It was a little closer for comfort than Penn State women’s basketball fans might like, but, quite literally, it was a start.
Still trying to figure it all out with a team of new names and faces, the Lady Lions looked like a bunch of strangers thrown onto the court for a lot of Wednesday night’s season opener at Bryce Jordan Center. However, they did enough: Penn State never trailed, got the usual solid performance from all-Big Ten senior point guard Makenna Marisa and, although it never was able to shake visiting Norfolk State, it got out of the gates with a 67-61 win.
“We’ve got a lot to clean up,” Penn State coach Carolyn Kieger said. “It’s good to learn lessons during Ws.”
Marisa finished with a game-high 22 points to go along with a team-high nine rebounds and four assists. East Carolina guard transfer Taniyah Thompson hit for 15 points on 11 shots.
“The first game’s always exciting. We were pumped up, but we weren’t satisfied,” Marisa said. “We came in with juice, and we had some jitters. I think they’re out now.”
The Lady Lions managed to lead from beginning to end while shooting under 40% from the field and committing 23 turnovers.
Although not on the level of the likes of Maryland or Michigan, the Spartans weren’t a cupcake opponent for the Lady Lions’ opener. Norfolk State played in last season’s WNIT and already had a game under its belt this year, having crushed Virginia-Lynchburg, 125-19.
The Spartans dominated the glass in that game, finishing with a 68-19 rebounding advantage.
Last year, Norfolk State was in the top 10 nationally in defense and in the top five in steals.
“At the end of the year, this is going to be very good win for us, net ranking-wise. That’s a good squad, and they forced us to play very frantic,” Kieger said. “They force people to play out of their comfort zone and we fed into that.”
Mokoye Diawara’s three with 1:33 left had Norfolk within a point at 60-59 before Thompson hit a couple of free throws. Sophomore guard and defensive linchpin Leilani Kapinus then made what might have been the pivotal play of the night, drawing a big charge on Camille Downs with 1:12 to play before Temple transfer Alexa Williamson scored on the other end to put the Lady Lions up five.
The Spartans never got the ball back in a one-possession game after that.
“Toughness down the stretch,” Kieger said of perhaps her biggest takeaway from opening night. “I don’t think we were locked in all game, and then in those last two minutes we turned the switch and actually started to focus, which was great, and had some big momentum swings there.”
After a sluggish first half by Penn State, Marisa put the Lady Lions in front by 12 in the final seconds of the third quarter with a 3-pointer and a layup and looked like they might be on the cusp of pulling away. The Spartans, however, refused to whither and Penn State couldn’t get separation.
“We have to have the no-mercy mentality,” Kieger said. “When you’re up 10, you’ve got to make it 20. You can’t let a team creep back in.”
Another positive takeaway from the opener was that Thompson will team with Marisa to form a backcourt that really can fill it up. Thompson scored from all three levels in the contest.
Marisa said fans should expect to see a player very much like her in Thompson. Both are 5-foot-11 and have a knack for creating scoring opportunities, and the combination won’t afford opposing defenses the luxury of throwing everyone at Marisa with the prospect of another 1,000-point scorer who can handle and shoot just waiting to burn them.
Thompson, though, was critical of her first performance in a Lady Lion uniform.
“Scoring, that’s cool, but I need to crash more on the rebounds, I’ve got to get more deflections and steals,” Thompson said. “I’ve just got to be a better person for my teammates. Scoring is great but it’s not enough sometimes.”
And there really wasn’t a lot of scoring, in general, either. The Lady Lions were up a mere six at half, 28-22.
Penn State jumped out to a 9-0 lead on 3-pointers by Marisa, Anna Camden and a bank from the top from Thompson. Norfolk State didn’t get on the board until Crystal White’s trey at the 4:47 mark of the opening frame. However, the Lady Lions struggled from there and only held a 13-8 lead by the end of the quarter.
Penn State shot just 8-for-25 over the first two quarters.
“When you give teams chances like that, they’re going to linger and they’re going to stay in the ballgame,” Kieger said.
Penn State hosts Fairfield on Friday and is back again at the BJC on Tuesday to face Youngstown State.
“This group right here is hungry and they’re going to get after it and they’re going to fix it,” Kieger said. “I have zero doubts about that.”
