Penn State Women's Basketball Drives Toward NCAA Tournament Return

The Lady Lions have won 5 straight Big Ten games, including a rout of Maryland.

Penn State women's basketball hasn't been to the NCAA Tournament in 10 years, something head coach Carolyn Kieger didn't shy away from before the season. "That's our only goal," Kieger said at Big Ten media days in October, "to be back in the NCAA Tournament."

The Lady Lions are beginning to look like a tournament team. Penn State on Sunday continued a season of milestone moments, racing past Maryland 112-76 for another list-of-firsts victory. Penn State scored the most points ever against Maryland in beating the Terps for the first time since 2003. For Kieger, this has been the breakthrough season of her five years at Penn State. To wit:

• Penn State has won 15 games for the first time since the 2017-18 season. The Lady Lions have nine regular-season games remaining.
• With a 94-80 win over Rutgers in January, Penn State became the 29th team in women's basketball history to reach 1,000 victories.
• Penn State has compiled a five-game Big Ten win streak for the first time since 2013-14, the last time it made the NCAA Tournament.
• At 15-5, the team has posted its best record through 20 games since 2013-14, when it began 16-4.
• With a 6-3 Big Ten record, the Lady Lions are tied for the most Big Ten wins under Kieger.
• The 113-point game marked Penn State's third-best offensive performance against a Big Ten opponent. 

"Really just can't say enough about the growth of this team and where we've taken this program," Kieger told reporters in State College after the win over Maryland. "And obviously we're not done yet. We've got a lot of things to work on, but this is a big moment for this team and I think a statement."

One game after reaching the 2,000-point milestone, Penn State's Makenna Marisa scored 24 points on a phenomenal 10-for-13 shooting. Marisa, who was 4-for-6 from 3-point range, has posted five 20-point games and did so back-to-back for the first time. 

Meanwhile, Ashley Owusu, who began her career at Maryland, added 16 points, seven assists and six rebounds in a phenomenal performance against her former team. Owusu, who also played two years at Virginia Tech, was a third-team All-American in the 2020-21 season at Maryland and won the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award as the nation's top shooting guard.

Penn State, which briefly was ranked in the AP Top 25 after a 5-0 start, has climbed to No. 28 in the NCAA NET rankings. The Lady Lions have been exceptional at home, going 11-1, and Sunday drew their largest crowd of the season (3,532). The remaining schedule includes games against Iowa and Ohio State, to which Penn State lost in overtime in December, and and back-to-back road games at Iowa (to face Caitlin Clark) and Wisconsin. 

Still, Penn State is making a strong case to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 10 years. The team leads the Big Ten, and ranks second nationally, in 3-point shooting percentage and set a program record Sunday with 16 3-pointers against Maryland. The Lady Lions were second in the Big Ten, behind Iowa, at 87.6 points per game and feature six players averaging in double figures. Penn State also ranked fifth nationally in field-goal percentage (50.4 percent).

"This is huge for us," Kieger said after the win over Maryland. "We needed a game like this to prove to ourselves that we belong and we belong in the NCAA Tournament."

Kieger has built a fun, sharpshooting offense that bears watching in February. Up next, the Lady Lions visit Minnesota on Wednesday seeking to extend their Big Ten win streak to six games.

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AllPennState is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWogenrich. And consider subscribing (button's on the home page) for more great content across the SI.com network.