No. 20 Maryland women’s basketball vs. Penn State preview

Last offseason, No. 20 Maryland women’s basketball seemed to get its much-needed big through the transfer portal — Gracie Merkle. 

Merkle spent her sophomore season at Penn State, but opted to upgrade to a more established Big Ten program. Then, she had a change of heart. After she was announced to join Maryland, she asked and was granted a release to return to the Nittany Lions. 

Merkle returns to the place she was once slated to play for on Thursday at 7 p.m. The game will stream on Peacock. 

Penn State Nittany Lions (8-16, 1-12 Big Ten)

Head coach Carolyn Kieger is in her seventh season at Penn State and hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament in her tenure. Her best season with the Nittany Lions was in 2023-24, where they went 22-13 and made the WBIT Final Four. Otherwise, they haven’t won more than 14 games in a season and aren’t on track to do so this season.

Thus far, Penn State has won one Big Ten contest — an 85-82 overtime victory over Purdue last Wednesday. In its 12 Big Ten losses, only two were by less than double digits. The Nittany Lions won seven nonconference games, most notably over Cincinnati and San Diego State. But that success hasn’t translated to conference play. 

However, Penn State has been heating up. In its last two games, it beat Purdue and stayed competitive with then-No. 12 Michigan State until the fourth quarter. 

Players to watch

Gracie Merkle, redshirt junior center, 6-foot-6, No. 44 – If Merkle had played for the Terps, she would’ve brought a force down low. She had her way with Maryland last season, scoring 24 points on 11-of-13 shooting. This season, she averages 19.3 points and 8.4 rebounds per game — sixth-most and third-most in the conference, respectively. She scored 39 points against Princeton earlier this season.

Kiyomi McMiller, sophomore guard, 5-foot-8, No. 23 – The Silver Spring native has a local connection to Maryland, despite playing for its two closest Big Ten opponents. McMiller was with Rutgers last season, but sat out the final month amid a messy exit. Now, she leads Penn State and is fourth in the Big Ten in scoring, averaging 20.2 points per game. She also leads the team with 4.5 assists — tied for ninth in the Big Ten — and racks up five rebounds per game, which is second-best on the team. 

Tea Clèante, freshman guard, 5-foot-9, No. 19 – Clèante is in her first season with Penn State out of France after winning two gold medals at the European Basketball Championships. This season, she averages 9.2 points, 2.9 assists and 1.7 rebounds. This season, she’s shooting 40.5% from the field and 30.4% from deep. She has scored 20 or more points twice this season — 23 against Saint Joseph’s and 21 against Iowa. 

Strength

Steals. Penn State doesn’t have many strengths this season, but it’s better than most at forcing steals. The Nittany Lions force 8.8 per game, which is sixth-most in the Big Ten. They aren’t within the top six in the conference in any other statistic. Clèante leads the team, averaging 1.7 steals per game, followed by McMiller who averages 1.5. 

Weakness

Stopping opponents from scoring. The Nittany Lions have given up the most points per game in the Big Ten this season — opponents average 82.5 points against them. They also have the second-worst point differential at -8.1, only behind Rutgers’ -9.9. Opponents shoot better from the field, deep and the free throw line. If Maryland can play the complete-team style that it has played over the past two games, it could be in for a big night offensively.

Three things to watch

1. Film study’s effect. At the start of last week, Maryland was at a new low and in danger of its first five-game losing streak under head coach Brenda Frese. 

Since then, the Terps rattled off two double-digit wins over competent opponents. They changed their film study philosophy, opting to watch the big wins from early in the season rather than the disappointing losses. It worked. Maryland looked its best in Big Ten play and seem to be back on track. It will look to continue that on Thursday.

2. Play 4 Kay. Maryland will host its annual Play 4 Kay pink-out game in support of breast cancer and all cancers that affect women. The Play 4 Kay movement honors former NC State head coach Kay Yow, who passed away in 2009 from breast cancer. The majority of women’s college basketball teams have Play 4 Kay nights and wear some type of pink on their uniforms in her honor. The Terps will wear all pink uniforms on Thursday. 

3. How will Merkle be perceived? Merkle isn’t the first player to back out of her commitment to the Terps through the transfer portal, but she is the first to face the Terps the following season. It’s hard to believe that Frese or the fans would have any ill-will toward her, but the way this season has gone could’ve been very different if she remained in Maryland. The Terps likely don’t opt to add one or both of Marya Boiko and Nicole Fritea, and their injury-fueled midseason scoring issues could have looked different.