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PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Driven by a dominant 24-point, 18-rebound double-double from redshirt sophomore center Gracie Merkle, the Penn State women's basketball capitalized on a second-half surge to bring home a 68-51 win in the team's first true road matchup against the Providence Friars Wednesday night inside Alumni Hall.
Penn State put an end to a two-game losing skid and returned to the win column in emphatic fashion Wednesday evening in New England, with the Lions improving to 9-2 overall through their first 11 matchups of the 2024-25 campaign. Penn State once again managed to extend its dominant lead over the Friars following the eighth all-time matchup of the two programs.
Penn State improved to 8-0 against Providence since the teams first met in the 1984-85 season, with the Lady Lions managing back-to-back victories under the direction of head coach Carolyn Kieger dating to last year's matchup in the Bryce Jordan Center. In defeat, the Friars move to 6-6 overall this year with the team's non-conference finale against Merrimack scheduled for Saturday at noon.
Penn State once again dominated the rebounding battle, taking home a win in that statistical category for the 11th time in 11 games this year. The Lions outrebounded the Friars by a 44-29 differential and nearly doubled Providence up on the offensive boards, winning the offensive rebounding battle by a 13-7 margin.
The Blue & White had an impressive showing in the painted area, with the Lady Lions amassing 36 points in the paint against just 24 from the Friars. Penn State also utilized its emphatic rebounding advantage on the offensive boards to run up an impressive 13-2 victory in terms of second chance points.
Merkle finished the night just two rebounds shy of a 20-20 double-double, with the Mount Washington, Kentucky, native amassing a 24-point, 18-rebound performance. Penn State's powerful post presence shot 66.6% from the floor, going 10 for 15 in an all-around impressive evening of work in Rhode Island. Merkle's 18 rebounds marked her most impressive individual showing on the glass since transferring to Penn State, with her season-high showing against the Friars surpassing a 13-board performance on opening night against Bucknell.
Two additional Lady Lions finished the night with double digits in the scoring column, with redshirt sophomore guard Moriah Murray logging 14 points and senior guard Jayla Oden finishing with 13 to round out the trio of Penn Staters in double digits.
The Friars collected the opening tipoff and drilled a left-wing triple to open Wednesday night's scoring, but Murray snapped back with 3-pointers of her own on back-to-back possessions to give the Lions a 6-3 lead. Providence saw a guard utilize an acrobatic finish to find the bottom of the net to cut the lead back to one and hit another layup to see the lead change hands.
Merkle converted an and-one opportunity, and the Friars nailed another layup to tie things back up at 9-all, but Merkle's torrid stretch in the paint wore on with consecutive layups to force a 13-9 PSU lead at the media intermission. Following the short break, Providence used a steal and score to add to their total, but consecutive baskets from Johnson and Campbell made it a 17-11 Penn State advantage to force a Friar timeout with 2:01 to play in the frame.
Providence replied over the final two minutes of the quarter with a 4-0 scoring run, culminating in a 17-15 advantage for the Lady Lions through one period of action.
The first two minutes of the period passed largely without incident, but Merkle found the bottom of the net with a layup on a slick feed from Oden at the 7:27 mark of the period to give Penn State a 19-15 advantage.
PENN STATE (9-2)
Grace Hall 3-3 0-0 6; Gracie Merkle 10-15 4-4 24; Gabby Elliott 1-4 0-0 3; Moriah Murray 5-11 1-1 14; Jayla Oden 5-13 1-1 13; Tamera Johnson 1-3 0-0 2; Alli Campbell 3-9 0-0 6; Talayah Walker 0-3 0-0 0; Jill Jekot 0-2 0-0 0; Cam Rust 0-1 0-2 0; Vitoria Santana 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-64 6-8 68.
PROVIDENCE (6-6)
Olivia Olsen 2-2 0-0 4; Emily Archibald 5-8 1-4 12; Grace Efosa 6-17 3-4 15; Mackayla Scarlett 1-6 0-0 2; Brynn Farrell 3-10 0-0 8; Sarah Bandoma 0-4 2-6 2; Kylee Sheppard 1-1 0-0 3; Marta Morales 1-5 0-0 3; Sophi Hall 0-1 0-0 0; Ugne Sirtautaite 1-1 0-0 2; Audrey Koch 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-55 6-14 51.
Penn State 17 10 20 21 -- 68
Providence 15 9 12 15 -- 51
3-point goals: PSU 6-20 (Murray 3-9, Oden 2-5, Elliott 1-2, Jekot 0-1, Campbell 0-1, Johnson 0-2), Providence 5-17 (Farrell 2-6, Sheppard 1-1, Morales 1-5, Archibald 1-2, Scarlett 0-1, Efosa 0-2). Fouled out: PSU-none; Providence-none. Rebounds: PSU 44 (Merkle 18), Providence 29 (Archibald 7, Efosa 7). Assists: PSU 16 (Campbell 5), Providence 9 (Efosa 3). Technical fouls: PSU-none; Providence-none. Total fouls: PSU 15, Providence 12. A: 1,145.