Penn State Lady Lions basketball’s 4-game win streak snapped with loss to No. 15 Indiana

Mackenzie Holmes continued to build on her breakout season, netting a team-high 25 points as No. 15 Indiana snapped Penn State’s four-game winning streak Wednesday afternoon with a 90-65 victory.

A strong 51-point second half propelled the Hoosiers to their third-straight victory and improved them to 10-2 in Big Ten play, and 12-4 overall.

Guard Grace Berger notched her third triple-double on the season, a feat no one in Indiana women’s basketball history has ever achieved.

With the loss, the Lady Lions fall to 8-8 on the year, with a 5-7 conference record. Niya Beverly scored a team-high 16 points, but turnovers proved to be detrimental for the team as they finished with 19 total.

Penn State shot an efficient 18-for-36 (50%) from the floor in the first half, but really struggled to generate offense for the remainder of the game, finishing only 40.3% for the game.

The Hoosiers were very aggressive in their man-to-man defense throughout the first quarter, compiling four steals and scoring nine points off the Lady Lions’ turnovers.

Ali Patberg started the game red-hot for Indiana, scoring seven of the team’s first 13 points which forced Penn State’s 2-3 zone defense to key in on her for the remainder of the game.

Penn State trailed by two entering the second quarter, but kept its offensive intensity and scored 20 points in the quarter with the help of Anna Camden shooting a perfect 4-for-4 to lead the Hoosiers 40-39 at halftime.

However, Indiana came out with an edge to start the third quarter and scored 12 consecutive points while Penn State continued to struggle with turnovers with four in the first three minutes of the second half.

Beverly notched the first bucket for the Lady Lions with just over five minutes remaining in the quarter, but the Hoosiers outscored them by 15 to take a commanding 65-51 lead heading into the fourth.

Indiana continued to apply pressure throughout the fourth quarter, scoring 25 total points while limiting its turnovers to only 3.

Penn State will return home Saturday to face Michigan State in its one and only regular-season meeting between the two teams this season. Indiana travels to Illinois on Sunday to match up with the Fighting Illini.