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Craig Houtz

Lady Lions Host Defending Ivy League Champions on BTN Sunday



UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State women's basketball team returns home to open a three-game homestand with a nationally-televised showdown against defending Ivy League champion Princeton Sunday. Tipoff from the Bryce Jordan Center is set for 2 p.m.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
Tickets
TV: Big Ten Network | Online Video
Listen: 1390 AM and Online
Live Stats
Game Notes: Penn State Notes
 
PROMOTIONS

  • National Mickey Mouse Day
  • Princess and Superheros Day
  • Pre-Game Kids Zone

 
OPENING TIPS

  • Penn State hosts a Princeton team that has made nine-straight national postseason tournament appearances Sunday at 2 p.m.
  • The Lady Lions are coming off a 72-55 victory at Fordham Wednesday night. Penn State outscored the Rams 34-11 in the second half to pick up the Lady Lions' second victory of the season.
  • Three Lady Lions are averaging double-digit points, led by Teniya Page's 16.0 ppg.

 
IF PENN STATE BEATS PRINCETON

  • Head Coach Coquese Washington would capture her 200th career victory, becoming the sixth active Big Ten women's basketball coach to earn 200-plus victories at their current school.
  • The Lady Lions would move to 29-7 in the Bryce Jordan Center dating back to the start of the 2016-17 season.

 
SCOUTING PRINCETON

  • Princeton, the defending Ivy League Champions, has made nine-straight national postseason tournament appearances, seven of which were NCAA Tournament bids.
  • The Tigers are 1-2 on the young season, with their most recent game being a 70-66 loss to a 4-0 Seton Hall team Wednesday night.
  • Princeton opened the season with a big 89-65 win at Rider on Nov. 16 before falling at George Washington, 64-49, on Nov. 11.
  • Three Tigers are averaging double-digit points, led by Gabrielle Rush's 16.0 points per game. Carlie Littlefield follows with 15.3 ppg, while Taylor Baur has chipped in 10.0 ppg and a team-best 9.0 rebounds per contest.
  • The Tigers have played without 2018 Ivy League Player of the Year Bella Alarie so far this year. Princeton released a statement on Nov. 1 stating that Alarie will miss time during the non-conference season due to a broken bone in her arm.

 
ALL-TIME VS. THE IVY LEAGUE

  • Penn State and Princeton will be meeting for the first time Sunday.
  • The Lady Lions are 1-0 all-time against current Ivy League members. Penn State beat Yale 97-47 on Feb. 22, 1985 in the only other meeting with an Ivy League squad.

 
THE BIG 200

  • After victories over Providence (74-72) and Fordham (72-55), head coach Coquese Washington needs just one more win to reach the 200-victory mark for her career. She currently holds a 199-152 career record.
  • Over her 11-plus seasons on the Penn State sidelines, Washington has enjoyed three Big Ten regular-season championships and seven national postseason appearances, including four NCAA Tournament berths. 
  • If Penn State beats Princeton, Washington will become the sixth active Big Ten women's basketball coach to earn 200-plus victories at their current school. She would join Iowa's Lisa Bluder (369 wins), Maryland's Brenda Frese (432 wins), Michigan State's Suzy Merchant (245 wins), Purdue's Sharon Versyp (259 wins), and Rutgers' C. Vivian Stringer (450 wins).

 
CARDIAC KIDS

  • Penn State has shown great deal of tenacity in its first two wins of the season, rallying from a pair of 12-plus point deficits to come back and win.
  • Penn State erased a 14-point fourth quarter deficit by outscoring Providence 23-9 in the final 10 minutes to claim a thrilling 76-74 victory in the season opener on Nov. 8.
  • It marked the first time that Penn State rallied from a 15-point deficit to win in six years. The last time the Lady Lions erased a 15-point deficit was on Nov. 24, 2012 in an 85-73 win at Cal State Northridge. Penn State trailed by 17 with 5:52 left in the first half in that game.
  • Penn State put together another gutsy comeback performance at Fordham on Nov. 14. The Lady Lions trailed by 12 with 8:19 to play in the second quarter, but outscored the Rams 34-11 in the second half en route to a 72-55 victory.

 
FRAZIER FLOURISHING

  • Junior Siyeh Frazier is off to a hot start this season. She's averaging 14.0 points per game while shooting 48.6 percent (17-for-35) from the field. The Detroit native also leads the team with 10 steals.
  • Frazier contributed 7.4 points per game as a sophomore in 2017-18. She was named the Team's Defensive MVP at the conclusion of her sophomore season.
  • Frazier has come in clutch in Penn State's two wins. She secured a steal in the final seconds that led to PSU's game-winning points in the 74-72 comeback win over Providence. She then contributed eight points and two steals in a 3:30 second-quarter stretch at Fordham to help the Lady Lions trim down a 12-point deficit.

 
TRACKING TENIYA

  • Teniya Page, a 2018 Consensus Preseason All-Big Ten Selection, has proven to be one of the strongest guards in the Big Ten from the day she stepped on campus. The guard has collected All-Big Ten accolades in each of her first three years, earning first team honors as both a sophomore and junior. Page was named a WBCA All-America honorable mention selection in 2016-17 following her standout sophomore campaign.
  • Page has totaled 1,637 career points, putting her just 363 points away from hitting the 2,000-point mark. She would become the sixth Lady Lion to reach the milestone if she hits the 2,000-point mark. With 29 regular-season games scheduled and at least one postseason contest guaranteed (Big Ten Tournament), Page will need to average 13.7 points per game this season to reach the milestone. She averaged 15.3 points per game as a freshman, 19.9 as a sophomore and 18.4 as a junior.
  • Her 1,637 career points put her at No. 11 on PSU's all-time career scoring list. She's 26 points away from entering the top ten.
  • The standout has already etched her names into several of Penn State's record books. Her 17.8 points per game career scoring average ranks No. 4 all-time. She is one of five Penn Staters with 1,500 career points and 300 career assists. Page owns seven career 30-point games to sit tied for No. 2 all-time at Penn State with Maggie Lucas (7; 2011-14). She's averaged 35.4 minutes per game throughout her career, a mark that ranks second in the Lady Lion history books.

NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP HERE

  • The three-member sophomore class of Sam Breen, Kamaria McDaniel and Alisia Smith have come into their own in the first three games of the season.
  • The three sophomores have combined for 35.3 percent (72-of-204) of PSU's points and 38.1 percent (45-of-118) of Penn State's rebounds in the first three games combined.
  • All three have up-ed their production from last season, with Alisia Smith making the biggest jump. As a freshman she averaged 5.2 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. So far this season, the forward has contributed 13.0 points and 8.7 boards per contest.

 
#BRINGTHEROAR

 
UP NEXT

  • The Lady Lions remain home to host North Dakota at 2 p.m. Wednesday in a Thanksgiving Eve matchup at the Bryce Jordan Center.