Women’s Basketball headed west for their season open against Penn State on Tuesday. Although 10 players saw time on the court, the Bison fell behind early on and struggled to recover.
Isabella King ’25 did her best to keep the Bison afloat as they started the game. She managed to tie the Nittany Lions at 2-2. Penn State took control of the game right after with a 12-2 run. King managed to score 10 points alone in the quarter, leading amongst the Bison. Julie Kulesza ’24 added a three-pointer to cut the score to 19-15, the closest it would get all game.
Penn State opened the second quarter with another run that forced the Bison to take a timeout.
Afterwards, the Bison managed to tame the Lion’s offense. The teams traded points back and forth for most of the quarter. A simple layup from Emma Theodorsson ’26 closed the gap to 43-31. PSU managed a 5-0 run to prevent the Bison from coming any closer before the end of the first half.
The second half went similar to the first with PSU taking control early. A 9-0 run to start the third quarter pushed the Nittany Lions ahead even further. The Bison kept scoring, but it was not enough to catch up to their opponents who started to lead by 30 points. The third quarter ended on a Bison layup from Grace Sullivan ’26.
The Bison were outscored 19-7 in the final quarter. Both teams made many substitutions, giving newcomers time on the court. Sophia Sabino ’26 sank a three to close out the game.
Despite losing 94-51, many Bison scored, including four newcomers (Ashley O’Connor ’26, Sabino, Rosie Scognamiglio ’27 and Ashley Sofilkanich ’27). On the defensive end, the Orange and Blue finished with 10 steals against the Nittany Lions.
The Bison play next on the road against Temple this Saturday night.
