No. 1 seed Penn State women’s basketball (20-12, 9-9 Big Ten) defeated George Mason (23-8, 14-4 Atlantic 10) 84-80 in the first round of the inaugural WBIT Thursday night at the Bryce Jordan Center.
After struggling for most of the game, a fourth-quarter effort by the Lady Lions sent the game to overtime. With momentum in hand, the efforts of Ashley Owusu and Ali Brigham, who scored 20 and 15 points, respectively, secured Penn State’s spot in the second round of the WBIT against Belmont.
How It Happened
George Mason won the tip and scored the game’s first points nearly a minute later from a three-pointer by Ta’Viyanna Habib. A layup and three-pointer by Shay Ciezki on the next possessions got the Lady Lions going to take the lead.
Paula Suarez and Brigham traded buckets before Leilani Kapinus’ fast-break layup gave Penn State a four-point lead.
George Mason and Penn State traded blows, with Makenna Marisa and Kapinus finding five points for the Lady Lions while Suarez’ jump shot made the score 14-7 for the Lady Lions nearly halfway through the first quarter.
Moriah Murray found a rebound from Ciezki’s three-point attempt, hitting the rim for two points before Marisa hit a three of her own to make the score 19-7 for Penn State before George Mason called a timeout.
Out of the break, Habib scored the game’s first points before she knocked down a corner three. A Marisa pass to Brigham found two more points for the Lady Lions on the next possession.
Suarez knocked down another three a moment later to bring George Mason to a six-point deficit before another three-pointer on the next possession continued to cut that deficit down.
Soon after, Sonia Smith’s layup brought the score to 21-20 with one minute remaining in the first quarter. Penn State had the last possession but misses from Ciezki and Owusu kept it from extending its slight lead into the break.
George Mason took the first two points in the second quarter, holding a 22-21 lead before Owusu scored for Penn State as she laid in two points.
Brigham expanded the Lady Lions’ lead with a three-point play, though Suarez responded with her three three-point make of the evening. Suarez found Zahirah Walton in the paint for two more points as George Mason retook the lead and Jazmyn Doster’s jumper extended that lead.
Murray’s three-point attempt tied the game back up for Penn State at 29-29 nearly halfway through the second quarter. Brigham’s layup retook the lead for Penn State before she gave the Lady Lions a four-point lead a minute later with another layup.
Suarez responded with another three with just under four minutes remaining in the first half before her assist to Taylor Jameson turned into a turnover and a timeout.
Coming out of the break, Walton scored George Mason’s first points before Smith’s layup made it a 37-33 game for the Patriots. Penn State struggled on its next possession, though Kapinus drew a foul with just over 30 seconds left in the half. She went to the line and made one of her shots.
Habib scored two more points on the fast break, and Penn State couldn’t score on its last possession of the first half. George Mason went into the locker room leading 39-34.
Ciezki started off the second half with a steal, but Penn State’s opening possession didn’t lead to any points. It took nearly two minutes for either team to score, but Marisa broke that drought with two made free throws.
George Mason responded with a jumper from Walton, though Owusu found two more points on the other end almost immediately. On her next time with the ball, Walton drained a three-point attempt to bring the score to 44-38 after three minutes.
Owusu hit one free throw soon after and hit a three-pointer on her next time with the ball to cut George Mason’s lead to two points. Smith hit a three-pointer and Doster knocked down a free throw in response.
Coming out of a media timeout, Smith’s three-pointer gave the Patriots a nine-point and Campbell answered with a layup. Chasing a rebound, Walton found two points under the rim to make the score 53-44 with just under four minutes left in the third quarter.
A moment later, Owusu converted on a three-point play before she was called for a technical foul. Smith went to the line for George Mason and hit one shot.
After an airball by Ciezki, Suarez knocked down her fifth three-pointer before Ciezki’s drive to the rim resulted in a layup for the Lady Lions. At the line, Walton hit one free throw to close out the third quarter as George Mason led 58-49.
