Penn State set to battle Iowa, Caitlin Clark with NCAA Tournament hopes in jeopardy

Penn State routed Wisconsin 80-56 during the first round of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday night.

Currently rated as one of Charlie Creme’s first four out in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, the Nittany Lions are set to battle Caitlin Clark and Iowa Friday. A win there would be incredibly attractive to the selection committee this Sunday regardless of how far Penn State makes it in the tournament after that.

Head coach Carolyn Kieger praised her team’s performance postgame, and feels like her team is clicking at the right time.

“I would say we’ve played our smartest games during the last two games in terms of defense and short close outs, packing the paint, gapping — which obviously gonna be a tall task to be able to gap when you’re playing Caitlin Clark — but I thought our team did a great job tonight.”

Penn State was 16-5 at the beginning of February. They entered the Big Ten Tournament 18-11 after losing six games in a row to start out the month. The Nittany Lions have since won three-straight.

Veteran point guard Ashley Owusu, who leads the team in scoring with 18.0 points per game. She made her case to the committee following the 24-point win.

“February was last season. This is postseason, which is a new season,” Owusu said at the Big Ten postgame roundtable. “So coming in, we lost those six games, but we’re ready to play postseason and ready to continue what we’re doing. … If we want to get to where we’re going, we’re gonna have to play a lot of games everyone’s gonna have to stay fresh and ready to go.”

The win improves the Nittany Lions to 19-11 on the season, but they have a 3-8 overall record against Quad 1 opponents. Still, Penn State sits at No. 25 in the current NET Rankings. A win over Iowa, who many project to be a two seed at worst, would improve all of those numbers. Simply, this has the potential to be a win-and-you’re-in situation.

Tip-off between the Nittany Lions and Hawkeyes is scheduled for Friday at 6:30 p.m. ET. All broadcasts of the Big Ten Tournament’s quarterfinals will air live on the Big Ten Network.

Most recently, Clark broke the NCAA’s all-time scoring record during Iowa’s 93-83 victory over top-seeded Ohio State last Sunday. She’ll be looking to add to those totals beginning on Friday against the Nittany Lions.