ORLANDO, Fla. – Highlighted by a sharp-shooting 24-point scoring outing from redshirt sophomore guard Moriah Murray, the Penn State women’s basketball rolled to a dominant 67-47 victory over Georgia on Saturday afternoon from State Farm Field House at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in the Lion finale at the State Farm WBCA Showcase.

The Lions matched their best start to a season since 2022-23 following Saturday’s electric 20-point victory over a power four conference opponent, rising to 7-0 overall. Penn State additionally started the 2022-23 season with a 7-0 record but had not accomplished that feat in the 26 years prior to that point.

Penn State closed out the State Farm WBCA Showcase unbeaten at the event, logging a pair of critical non-conference victories over the Bulldogs in addition to the Marshall Thundering Herd. Georgia and Penn State squared off in women’s basketball for just the third time in the storied programs’ respective histories, with the Lions picking up their first-ever win over the Bulldogs Saturday in Orlando.

In defeat, Georgia falls to 4-2 overall and returns home to Athens this Tuesday, November 26, with a 6 p.m. (ET) matchup against Prairie View A&M.

Penn State was clinical in every facet of its offensive attack Saturday afternoon, with the Lions outshooting Georgia 44% to 30% while lighting it up from long range. PSU was an ultra-effective 7-for-17 from long range, with Murray solely responsible for all seven of those 3-point makes. Penn State shot 41% from long range while holding the Bulldogs to a meager 28% efficiency from deep.

PSU was once again effective on the boards, winning the rebounding battle by a 45-38 differential while adding a stunning 36-18 differential in terms of points in the paint. The Lions were also far more impressive in the passing game, logging a 20-11 win in the assist column.

Individually, Murray continues to light things up from long range, finishing with a game-high 24 points on 8-for-16 shooting from the field with a 7-for-14 mark from 3-point land. Murray additionally poured in seven rebounds, besting a career high on the glass set against the Iowa Hawkeyes in a regular season meeting on February 8 of this year. Murray booked her fourth career 20-point scoring performance, with all four of those instances coming during the first seven games of the 2024-25 campaign.

Redshirt sophomore center Gracie Merkle once again managed a double-double in her second performance at the WBCA Showcase. Merkle, a native of Mount Washington, Kentucky, notched her 23rd career double-double and her fourth such performance since joining the Lions this year. Merkle contributed 12 points and 11 rebounds, reaching double figures in the scoring column in all seven of her Lion debut performances.

Graduate guard Alli Campbell also impressed in Saturday’s showing against Georgia, booking a career-high in scoring with 14 points while contributing a striking seven assists and five rebounds. Guards Gabby Elliott and Jayla Oden, as well as forwards Tamera Johnson and Grace Hall also worked their way onto the scoresheet for PSU in the 20-point Lion victory.

Georgia came away with the opening tipoff but failed to capitalize on the opening possession, paving the way for Murray to put the Lions on the board first with an emphatic left corner triple. The Bulldogs snapped back with a triple on the other end, but a layup from Merkle and another triple from Murray kept PSU on top.

Georgia booked back-to-back jumpers to make it a one-point game, but an and-one layup for Johnson put Penn State ahead by a 10-7 margin at the media timeout with 4:50 to play in the frame. After Johnson buried the free throw to make it 11-7, Georgia buried a pair of 3-point jumpers and added a fastbreak layup to cap off an 8-2 run that put the Bulldogs ahead by a 15-13 margin through the first 10 minutes of action.