No. 14 Ohio State hosts Penn State following Merkle’s 24-point showing

Penn State Lady Lions (7-10, 0-6 Big Ten) at Ohio State Buckeyes (15-2, 5-1 Big Ten)

Columbus, Ohio; Wednesday, 6:30 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Penn State plays No. 14 Ohio State after Gracie Merkle scored 24 points in Penn State’s 92-76 loss to the Illinois Fighting Illini.

The Buckeyes have gone 9-1 in home games. Ohio State is 1-0 in games decided by 3 points or fewer.

The Lady Lions are 0-6 against Big Ten opponents. Penn State gives up 80.9 points to opponents while being outscored by 5.4 points per game.

Ohio State averages 84.9 points per game, 4.0 more points than the 80.9 Penn State gives up. Penn State has shot at a 46.7% clip from the field this season, 9.3 percentage points higher than the 37.4% shooting opponents of Ohio State have averaged.

The matchup Wednesday is the first meeting of the season for the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Jaloni Cambridge is averaging 21.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 2.4 steals for the Buckeyes. Chance Gray is averaging 12.0 points over the last 10 games.

Merkle is averaging 19.1 points and 7.6 rebounds for the Lady Lions. Kiyomi McMiller is averaging 18.4 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Buckeyes: 9-1, averaging 82.8 points, 35.4 rebounds, 18.4 assists, 13.5 steals and 4.4 blocks per game while shooting 45.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 61.6 points per game.

Lady Lions: 1-9, averaging 68.1 points, 32.2 rebounds, 15.4 assists, 7.9 steals and 2.2 blocks per game while shooting 42.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 87.3 points.

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.