Penn State Lady Lions welcome fans back to the BJC with a season-opening win over LIU
Penn State center Ali Brigham was an oft-discussed transfer prior to the Lady Lions’ 85-66 season-opening against Long Island University on Tuesday.
Brigham just came off of a strong rookie campaign at George Washington, where she averaged 11.9 points and had 4.7 rebounds per game in 23 games and totaled 26 blocks to lead the Colonials on the year. She was sixth among all Division I freshmen in field goal percentage (50.4%) and made the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie team.
The sophomore proved that the discussion surrounding her was one of importance, finishing with a team-high 20 points on 8-for-13 (61.5%) shooting with nine rebounds, two assists, three blocks and two steals in 28 minutes. She also was +21 on the floor, leading all Lady Lions.
Not only did she have a strong debut, but she did it in front of the general population of Lady Lions fans at Bryce Jordan Center — a sight that members of the team hadn’t seen in 621 days.
“It felt really good. I think we all had the date circled on the calendar for a long time,” Brigham said. “So, we were all anticipating this and to be able to play in front of all of the fans — which we’re so grateful for them to show out. It was just a very fun environment. I really liked it. It was a very great time.”
Junior guard Makenna Marisa, already a key player on last year’s team, continued to show her leadership on the floor. While she went 3-for-8 (37.5%) in the first half with seven points, she got involved by dishing five assists and grabbing two rebounds. Her scoring picked up in the second half, shooting 4-for-8 (50%) to score 12 additional points, adding one more assists and four rebounds.
Despite picking up her game in the second half, Marisa wasn’t satisfied with the team’s first-half performance. The Lady Lions were out-rebounded by the Sharks 23-17, despite trailing Penn State 41-30 at the half. Penn State went 15-for-36 from the field (41.67%) and Marisa’s expectation is that the Lady Lions could rise above their performance. They finished the second half going 15-for-30 (50%) and matched LIU’s rebounding total with 18.
“I’m always hard on myself and I’m hard on the team too because we’re really good and have a lot of potential,” Marisa said. “I think we did a lot of good things, but I also think there’s a lot to work on. I think coming out of this, we need to have a good defensive practice, we need to work on rebounding — I think they got too many rebounds against us — I think that has to be a focus. I’m never satisfied. Our team, like I said, we have so much potential and we’re going to be really good this year. So, just fix the mistakes that we made today. But overall, a win’s a win.”
Penn State head coach Carolyn Kieger made it a point to mix up the lineups, especially to get tall players engaging in their defense. When the Lady Lions went to zone, they forced 13 steals on the night and they added three blocks, three of which came from Brigham.
“We’re obviously longer this year to get in the passing lanes,” Kieger said. “We’ve got guards that create havoc up top and I think they like it. They like trying to create — our goal is going to be 12 steals a night. Today, we had 13 and caused 21 turnovers and I think it fits our personnel really well and I don’t want to use the words ‘hides our vulnerabilities’, but it plays to our strengths and I think the team is really buying into it and enjoying it.”
Anna Camden was a starter in 23 of 24 games last season, averaging 7.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and in 24.3 minutes per game. Her presence was felt very early on in the matchup with five points to give Penn State an 18-12 lead with 2:12 remaining in the first quarter. Brigham finished the quarter with a game-high six points, leading LIU’s Erykah Russell, who had four. Penn State led 23-14 at the end of the first.
The second quarter was all about getting other players involved, with Leilani Kapinus scoring four points, Shay Hagans scooping a layup in for two points and Jekot nailing a three-pointer. Marisa made her defender dance with a crossover and went behind her back to a fadeaway mid-range jumper to give the Lady Lions a 41-30 lead at the half.
Penn State began to pull away with Camden adding three points, along with Brigham’s four, Kapinus added five more points, Marisa and Jekot had two more and Tova Sabel went 1-for-2 from the line with a point. Kiara Bell and Russell had five a piece for the Sharks for them to trail 58-44 after three quarters.
LIU wouldn’t go away early in the fourth quarter. Brandy Thomas knocked down a mid-range jumper to pull them to 63-50 with Russell’s 15 and Bell’s 12 points leading the way. Brigham promptly scored her 20th point of the matchup and grabbed two additional boards to finish with nine. At that point, Penn State led 68-52 with 5:30 remaining in the game. Jekot began to pour it on with a 3-pointer, becoming the third player in double figures for the Lady Lions following Brigham and Marisa. The trio finished scoring 50 of Penn State’s 85 points on the night.
This story was originally published November 9, 2021 at 11:32 PM.
