Lady Lions explode in fourth quarter against Mississippi State to advance to WBIT Final Four

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- Penn State women's basketball won an absolute thriller 92-87 over the Mississippi State Bulldogs in its last game at the Bryce Jordan Center this season.

The Lady Lions were in a dogfight throughout the entire game, but erupted in the final quarter.

Senior Guard Makenna Marisa played her last game tonight at the BJC and had a very impressive night all over the court.

She spoke about her emotional night at BJC and what she was thinking about in those final minutes at home.

“I was trying not to think about it at the moment and get too emotional as the clock winded down”, Marisa said. “To go out in my last game and play like that I wanted to take it all and am happy to play in the Final Four”.

Marisa put up a total of 20 points in this game shooting 6-8 from the field, 2-4 from three, and was perfect at the free throw line going 8-8.

“Makenna Marisa got to win her final game at the BJC, doing it in a big fashion, and that's what she stayed here for, to put Penn State Basketball back on the map”, head coach Carolyn Kieger said.

Penn State graduate student guard Ashley Owusu went off in the second half after somewhat of a slow start to her night in the first half.

Owusu was huge down the stretch for the Nittany Lions and made three clutch and ones at the end of the game to bring the crowd to their feet.

“We knew where the ball was going at the end of the game and still couldn't find a way to stop her, she is a phenomenal player for the Nittany Lions and nightmare to guard”, Mississippi State head coach Sam Purcell said.

She ended up finishing the game with 24 points, shooting 10-11 at the free throw line and picked up three boards off the glass as well.

The Nittany Lions didn't just play a strong offensive game in the last quarter, but the defense came up big in the final minutes of the game.

Leilani Kapinus played a very strong defensive game for the Nittany Lions and came up with five blocks on the night.

“I told you this at the beginning of the season and I will continue to preach that Leilani is the best defender in not just the Big Ten, but in the entire country as well”, coach Kieger said.

Penn State's next game will be a battle of the two Pennsylvania teams in the Semi-Finals of the WBIT Tournament against the Villanova Wildcats on April 1.

Christian Holtzapple is a fourth-year student majoring in broadcast journalism, To contact him email cmh7064@psu.edu.