets by Gabby Elliott wrapped up the overtime 86-78 win.
The St. John’s game was neck-and-neck all night.
Penn State took an early lead, but the Storm scored 24 points in the second quarter and led by 4 points, 39-35, going into the locker rooms for halftime.
The second half saw St. John’s build leads as large as 8 points, but Penn State’s Jayla Oden, Elliot and Merkle led a charge that saw the gap close to within a basket with under a minute to play.
At that point, Penn State had a side out of bounds with a chance to tie, but a steal by the Storm and a subsequent foul by the Lions iced the game for St. John’s.
Oden led Penn State with 24 points in the game, while Merkle scored 13 and Elliott added 12.
Part of St. John’s success was its defense against high-scoring Moriah Murray, who was held to 5 points and only a single 3-point goal.
The other was the Storm’s pressure defenses that forced 22 Penn State turnovers which resulted in 24 St. John’s points.
Against Drexel, Merkle carded her fourth straight double-double with a season-high 31 points and 11 rebounds, while Elliott scored 16 points and nabbed 10 rebounds.
Alli Campbell was also in double figures with 11 points, and she handed out eight assists and took seven rebounds.
The win moved Penn State to 8-0 for the season at that point, the first time the team won its first eight games since the 1993-94 season.
Next up for the Lions will be the team’s Big Ten opening game against Indiana on Saturday, Dec. 7, at 1 p.m., and that will be followed by a non-conference away game against Providence on Wednesday, Dec. 11, in Rhode Island.
