Penn State's first women's hockey team – a club team called the "Lady Icers" – began play in the 1996–97 season, after students Ellen Bradley and Kathy Beckford recruited players from around campus and Vinnie Scalamogna, the assistant manager of the Penn State Ice Pavilion (then the university's sole ice facility), as coach.

PSU finished the year by claiming the ECWHL regular season title, but then losing to Rhode Island in the league's playoff championship game.

[20] The Nittany Lions launched their NCAA era with a 5–3 victory over Vermont at Gutterson Fieldhouse on October 6, 2012, helped by a pair of goals each from Micayla Catanzariti and Shannon Yoxheimer.

[22] The Nittany Lions skidded the rest of the way through, managing only two wins (both against NCAA Division III Chatham University) over the final 21 games of the season, including a sweep by RIT in the first round of the CHA playoffs.

[24] However, despite eight ties or overtime losses and thanks largely to scoring just 1.36 times per game,[25] the Nittany Lions regressed to four wins overall and were once again swept by RIT in the first round of the CHA playoffs.

[27][28] However, the team slid slightly backwards in 2015–16, matching the previous season's CHA standings placement and playoff results (a first-round sweep of RIT followed by a triple-overtime loss to Syracuse in the semifinals) but finishing only 12–19–6 overall.

[29] A few weeks after the conclusion of the 2013–14 season, a group of thirteen players spoke with Penn State Associate Athletic Director Charmelle Green to "express their frustration with Brandwene and concerns about the future of the program.

"[30] Seven of this group were subsequently cut from the team, including Jessica Desorcie, Darby Kern, Cara Mendelson, Brooke Meyer, Katie Murphy, Birdie Shaw and Madison Smiddy.

"[30] Over the days following Murphy's comments, others formerly involved with the program, including strength and conditioning coach Rob McLean[31] as well as outgoing transfer players Katie Zinn and Taylor McGee[32] also spoke critically of Brandwene.