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Craig Houtz

Penn State Hosts #17/24 Indiana In Thursday Night Showdown



UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State women's basketball team returns to the friendly confines of the Bryce Jordan Center Thursday night to host #17/24 Indiana in a nationally-televised battle on the Big Ten  Network. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.
 
PROMOTIONS 

  • Crack The Safe Night: fans in attendance will be given clues throughout the game to help determine a combination to open a safe that holds prizes.
  • Postgame autographs with selected student-athletes

 
FOLLOW ALONG

 
OPENING TIPS

  • Penn State looks to snap a three-game skid Thursday night when the #17/24 Indiana Hoosiers come to town for a 6 p.m. nationally-televised battle at the BJC.
  • Penn State is 7-11 overall and earned its first Big Ten victory of the season against Michigan State on Jan. 9. Four of Penn State's wins this season have come over 2019 NCAA Tournament teams.
  • Junior Kamaria McDaniel is the Big Ten's second-leading scorer with 19.1 points per game. Senior Siyeh Frazier (12.9 ppg) is also averaging double-digit points.

 
IF PENN STATE BEATS INDIANA

  • Penn State would earn its second win of Big Ten play and snap a three-game losing streak.
  • The Lady Lions would hand Indiana its fourth-straight loss.
  • Penn State would improve to 6-5 at the Bryce Jordan Center this season.

 
SCOUTING INDIANA

  • #17/24 Indiana enters Thursday's contest with a 14-5 overall record and 4-3 mark in Big Ten play.
  • The Hoosiers started conference play 4-0, but have since lost three-straight games. Indiana fell in double overtime at Iowa (85-91) on Jan. 12 before dropping a home overtime contest to Northwestern (69-71) on Jan. 16. The Hoosiers are coming off a 62-76 loss at Maryland in their most recent game Monday night.
  • Indiana ranks in the top three of the Big Ten in scoring margin (+16.9 - second), field goal percentage (48.0 - second), field goal percentage defense (35.5 - second), three-point field goal percentage defense (24.8 - first) and defensive rebounds (28.6 - first).
  • Six Hoosiers are avering nine or more points per game, led by Grace Berger's 13.5 points per contest.

 
AGAINST THE HOOSIERS

  • Penn State leads the all-time series against Indiana 33-14, including a 19-3 edge when playing in Happy Valley. The Hoosiers have won five of the last six meetings, but Penn State emerged victorious in the last matchup in the BJC on Jan. 3, 2018.
  • The two teams last met on New Year's Eve a season ago, with Indiana claiming an 83-75 victory.
  • The Hoosiers held a one-point lead entering the fourth quarter before outscoring the Lady Lions 27-20 in the final term with the help of a 13-for-15 showing from the free throw line and 12 fourth-quarter points from Ali Patberg.
  • Teniya Page led four Lady Lions in double figures with 24 points. Alisia Smith and Kamaria McDaniel followed with 15 and 14 points, respectively, while Siyeh Frazier added 11.
  • Sophomores Alisia Smith and Kamaria McDaniel followed with 15 and 14 points, respectively, while junior Siyeh Frazier added 11.

 
PROWLING AT NIGHT

  • Penn State is 4-1 in night games (after 5 p.m. local) this season and the Lady Lions are  3-1 in games played on Thursdays.
  • PSU earned wins over Fordham (Nov. 13), Clemson (Nov. 21), Pittsburgh (Dec. 5) and Michigan State (Jan. 9) in 7 p.m. contests. Three of those teams were 2019 NCAA Tournament competitors.
  • Penn State's only loss in a night game came on Jan. 16 in a close 57-62 defeat to Rutgers.

 
DANGEROUS DUO

  • The duo of senior Siyeh Frazier and junior Kamaria McDaniel became the first pair of Penn State players to both score 20-plus points in back-to-back games since the 2011-12 season.
  • Frazier and McDaniel both scored 24 points against Michigan State on Jan. 9 and followed that with 22-point performances at Ohio State on Jan. 12.
  • The last time the same two players scored 20-plus points in back-to-back games was Nov. 26 and Nov. 30, 2011 when Zhaque Gray and Maggie Lucas did so. Gray scored 21 against Nevada on Nov. 26, 2011 and 25 against North Carolina on Nov. 30, 2011, while Lucas dropped 26 against Nevada and 21 against UNC.
  • Frazier and McDaniel have been off to a torrid start in conference play. McDaniel is averaging 20.7 points per conference game, while Frazier owns a mark of 14.7 points per Big Ten contest.

 
KAMARIA McBUCKETS

  • Kamaria McDaniel is the Big Ten's second-leading scorer and averaging 19.1 points per game. That mark ranks 30th in all of Division I as of Jan. 22. Her 20.7 points per Big Ten game ranks second in the conference.
  • She dropped the third 40-point game in program history against Pittsburgh on Dec. 5 and put up a 31-point performance against Minnesota in the Big Ten opener on Dec. 28. McDaniel was just one assist away from recording Penn State's first triple-double of the Big Ten era on Jan. 9 against Michigan State as she tallied team-best marks of 24 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. It marked her first career double-double.

 
UP NEXT

  • Penn State heads to Purdue Sunday at 2 p.m. for another nationally-televised showdown on the Big Ten Network.