Lady Lions basketball team secures program's 1,000th win

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Penn State women's basketball program picked up its 1,000th all-time victory Sunday afternoon, as the Lady Lions registered a convincing 94-80 win over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights inside Jersey Mike's Arena. The contest also marked the Penn State debut of former Ann Meyers Drysdale award winner and two-time All-American graduate guard Ashley Owusu, who finished as the team's leading scorer in the game with 18 points.
 
One of the most storied program's in women's college basketball, Penn State moved to 1,000-560 all-time after its 16th game of the 2023-24 season. Beginning in 1965, the Lady Lions have accomplished a wide variety of historic achievements highlighted by a Final Four appearance in the 1999-2000 season. Penn State has also brought home eight Big Ten Conference regular season championships, two Big Ten Tournament championships and 25 NCAA Tournament appearances in its storied 60 years as a varsity program.
 
The impressive result brings Penn State's 2023-24 season record to 11-5 overall and 2-3 in Big Ten competition so far this year. In one of the longest-running active rivalries between a pair of Big Ten opponents, Penn State improved to 22-34 against the Scarlet Knights all-time and picked up their fifth win in Piscataway since the series began back in 1977. In defeat, Rutgers drops to 6-13 overall and moves to 0-6 in league action so far this season.
 
Sunday's final box score favored Penn State in practically every major statistical category, highlighted by a 56% field goal rate on the afternoon coupled with an astonishing 60% mark from beyond the 3-point arc. Penn State forced a whopping 24 Rutgers giveaways and surrendered the ball itself on just 11 occasions, one of the largest turnover disparities for the Lady Lions this season. Penn State converted those chances into a 33-13 differential in points off turnovers, the key stat Sunday afternoon. The most striking disparity on the stat sheet came in the form of bench scoring, with PSU picking up a 44-11 win in the category. 
 
Owusu led the way in her first-ever appearance, finishing with 18 points, five rebounds and five assists in 25 minutes of game action. The Woodbridge, Virginia, native was one of the most high-profile transfers during the offseason after playing three seasons and Maryland and one at Virginia Tech, landing a wide array of national accolades and acclaim in the process. Senior+ guard Makenna Marisa made her return to the starting five on Sunday and dropped 17 points with three 3-point makes, while graduate guard Tay Valladay also finished with 17 on 6-for-7 shooting with a 3-for-3 mark from long range. 
 
Redshirt junior guard Alli Campbell shattered her season high in scoring and set a new Big Ten career high with 11 points in the contest, while senior forward Ali Brigham added eight points and a team-high six rebounds. All 12 members of Penn State's roster saw the floor in the game, marking the first time Penn State has seen all 12 players in a contest this year. Eleven-of-12 Lady Lions found a way to score in the game, with Chanaya Pinto, Shay Ciezki, Grace Hall, Leilani Kapinus, Moriah Murray and Jayla Oden working their way onto the box score.