Penn State Sports Magazine
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4 6 M A Y 2 0 2 4 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M C arolyn Kieger was a freshman guard at Marquette in 2003 when it quali- fied for the Women's NIT. A year later, the Golden Eagles reached the sec- ond round of the NCAA Tournament. Kieger was a second-year assistant coach at Miami in 2010 when the Hurri- canes earned a spot in the WNIT champi- onship game. A year later, they made the first of three consecutive NCAA Tourna- ment appearances. Both as a player and as a coach, Kieger has seen firsthand how a smaller tourna- ment can serve as a catapult to the big one. Now she's hoping that history re- peats itself at Penn State. The Lady Lions reached the postsea- son for the first time in Kieger's five years in State College when they qualified in March for the Women's Basketball Invita- tion Tournament. They had been disap- pointed to miss out on the NCAA Tour- nament for the 10th consecutive year, especially after winning 16 of their first 21 games. But they quickly regrouped and won three games in the WBIT, defeating George Mason (84-80 in overtime, March 21), Belmont (74-66, March 25) and Mis- sissippi State (92-87, March 28) en route to the semifinal round April 1 in Indianapolis. That, however, is where the season ended. In a matchup against Villanova, the Lady Lions shot 29.1 percent from the floor and committed 20 turnovers on their way to a 58-53 loss at Hinkle Fieldhouse. It was a disheartening exit, and Kieger fought back tears in the postgame presser talking about her senior class, particularly guard Makenna Marisa, who finished her career ranked fourth in program history with 2,201 points. But Kieger was also resolute. "I've been a part of NIT championship games, final four games, at Miami, Mar- quette and now here," she said. "Every single time, it propelled us into the future. It taught us how to win in March. … It taught us how to be tough. And now we're playing in April. When you have a group that's trying to learn how to win, that's really important. "It's absolutely a springboard," Kieger added. "You learn lessons. We need to be tougher. We had a great defensive per- formance [against Villanova], but our of- fense didn't show up. You have to show up on both ends in April if you want to win." The Lady Lions finished 22-13 overall and 9-9 in Big Ten play. That record is part of an upward trend under Kieger in which the team has finished every season with more victories than the year before — from seven in her first season, to nine, to 11, to 14, and now her first winning campaign at PSU. Even in defeat, the Lady Lions offered signs of progress. At a holiday tournament in the Bahamas last November, they lost by just one point, 71-70, to USC, an even- tual No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. They also took future Big Ten regular-sea- son champion Ohio State to overtime in Columbus before falling, 94-84. "We're right on the verge," Kieger said. "We're an 'almost' team right now, and we've got to figure out how to not be an 'almost' team. We've got to figure out how to be tough enough to push forward." If they're going to do that next sea- son, they will need to lean on rising se- nior guard Leilani Kapinus. An honorable mention All-Big Ten selection, Kapinus was the Lady Lions' third-leading scorer at 11.5 points per game and was a fierce defender at the other end, ranking second in the conference in steals (2.1 per game) and fifth in blocks (1.3 per game). She was one of the few PSU players to find any of- fensive success against Villanova, totaling 18 points to go along with 13 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks. The Lady Lions are also bringing in a five-player freshman class, but they are set to lose at least four of their top six scor- ers from this past season. Two players en- tered the transfer portal shortly after the FOCUSED ON THE FUTURE After falling just short of the NCAA tourney, the Lady Lions look to keep moving up MATT HERB | M AT T. H E R B @ O N 3 . C O M OLYMPIC SPORTS Women's basketball head coach Carolyn Kieger led the Lady Lions to the semifinals of the WBIT. PHOTO COURTESY PENN STATE ATHLETICS T E N T A T I V E 2 0 2 4 - 2 5 P E N N S T A T E W O M E N ' S B A S K E T B A L L R O S T E R Name Pos. Elig. Ht. Hometown School/Last College Alli Campbell G R-Sr. 6-0 Altoona, Pa. Bellwood-Antis/Notre Dame Grace Hall F R-Jr. 6-2 Homewood, Ill. Homewood-Flossmoor/LSU Jill Jekot G Fr. 5-11 Enola, Pa. Cumberland Valley Leilani Kapinus G R-Sr. 5-10 Madison, Wis. James Madison Memorial Kylie Lavelle F Jr. 6-2 Moosic, Pa. Riverside/Drexel Moriah Murray G R-So. 5-8 Dunmore, Pa. Dunmore/Drexel Jayla Oden G Sr. 5-8 Baltimore, Md. McDonogh/Illinois Cameron Rust F Fr. 6-2 South Kingston, R.I. Worcester (Mass.) Shaelyn Steele G Fr. 5-6 Russell, Ky. Russell Talayah Walker G Fr. 5-10 Odenton, Md. Our Lady of Good Counsel Ari Williams F Fr. 6-2 Chicago, Ill. Example Academy