Lions Are Roaring
Penn State's on fire, Michigan State wins big and wow, Serah Williams
And folks, I’m not talking about the ones in Detroit!!!! Folks!!!!
(Detroit Lions fans I am so sorry, I was rooting for you in a big way. Also the fourth down calls weren’t that bad and were not the main reason they lost, ANYWAY)
We are closing in on the final month of the regular season, and this conference feels closer than it ever has in the middle.
Momentum is flying all over the place, and outside of the top three of Indiana, Iowa and Ohio State, everything feels truly up for grabs. Five teams sit at 5-4 or 4-5 from fifth to ninth place, Wisconsin and Illinois have threatened plenty and are 3-6 and about 10 teams are fighting to prove they are worthy of making the NCAA Tournament.
But who sits alone in fourth place right now? Well, it’s a team that hasn’t won double-digit conference games since 2014, of course.
Last Week’s Hoopla:
Penn State has felt like it was on the cusp of something for a few years now, but it just didn’t come together. I’ve harped on this point more than once because it’s important to contextualize what is happening before our very eyes.
This is a program that, a decade ago, had plenty of success. The 2010-11 to 2013-14 seasons were hugely successful, but that was the last taste of sustained wins the Nittany Lions have seen since the early 2000s. Carolyn Kieger and Makenna Marisa felt like the pairing that could get Penn State back to glory, but time was running out for both of them in different ways.
Look at where we are now.
The Penn State Nittany Lions are 6-3 in the Big Ten. They have won five straight in the conference. They were most recently projected as a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament by ESPN, and they will probably be at least receiving AP votes in the poll that releases today (Editor’s note: Penn State received one single vote in the poll. They are calling the writer of this the most correct man in the world).
The wins are one thing, and some would argue the most important thing. But I would also like to argue that Penn State *looks* the part of a team deserving all of this success. This team is playing outstanding basketball right now, and that was put on full display in a 112-76 masterclass over Maryland on Sunday.
Penn State started out hot here and, after a short Terps flurry in the second quarter, never looked back. The offense kept humming and the defense caused enough fits to allow for a 77-44 second half showcase. When the game was over, Penn State’s depth pieces decided it wasn’t yet and kept putting the ball in the basket. Ten Nittany Lions scored at least five points.
As stated, this was the fifth straight win for Penn State. It also was the fifth game of Ashley Owusu’s season. Is it as simple as Owusu playing that has turned the Nittany Lions from a good, fun team to a top four team in the Big Ten?
For starters, let’s talk about Owusu’s play. It’s been excellent.
Ashley Owusu, 2023-24 season (five games)
18.6 PPG
5.8 RPG
4.4 APG
2.6 TOPG
50.0 FG% (31 for 62)
33.3 3PT% (7 for 21)
After such an extended absence from the court, Owusu has came back to the Big Ten and immediately looks a whole lot like that All-American we saw a few years ago. She is one of the best interior guard scorers in the country, has continued to be an excellent passer and has been somewhat reliable from behind the arc on increased volume. She has always felt like a catalyst for whatever offense she’s in, and that’s been more of the same here.
Is Owusu the clear cut reason for Penn State’s winning streak? I’d argue she’s a reason for it, but not the only one.
The Nittany Lions have gotten a little bit of schedule help in the stretch, playing agains three of the bottom four teams in the Big Ten (Rutgers, Purdue, Northwestern) while getting the other two opponents (Nebraska, Maryland) at home. Wins are wins in the Big Ten, and this is not to take away from the excellent play, but it’s worth noting.
Also worth noting is that Owusu was not the only returning player in this stretch. Makenna Marisa returned to the lineup from her injury one game before Owusu, and has been getting acclimated with increased minutes ever since. She had her best game since returning against the Terrapins (24 points, 10/13 FG, 4/6 3PT), showing that this tandem is still rounding into form.
All of this is to say that Owusu makes Penn State a better team, but it has been a little more than her addition that has gotten the Nittany Lions to 6-3 in the conference. What is certain, though, is that Owusu makes Penn State infinitely more dynamic and hard to deal with.
The Nittany Lions are a deep, deep team. Owusu, Marisa, Shay Ciezki, Taylor Valladay, Leilani Kapinus, Ali Brigham, Alli Campbell (who also returned from injury in late Dec.), those are some matchup issues for the opposition to deal with. Valladay has had some impressive scoring outbursts since Owusu returned to court action, and Ciezki has a 40-point game to her résumé this season. If the sophomore guard can get her shot going again with Penn State’s fully healthy lineup (Ciezki has 8.6 PPG since Owusu’s return), I don’t have a lot of answers on how to stop them offensively.
Some more interesting tests for this team are on the way. At Minnesota and home against Michigan will say a lot about the ceiling, and going on the road to face Iowa in two weeks will say even more. Regardless, Penn State has been a joy to watch at full power, and credit to Kieger for bringing all these pieces together so well.
Quick Hitters
There’s a handful of teams I want to discuss in this middle section of the Big Ten standings, because as anticipated, this was a big week for that part of the conference.
Here’s a few paragraphs about those said teams:
Maryland
It’s been a tough, tough year for these Terrapins, and this week was arguably the toughest yet.
On Wednesday, Maryland saw a 16-point third quarter lead get erased by Michigan to force overtime. In a game the Wolverines never led in regulation, it was a pair of free throws by Laila Phelia with under a second to go that gave Michigan the 79-77 home win.
A lot of the talk from this game was the double ejection of Maryland’s Bri McDaniel and Michigan’s Lauren Hansen. That occurred when Maryland’s lead was cut to eight points in the third quarter, and Michigan ultimately ended up winning from there without McDaniel on the court. It was, at the least, another tough break for the Terps to have to swallow.
