How To Watch, Game Preview and Game Thread: #4 UCLA Bruins at Penn State Lady Lions
The Bruins close out 2025 with an afternoon game against Penn State.
On Sunday, the #4 UCLA women’s basketball team earned a big road win over #19 Ohio State, 82-75. It was the Bruins’ closest win of the season against a very good conference opponent.
Today, UCLA is in University Park, Pennsylvania for a holiday matinee against the Lady Lions. It will be the Bruins’ first visit to Penn State since UCLA joined the Big Ten last season.
Today’s game will be played in the 6,502-seat Rec Hall rather than the larger Bryce Jordan Center, which seats 15,261. It’s probably a good choice by Penn State, even though the Bruins are one of the best teams in the country, as the Lady Lions two games at the Bryce Jordan Center against Nebraska and Arizona State each only saw about 1,600 fans as the announced attendance. If the Bruins managed to draw four times as many people to today’s game, Rec Hall would be packed, giving the Lady Lions the best home court advantage a 7-6 team could hope for.
Last Time Out
On Sunday, the Bruins defeated the Buckeyes, 82-75, in Columbus in front of 8,455 fans.
While the Bruins initially jumped out to a 7-0 start, the Buckeyes managed to come roaring back with a 7-0 run of their own to tie the game. A three-pointer from Gabriela Jaquez put UCLA back in front but Ohio State tied it back up at 10-10 with 3:20 left in the first.
When Charlisse Ledger-Walker hit a three with 2:43 to go in the quarter, it put the Bruins up for good and the first quarter ended with the score 18-16.
With 6:20 to go in the second quarter, Ohio State had closed the gap to 23-20, but from there, the Bruins pulled away. Eventually, they went up by 11 with 1:42 left in the half on a Kiki Rice layup which gave UCLA a 38-27 lead. When the buzzer sounded to end the half, the Bruins led 39-33.
Lauren Betts scored the first bucket of the second half but a nearly two-minute scoring drought by UCLA allowed the Buckeyes to make it a two-point game as they closed the Bruins’ lead to 41-39. Gianna Kneepkens ended Ohio State’s 6-0 run which kept the Buckeyes from being able to tie the game. Eventually, a free throw from Sienna Betts gave UCLA a 60-49 lead to match their biggest lead of the game. A 7-0 run by the Buckeyes made it a close game again as time ran down in the third quarter, but Rice hit a three with a second left and the Bruin led 63-56 after three.
The first basket of the fourth quarter was a three-pointer by Kneepkens with 8:47 to go. Not only did she hit the shot, but she was fouled as well and the ensuing free throw put the Bruins up by 11 again. Jaquez gave the Bruins a 12-point lead with another three with 7:50 to go. A layup by Rice with 5:44 to go stretched the lead to 16 and it would prove to be the game-winner as UCLA now led 76-60.
While Ohio State would outscore the Bruins 15-5 in the time remaining, it was too little, too late and UCLA held on for the W.
Five Bruins finished the game in double figures. UCLA was led by Betts who scored 18. She also grabbed 16 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season. Rice added 16 while Angela Dugalić scored 15. Both Jaquez and Kneepkens put up 12.
Penn State Lady Lions’ Starting Five
Penn State is coached by Carolyn Kieger who is in her seventh season with the Lady Lions. She has an overall record of 179-176 and a record of 80-111 at Penn State. She will start a lineup with three guards, a forward and a center.
Today’s game will be interesting for anyone who likes a matchup between centers. Penn State center Gracie Merkle leads the Lady Lions with 19.7 ppg and 8.4 rpg. So, it should be interesting to see her matched up against Lauren Betts. Last season, Merkle was held to just five points.
Sophomore guard Kiyomi McMiller is the only other player on the team to start every game so far and she is second on the team in both scoring with an average of 18.3 ppg and rebounding with an average of 5.2 rpg. McMiller also leads the team in both assists with 60 and steals with 27.
Freshman guard Tea Cleante is third in scoring with an average of 11.0 ppg. She is second on the team in steals with 26, one fewer than McMiller, as well as in assists with 36.
The fourth Lady Lion averaging in double figures is redshirt junior guard Moriah Murray. Murray is averaging 10.2 ppg and she has taken and made more threes than anyone else on the team. She is shooting 42.2% from beyond the arc.
The only starter who isn’t averaging in double figures is senior forward Maggie Mendelson who’s averaging 5.3 ppg in just three games since re-joining the team after volleyball season. She is also a middle blocker on the volleyball team.
Analysis
Penn State has lost two in a row and five of their last six. They lost by 23 to #14 Iowa on the road Sunday and by 16 to the Richmond Spiders, who UCLA faced in the NCAA Tournament last season.
The other three recent losses came against Nebraska, Arizona State and #3 South Carolina. The Lady Lions lost to the Gamecocks by 40 on the road, 95-55.
Suffice it to say that Penn State isn’t an especially good basketball team. So, this game should be over by halftime, for sure, if not by the end of the first quarter.
Here’s how to watch, listen and stream today’s UCLA women’s basketball game:
#4 UCLA Women’s Basketball (12-1, 2-0)
Opponent: Penn State Lady Lions (7-6, 0-2)
Series Record: UCLA leads, 3-1
When: 11:00 am PT, Wednesday, December 31, 2025
Where: Rec Hall, University Park, PA
TV: None
Live Stream: PeacockTV.com and the Peacock app with Sloane Martin and Kim Adams
Radio/Audio
Satellite Radio: SiriusXM Ch. 387 with Dave Marcus
Online: uclabruins.com
Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast
Game Notes:
UCLA
Go Bruins!!!
Thanks again for supporting The Mighty Bruin. Your paid subscriptions make this site possible. Questions, comments, story ideas, angry missives and more can be sent to @TheMightyBruin on Twitter.
This game was over three minutes into the game.
Bruins lead 46-23 at the half.
A good outing by the Bruins. The outcome was never in doubt, but they looked a lot better than the OSU game. Defense has really stepped up, and good to see Kneepkens on fire today after having an off night last time. Sienna also coming along, but still adjusting I think. USC should be a good game, I think they’re sneaky good and will be tough in the rivalry game. There’s too much focus on star players, so everyone is writing them off without JuJu, but they’ve recruited really well. Hopefully we can continue to beat teams with ex Bruins. Not mad or missing Londyn as Gianna is a huge upgrade, and Jones was sure to lose minutes so the move makes sense. Still want to beat anyone in a Trojan uniform.
It was also good to see the younger players in the second half. I think Sienna and Bilic are a solid core to build around, and Muse looked good today (although I’m not sure how high her ceiling is). Close has lots of work to do in the portal and recruiting - I’m thinking USC players could be targets as they may struggle to give minutes next year. We’ll need 5+ good pieces to stay near the Top and I’m not confident we can pull that off. The big risk is that our younger players get nervous about the team being competitive and move on.
Anyway - that’s a problem for the future - just enjoying the current season right now.
One last note, I’m wondering what the status of Timea is. If she’s not back soon, could she redshirt?