History in the making: The Penn State Lady LIons 1000th win

10 Big Ten Championships, 25 NCAA appearances, 13 Sweet Sixteens, four Elite Eights and one Final Four.

Throughout the years, the Lady Lions program has been known for a plethora of accomplishments on the court. To add to that, another great milestone happened on Jan. 16 in Piscataway, N.J., against Rutgers at Jersey Mike’s Arena.

Their 1000th win in program history. Coach Kieger and her squad wheeled their way to victory 94-80, and the 16th game in the 2023-24 season.

Penn State outplayed the Scarlet Knights in almost every statistical category, shooting the ball at 56% from the field compared to Rutgers' 52%.

The Lady Lions shot the ball at 60% from three, whereas the Scarlet Knights only shot it at 40%.

It was an all-around team effort with four players scoring in double digits.

After the victory, Penn State moved to 11-5 overall and 2-3 in conference play. They currently sit seventh in Big Ten play.

Penn State Women’s basketball started in 1965, since then records have been broken, titles have been won and many individual accomplishments have occurred.

During the 1999-2000 season, Penn State made its first and only Final Four appearance.

It was their very first 30-win season, eighth 25-win season and 19th 20-win season. Also, the first ever final four appearance, eighth sweet sixteen appearance and 16th NCAA tournament appearance in program history.

Four players were averaging double digits that season.

Andrea Garner, who led the team in scoring averaging 15 points per game. Maren Walseth and Lisa Shepard both averaged 14. Lastly, Helen Darling put up 11 points per contest.

The run that this 1999 squad made was one for the history books. From being the No.2 seed in the NCAA Tournament to almost knocking off the No.1 seed in Connecticut for a chance to advance, and win their very first National Title.

Also, on Tuesday night, Ashley Owusu, the former Maryland and Virginia Tech transfer made her season debut for the Lady Lions putting 18 points in 25 minutes. She was 3-7 behind the arc and led the team in scoring.

Owusu played at Maryland for her first three years, where she averaged 15 points, five assists and four rebounds a game.

During her time at Maryland, she won the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award in 2021, AP Press Third Team All-American in 20-21, AP Honorable Mention in 21-22 and the Jim and Kitty Most Outstanding Player Award in 2020 and 2021.

The sky's the limit.

Adding the graduate student to this Penn State roster, not only adds great playmaking, but strength and the ability to score at the guard position.

Kiera Baker is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, please email ksb5617@psu.edu