Penn State Athletics Women’s basketball drops fourth straight game, men’s lacrosse rebounds Women’s Basketball The Lady Lions have now lost four straight games, falling to Illinois 86-71 at home last night following a brutal 69-64 loss to Wisconsin at the dreaded Kohl Center. Despite senior Ashley Owusu scoring in double figures for the 10th straight game, Illinois completely outmatched Penn State to send the Lions frighteningly close to the NCAA bubble. ESPN’s updated placed Penn State as a No. 10 seed. Upcoming Games: Sunday at Maryland (1pm on Big Ten Plus), Thursday vs. Ohio State (6pm on Big Ten Network) Men’s Lacrosse Following last week’s heartbreaking upset loss to Colgate, the men’s lacrosse team responded with a hard-fought 18-10 win over Villanova on Saturday. Matt Traynor led the way for Penn State with six goals in the contest. The Nittany Lions fell to No. 13 in this week’s Inside Lacrosse poll. Upcoming Game: Saturday at Stony Brook (Noon on Lacrosse TV) Women’s Hockey The No. 14 women’s hockey team struggled with Robert Morris last weekend, tying the first game 4-4 and losing the second game in OT 4-3. Brianna Brooks scored three goals over the weekend to lead the Lions. Penn State could not find a win despite outshooting the Colonials 114-59 in the two games, including a 69-28 advantage in Game 2. Despite the setback, the Nittany Lions remain in first place in the CHA standings. Penn State holds a three-point lead over second-place Mercyhurst entering the final weekend of conference play. Upcoming Games: Friday (2pm on Big Ten Plus) and Saturday (1pm on Big Ten Plus) vs. RIT Men’s Volleyball The men’s volleyball team downed Fairleigh Dickinson 3-1 in its only match of the past week. Michal Kowal recorded 24 kills and hit .697 for the match to continue his impressive 2024 season. Three Penn State players rank in the top 16 in the NCAA in hitting percentage- Kowal, Toby Ezeonu, and John Kerr. The Nittany Lions now enter conference play with an 8-3 record and No. 9 NCAA ranking. Upcoming Games: Friday (7pm on ESPN+) and Saturday (5pm on ESPN+) at Princeton Source: https://www.blackshoediaries.com/2024/2 ... ll-big-ten