Iowa women’s basketball star Caitlin Clark has high praise for Penn State: ‘They never gave up’
Iowa guard Caitlin Clark dazzled and dashed around Penn State’s Bryce Jordan Center on Sunday afternoon, finishing with a triple-double.
Clark scored 23 points on 9-17 (52.9%) shooting with 14 assists and 10 rebounds to go with a 95-51 victory over the Lady Lions during the Pink Zone game. Even after the game, where she become tied for second in Division I basketball history with nine triple-doubles, the leader of the No. 6 team in the country had many niceties to share about a Penn State program that’s in the process of becoming competitive in league play.
Makenna Marisa, Penn State’s leading scorer and its leader in assists per game, was at the forefront of Clark’s praise and the Lady Hawkeyes keyed in to stop her. Marisa went 1-10 (10%) on shots for nine pints, six assists and six rebounds.
“As a player, that’s who starred on our scouting report,” Clark said. “Maybe she doesn’t have the best day today, but she’s at the top of our scouting report. I believe she’s one of the best players in this league. She drew seven fouls, I think that shows the attention we had on her tonight. Overall, they never stopped competing and that’s all that you can ask (for). They kept pressing, they kept getting steals. That just shows the heart of a team. They never gave up and I think that’s very admirable.”
Marisa feels the same way about her opponent.
“It’s mutual,” Marisa said. “She’s a heck of a player and so is her team. That means a lot. ... She gets her teammates open, she’s unselfish, she just makes the right read. Along with that, (she) makes her shots. So, I think the biggest thing is that she rebounds, she does it all and I have a lot of respect for her.”
Can Penn State rally heading into the Big Ten tournament?
Carolyn Kieger took over for the Lady Lions in April 2019. In each season, she faced an uphill battle against a tough Big Ten schedule. Penn State went 7-23 (1-17, Big Ten) during Kieger’s first season, followed by a 9-15 (6-13, Big Ten) year in 2020-21 that was marred by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Lady Lions finally finished with an 11-18 record (5-13, Big Ten) last season.
In her fourth season, the Lady Lions hold a 13-11 record and are 4-9 in the Big Ten. The improvements seen from season-to-season have impressed those on the outside as well. This is the first season under Kieger that the Lady Lions average more points (72.6) than they allow (71.1) and the best marks for the fourth-year Penn State coach in her tenure.
Lady Hawkeyes head coach Lisa Bluder has seen the improvements that Kieger has made to Penn State’s program over the years.
“As a coach, she (Kieger) came into a situation where they weren’t winning and it’s hard to change that around,” Bluder said. “I think she’s doing a great job with the culture of this program (and) coaching these kids. I’m really happy for her and she’s kind of the next generation of the coaches in this league.”
Penn State has won two of its last eight contests — Wisconsin on Jan. 22 and Northwestern on Thursday. The Lady Lions have a 4-8 record against Big Ten opponents.
“I think every year we’ve gotten better,” Kieger said. “Every year as we’ve continued to get the pieces in, we continue to close that gap. So, we’ll continue to work and I think we have some great opportunities down the stretch for us to pick up some W’s.”
Penn State has five more regular season games left in the 2022-23 year. The Lady Lions are set to have four consecutive road matchups against Michigan State next Sunday, No. 10 Ohio State on Feb. 16, Illinois on Feb. 19 and Purdue on Feb. 22, before closing at home with Michigan State on Feb. 25.
Kieger was asked Sunday if the team was at a point where they could compete this season in the conference.
“Absolutely,” she said.
This story was originally published February 5, 2023 at 7:15 PM.
