Michigan Dominates the Boards, Hands Penn State Its 13th Straight Loss
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Michigan Wolverines domination on the boards was too much to handle for Penn State Thursday night at the Bryce Jordan Center, as the Lady Lions fell 80-66. Michigan improved it’s record to 19-9 and 10-7 in the Big Ten, while Penn State’s record dropped to 7-21 and 1-16 in the Big Ten.
Michigan is positioned in seventh place in the Big Ten and Penn State sits in last place in the conference.
It was a tale of two different stories for Penn State on Thursday night.
In the first half, both Michigan and Penn State traded scoring chances, pushed the play up court, and created turnovers.
Head coach Carolyn Kieger thought the Lady Lions effort was improved from their last meeting with Michigan.
“Huge difference from the first time we played them at their place, “Kieger said. “I can tell we are chipping away and that's part of changing the culture and growing.”
At the end of the first half Penn State trailed Michigan 33-30 but that would be as close as Penn State would get to take the lead.
Michigan put its foot down scoring 47 points after the second half, while Penn State struggled, scoring only 36 points.
“They scored six straight points in transition at one point and they blew it open from there, “Kieger said. “I just don’t think we are there yet in terms of being able to do stuff on the fly and make adjustments during the game.’’
Michigan dominated the second half by grabbing 18 rebounds and scoring 19 points off turnovers.
Naz Hillmon led the Wolverines with 26 points. Amy Dilk and Hailey Brown weren’t far behind, as Dilk scored 15 points and Brown scored 12.
For Penn State, Siyeh Frazier recorded a career-high 28 points in her last game at the Bryce Jordan Center. Kamaria McDaniel turned her night around scoring 16 points and Makenna Marisa scored 10 points.
Kieger expressed her thoughts on Sieyh Frazier’s last game home game as a Lady Lion.
“What a phenomenal last game. 28 points career-high, seven rebounds, four steals. She played her heart out, “Kieger said. “I’m very proud of her and very proud that she was able to go out with her career-high at the BJC. ”
Coach Kieger and the Lady Lions will conclude their 2019-2020 regular season March 1 at 2 p.m. on the road vs. Michigan State.
Jordan Hession is a junior majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email hessionjordan@gmail.com.