Immediately after play resumed, Suarez hit another three-pointer. Owusu drew a foul and hit both her free throws before a scrappy play on the other end gave Walton two more points.
Kapinus answered with a jump shot on the other end while Habib hit a free throw. Brigham got under the net for two more points before Owusu’s three-pointer cut the deficit to six points and made George Mason call a timeout.
Jayla Oden scored the first points coming out of the break before Walton fell to the court securing her own layup. Grace Hall’s layup brought Penn State within four points and when Kapinus picked up a steal, the Lady Lions went into a media timeout with plenty of momentum.
Kapinus fought her way to a layup out of the timeout and George Mason quickly called a timeout on the next possession with its player trapped at halfcourt.
George Mason struggled on its possession after the timeout, giving up a shot clock violation, seeming not to realize the clock was ticking down. A few possessions later, Owusu drew a foul and made one of her shots to bring the game to 66-65 with just under three minutes left.
Driving to the basket, Walton drew a foul and made both of her shots. Owusu responded with two points before Suarez’ floater found the net for two more.
With under two minutes left, Pinto dropped her shot in for two points to make the score 70-69.
With less than a minute left, a poor dribble from Smith gave Penn State a free possession. Penn State failed to capitalize, however, as Oden’s layup hit the bottom of the backboard and bounced out-of-bounds.
After Lavelle got a crucial block in the paint, Owusu moved the ball to Kapinus, who drew a foul under the basket. Kapinus missed her first shot and made her second, tying the game at 70 points with 4.7 seconds remaining.
On the final possession of regular, Lavelle tipped the inbound pass out-of-bounds. Walton fell to the ground after missing her jumper and was called for an offensive foul after a review. With .5 seconds left on the game clock, Penn State called a timeout and took possession.
Owusu lobbed the inbound pass to Kapinus, who couldn’t secure the ball in the air and didn’t earn a foul call, much to the disappointment of the Lady Lions. The game went into overtime with the score 70-70.
George Mason won the tip and Habib drilled a long two-point jumper to open the scoring in overtime. Owusu responded with a successful drive to the rim before Oden drew a foul and hit both of her shots to take a 74-72 lead.
Lavelle scored two more points for Penn State before Pinto collected Kapinus’ rebound for two more points.
Walton responded with three points as the clock neared the two-minute mark. Kapinus drew a foul on the next possession, hitting both of her shots to make the sore 80-75 for the Lady Lions. Walton cut that lead to three points on her next possession with a drive to the basket.
With the shot clock nearly expired, Oden drew a foul on a drive through the paint and hit both of her shots. Habib responded with a three-pointer on the next possession, leaving 37 seconds on the game clock for one more possession for both teams.
With 16.2 seconds left in the game, Penn State called a timeout. Out of the timeout, Brigham fought her way under the rim and hit a crucial layup, bringing the score to 84-80 with 13.4 seconds left for George Mason to find an answer.
Walton couldn’t find that answer for George Mason, giving up a foul in her drive to the rim. George Mason fouled with under 10 seconds left to try and preserve the game, as one final block by Kapinus sealed Penn State’s 84-80 win.
Takeaways
- After sitting on the edge of defeat, the Lady Lions pulled off an impressive comeback. The low-energy basketball that defined most of the game was replaced by strong shooting and intensity to win.
- When it mattered most, Owusu showed up for Penn State. She scored 16 points in the second half and another two in overtime to lead the Lady Lions to victory.
- The rest of Penn State’s season will be determined by which Lady Lion group takes the floor in each game — the one losing by 12 points in the fourth quarter, or the one that won by four in overtime. After poor showings back-to-back against Iowa and George Mason, the Lady Lions will have to clean up their act through the remainder of the tournament.
What’s Next?
The Lady Lions will face Belmont at 6 p.m. on Monday, March 25, at the Jordan Center for the second round of the WBIT. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
