Penn State women’s basketball holds on in overtime vs. George Mason to advance in WBIT
The madness of March made its way to the Bryce Jordan Center on Thursday.
It took an extra period, multiple reviews from officials and plenty of exchanged leads, but Penn State women’s basketball moved on in the inaugural Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament, beating George Mason 84-80.
“Survive and advance,” coach Carolyn Kieger said. “I have more gray hair ... but a win is a win.”
While Kieger and her squad made their NCAA Tournament aspirations clear from the start of the 2023-24 season — even setting their goals as high as the Sweet 16 — Penn State wasn’t chosen to play in the national dance on Selection Sunday, listed as one of the first teams left out of the tournament.
Instead, it accepted a bid to its next-best option, the WBIT, where it’s now favored to make a run as one of the tournament’s No. 1 seeds. Thursday was the beginning of that potential run, as the Lady Lions squeezed by with the win over the Patriots.
Guard Leilani Kapinus, an All-Big Ten defensive team selection this season, made her mark all over the contest. After clutch free throws, defensive stops and shot contests all over, Kapinus finished with 13 points, 15 rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
“It’s win or go home,” Kapinus said. “It’s really a different level that kicks in when you realize, like, ‘This is all we have.’”
Continuing into postseason play for the first time since the 2017-18 season, Kieger’s squad will match up on Monday against Belmont, which beat Ball State in the first round of the tournament.
The creation of the WBIT was announced in 2023, purposed to create “equitable postseason opportunities for women’s basketball similar to that of men’s basketball.”
“We said that (if) we were gonna play in this tournament, we were gonna play to win it,” Kieger said.
Opening with a 19-7 run, the blue and white looked like it would coast behind its high-powered offense against the Patriots initially. Kieger’s offense started with an 8-for-13 mark from the field, with sophomore Shay Ciezki’s five points and two assists leading the way.
But George Mason’s fan base traveled well. The Patriots had nearly a full section’s worth of supporters, which were audibly more involved than Penn State fans for the first three quarters. Their squad found fuel on the road behind the support.
“They were definitely our sixth man tonight,” Patriots coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis said.
George Mason took a 39-34 advantage into the locker room at halftime, led by 16 points, including four triples, from junior guard Paula Suarez.
“(With) a new tournament, everyone is excited to play, everyone wants to make history and be the first one to win it,” Suarez, who finished with season-high 24 points, said.
The Patriots, who had a 23-7 record entering the tournament, proved they were no opponent to take as lightly in the first round. In the first three quarters, they continued taking care of the ball, getting a boatload of shots up and playing with energy.
“Heck of a season they’ve had,” Kieger said in her postgame press conference. “I thought that (was) a really tough, gritty team.”
It wasn’t until the midpoint of the fourth quarter that Penn State, and the BJC, found life.
Kapinus took over on both ends, Ashley Owusu found a hot hand with 16 second-half points and the Lady Lions came storming back from an 11-point deficit with 7:39 remaining in regulation.
With just four seconds left in the fourth, Kapinus knocked down one of two free throws to tie the game at 70, and she nearly had another opportunity for a game-winner.
After an officials review left 0.5 seconds on the clock, Kapinus seemingly got a shot under the rim off in time and drew contact, but didn’t get a whistle.
Postgame, Kieger said her players “locked in” for the fourth and fifth periods.
“I don’t think there was a question in anybody’s mind once we forced overtime that we were gonna win,” Kieger said. “I didn’t feel that competitiveness the first three quarters.”
With Penn State maintaining a slim lead in the extra period, Ali Brigham sealed the deal with a reverse layup in the post that gave the blue and white the four-point lead it held onto.
Looking ahead, the second round and quarterfinals of the WBIT will be hosted by the higher-seeded school, meaning the Lady Lions will host Monday’s contest against Belmont. The semifinals and championship of the tournament will be played in Indianapolis.
While the program’s goal of a March Madness bid fell just short, Penn State is now looking to make the most of its postseason opportunity in the WBIT — and Kieger hopes fans will come out to show their support.
“Every player in the country wants to play in front of a packed crowd, but you also have to earn that,” Kieger said. “We have a game on Monday. And I hope people come out because I tell you what, when you hear that crowd, and when you hear that juice, that fuels you.”
This story was originally published March 21, 2024 at 10:24 PM.
