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Mark Selders

Penn State Hosts Clemson Thursday Night



UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State women's basketball team faces off against Clemson in its fourth-straight home game Thursday night. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. from the Bryce Jordan Center.
 
PROMOTIONS

  • Throwback Thursday

 
FOLLOW ALONG

 
OPENING TIPS

  • Penn State remains home Thursday evening to host ACC foe Clemson at 7 p.m. inside the Bryce Jordan Center.
  • Penn State is 2-2 on the young season after collecting a 72-59 win over Fordham on Nov. 13 and a 73-67 victory at Towson in the season opener on Nov. 5.
  • Three Lady Lions are averaging double-digit points, with Kamaria McDaniel leading the way with 18.0 points per game. Siyeh Frazier (14.0 ppg) and Lauren Ebo (10.5 ppg) round out the double-digit scorers.

 
IF PENN STATE BEATS CLEMSON

  • Penn State would defeat a team that made an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2019 for the third time this season. The Lady Lions also defeated 2019 NCAA      competitors Towson and Fordham.
  • The Lady Lions would improve to 5-1 all-time against the Tigers.
  • Penn State would move to 3-2 on the season.

 
LAST TIME OUT

  • La Salle put together a fourth-quarter rally to hand the Penn State a tough 69-67 loss Sunday afternoon at the Bryce Jordan Center.
  • Junior Kamaria McDaniel led Penn State with a career-best 25 points on 10-of-16 shooting. Sophomore Lauren Ebo recorded her first double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

 
SCOUTING CLEMSON

  • Clemson is 2-2 on the young season with its wins coming against Furman (77-71) on Nov. 6 and Alabama State (76-43) on Nov. 18.
  • The Tigers have dropped contests to Navy (65-52) and Alabama (67-54).
  • Kobi Thornton leads the squad with 16.3 points per game, while Amari Robinson has chipped in 12.0 ppg and a team-best 7.3 rebounds per contest.
  • Clemson has shot a strong 47.5 percent (104-for-219) from the field this season, but the Tigers are shooting just 24.5 percent (12-for-49) from three-point range and averaging only 3.0 three-pointers per contest.
  • Clemson has also struggled from the charity stripe, shooting 54.9 percent (39-for-71).
  • The Tigers are coming off a 2018-19 season that saw them go 20-13 overall and advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

 
AGAINST THE TIGERS

  • Penn State and Clemson will be meeting for the first time since 2002.
  • The Lady Lions hold a 4-1 edge in the all-time series, including an 80-66 win in the most recent meeting on Dec. 7, 2002.
  • The two teams first met in 1982 before playing eachother in a pair of neutral site games in 1993 and 1999. They then played a home-and-home series in 2001 and 2002.

 
KIEGER INKS FOUR HIGHLY-TOUTED SIGNEES

  • Four signees have inked their National Letters of Intent during the November signing period to join the Penn State Women's Basketball program and head coach Carolyn Kieger in Happy Valley.
  •  The four-member class is comprised of Maddie Burke (Doylestown, Pa.), Kaci Donovan (Owego, N.Y.), Nan Garcia (Jeffersonville, Ind.) and Leilani Kapinus (Madison, Wis.).
  • Kapinus is a five-star recruit that was rated as the No. 8 player at her position and the No. 30 player overall in the recruiting class by ESPN.
  • Burke ranked in the top 50 of her class by Preferred Athlete (#27), Blue Star (#39) and Prospect Nation (#48). She has earned All-State honors and first team All-League accolades in all three of her high school seasons.
  • Nan Garcia ranked as the No. 24 player at her position by College Girls Basketball Report. She has totaled career numbers of 1,081 points (14.8 ppg), 486 rebounds (6.7 rpg), 138 steals (1.9 spg) and 88 assists (1.2 apg) at Jeffersonville High School.
  • Kaci Donovan is a two-time All-State and three-time All-Conference pick from Owego Free Academy. She has tallied 1,456 points (14.1 ppg), 504 rebounds (4.9 rpg), 236 assists (2.3 apg), 229 steals (2.2 spg) and 71 blocks (0.7 bpg) in 103 games played.

 
FINDING THE FREE THROW LINE

  • Penn State leads the Big Ten and ranks sixth nationally in free throws made (83) and ninth in free throws attempted (115) as of Nov. 20.
  • Penn State has scored 29.4 percent (83-of-282) of its points from the charity stripe through the first four games.
  • Kamaria McDaniel has found her way to the free throw line the most, attempting a Big Ten-best 26 freebies. Freshman Makenna Marisa is shooting a team-best 86.4 percent (19-for-22) from the charity stripe.

 
UP NEXT

  • Penn State closes out its five-game homestand Sunday afternoon against George Mason.
  • Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m. from the Bryce Jordan Center.