Of course, to have this followed by a 36-point loss to Penn State did not help to improve morale. Not only that, but Shyanne Sellers went down with a leg injury in the second quarter and did not return. She leads the Terps in points, rebounds and assists, so I would argue she is important.
All of a sudden, Maryland is 12-8 overall and 4-5 in the Big Ten. This team is 1-6 on the road. The next two games on the schedule are against Indiana and Iowa.
Thankfully for Maryland, both of those games are at home. but it feels like the Terps almost need to find a way to steal at least one of those games before they find themselves on the wrong side of the bubble.
Michigan
It was huge that the Wolverines found a way to beat Maryland, because they followed it up with an 82-61 loss to Michigan State. In that defeat, Phelia scored 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting. The rest of the team shot 14 of 41.
A 1-1 week against those two opponents is big, though, and having Illinois and Penn State coming up is a huge way to get out of this limbo that Michigan feels stuck in right now. Since beating Ohio State, the Wolverines are 3-4, with all four losses coming by 16 points or more. The wins were by 24, 6 and 2.
The Wolverines continue to project right on the bubble, and have the scheduling benefit of only playing Indiana and Iowa once apiece, though both are on the road. There’s a path forward to another 20-win season, but Michigan has to avoid these blowout losses that keep happening.
Michigan State
On the other end of the spectrum in the same state, I’m ready to call these Spartans legit.
A pair of 20-point wins this week over Purdue and Michigan moves Michigan State to 15-5 on the season and 5-4 in the Big Ten. That 19-point loss to Minnesota a week ago remains a head scratcher, but outside of that, the other three defeats are to Nebraska, Iowa and Ohio State by a combined 14 points.
Penn State and Michigan State are in a competition with each other to have the most surprisingly nasty well-rounded offense in college basketball, and it’s hard to tell who is winning. Penn State is fifth nationally in PPG (87.6), Michigan State is sixth (86.7). Penn State is second in points per scoring attempt (1.21), Michigan State is second in points per play (1.01).
Where the Spartans separate themselves a bit is their limiting of turnovers. Michigan State ranked eight in the country with 19.6 assists per game. Michigan State also commits the sixth fewest turnovers at 11.0 per game. That has led to a 1.78 assist-to-turnover ratio, a full 0.12 points better than the rest of the country.
Not a single Michigan State player has two turnovers per game or more. Four players averaged at least 2.4 assists per game. This team has the depth, poise and confidence to be deadly in a variety of areas, and is good at the type of things that would make any team scared of them in a tournament setting.
Illinois
I’m happy for Illinois.
While this season has not been what the Illini were hoping for after last year’s success, I will continue to say repeatedly that this team is playing far better than their record is displaying.
On Sunday, Illinois earned a huge 73-68 win against Minnesota. It was big not only to get a win against a good opponent, but because it was the Illini’s first win in a single-digit game all season. They were 0-8 in games decided by 9 or less points before that.
If half of those eight games go a different way, Illinois is firmly in NCAA Tournament talks. That’s how unfortunate it has felt for Shauna Green’s team this year, but there’s hope that this win could turn things around, and the schedule is winnable for the next few weeks.
Minnesota
The Gophers fell into the traps I laid out last week, going 0-2 against teams ranked lower than them in the Big Ten standings. Wisconsin and Illinois are not terrible teams, both losses were by five points or less and both were on the road, so these are not death blows to anything this team had planned, but it’s certainly something Minnesota needs to fix.
Against the Badgers, Minnesota could not contain Serah Williams (more on her in a moment), and the majority of the team shot poorly. Against the Illini, it was the trio of Makira Cook (22 points), Genesis Bryant (19) and Camille Hobby (19) that did the damage, but it was also rebounding extraordinaire Kendall Bostic, who had 17 total rebounds in the game.
Minnesota has been a good rebounding team all season, but struggled against two strong forwards in a row, so it’s something to look at. But the Gophers are still battling for a tournament spot in year one under Dawn Plitzuweit, which is way ahead of the expected schedule. I’ll be curious to see how this team does heading into matchups against Penn State and Michigan State.
Wisconsin
Sorry it took so long to get to you in this Hoopla, Badgers fans.
Wisconsin absolutely deserves credit for what it did this week, going 2-0 at home with the aforementioned win over Minnesota, followed by an 11-point victory over Rutgers. After losses in five of the last six, including back-to-back defeats by a combined 70 points, Wisconsin needed this week bad.
What’s the story from the victories? Serah Williams.
This sophomore forward is a sensation. Across the two wins, Williams scored 55 points, hauled in 27 rebounds and shot 21 for 28 from the field. She had five blocks. Hell, she even made all three of her three-point attempts.
On the year, Williams is now up to 17.9 PPG, 10.4 RPG and 3.1 BPG, with the latter ranking sixth nationally. She has been everything to the Badgers this season, and gives me hope that Marisa Moseley could really build something here with Williams at the core, along with the variety of really exciting underclassmen playing well around her.
What To Watch
This Hoopla got long, per usual, so no explanations on the games chosen. You will simply have to trust me I guess!
Seriously though, this is one outrageous week of Big Ten women’s basketball games. So, so many good ones.
Indiana at Maryland, 1/31 (Wednesday), 7 p.m., Peacock
Illinois at Michigan, 1/31 (Wednesday), 7 p.m., B1G+
Penn State at Minnesota, 1/31 (Wednesday), 8 p.m., B1G+
Michigan at Penn State, 2/3 (Saturday), 6 p.m., BTN
Iowa at Maryland, 2/3 (Saturday), 8 p.m., FOX
Indiana at Ohio State, 2/4 (Sunday), noon, FS1
Wisconsin at Northwestern, 2/4 (Sunday), 3 p.m., B1G+
Photo Credit: Penn State Athletics
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