Penn State Hosts #23 Northwestern Sunday At NoonPenn State Hosts #23 Northwestern Sunday At Noon
Mark Selders

Penn State Hosts #23 Northwestern Sunday At Noon


UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State women's basketball team remains home Sunday to welcome #23 Northwestern to the Bryce Jordan Center for a noon tipoff.
 
PROMOTIONS

  • Alumni Weekend
  • 20th Anniversary Celebration for the 2000 Final Four Team
  • Girl Scout Day
  • National Girls and Women in Sports Day
  • Pre-game autograph session with softball team on the concourse



 
FOLLOW ALONG

 
OPENING TIPS

  • Penn State closes a two-game homestand with a Sunday showdown against #23 Northwestern at the Bryce Jordan Center.
  • Penn State is 7-14 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 leading scorer with 20.0 points per game. Senior Siyeh Frazier (12.6 ppg) is also averaging double-digit points.

 
IF PENN STATE BEATS NORTHWESTERN

  • Penn State would beat a team that is ranked in the top 25 of one of the national polls for the first time since Jan. 18, 2018 when the Lady Lions defeated visiting #25/21 Rutgers, 70-67.
  • Penn State would earn its second win of Big Ten play and snap a six-game losing streak.

 
SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN

  • The #23/RV Wildcats are currently tied for second place in the Big Ten standings with an 8-2 conference record that is part of an 18-3 overall mark.
  • Northwestern is coming off an 81-73 win over Michigan Thursday night in its most recent game.
  • The Wildcats' only two conference losses this season have come at Maryland (61-70, Jan. 26) and against Iowa (51-77, Jan. 5).
  • Northwestern ranks in the top three of the Big Ten in scoring defense (55.8 ppg - second), assists (18.1 per game - second), steals (10.9 per game - second) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.5 - first).
  • Lindsey Pulliam leads the team with 19.2 points per game, while Abi Scheid (11.7 ppg) and Abbie Wolf (11.5 ppg) are also averaging double figures.

 
AGAINST THE WILDCATS

  • Penn State holds a 38-9 all-time advantage over Northwestern, including a 21-1 mark against the Wildcats when playing in Happy Valley.
  • The Lady Lions have won 13 of the last 15 matchups between the two teams.
  • Northwestern earned an 85-59 win in the first meeting of the season just two weeks ago on Jan. 19 in Evanston, Ill. The Wildcats raced out to a 24-7 lead in the first quarter and never looked back as Penn State's slow start led to the 85-59 loss.
  • Junior Kamaria McDaniel led Penn State with 18 points, while freshman Makenna Marisa scored a career-best 17 points. Both McDaniel and Marisa dished a team-best five assists as well.

 
20th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION OF 2000 FINAL FOUR TEAM

  • The Lady Lions host Alumni Weekend in conjunction with Sunday's game against Northwestern, with a special celebration planned for the 20-year anniversary of the 2000 Final Four team.
  • The 1999-00 Lady Lions earned the program's first Final Four berth with a dominating win over No. 1 seed Louisiana Tech, 86-65, in the Elite Eight of the 2000 NCAA Tournament. Penn State won its third Big Ten title with a 15-1 conference record. Helen Darling, who will be returning to Happy Valley this weekend, claimed Big Ten Player of the Year and first-team All-American honors.

 
SIYEH STEPPING UP HER GAME

  • Siyeh Frazier has taken her game to a new level in her senior season. She currently ranks second on the team with 12.6 points per game.
  • The Detroit native is shooting a team-best 42.1 percent (16-for-38) from three-point range. She entered this season having made only 12 three-pointers in her career, and has already drained 16 this season.
  • She leads the team with 48 steals and ranks third in the conference with 2.2 steals per game. She has already matched her mark of 48 steals from a season ago.

 
KAMARIA McBUCKETS

  • Kamaria McDaniel is the Big Ten's leading scorer and averaging 20.0 points per game. That mark ranks 16th in all of Division I as of Jan. 31. Her 22.3 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. She then put together a 35-point effort at Purdue on Jan. 26. It marked her third 30-plus point performance of the season.

 
UP NEXT

  • Penn State hits the road Thursday to face Rutgers at 7 p.m.
  • The Lady Lions will then return home Sunday to host their 14th-annual Play4Kay Game Benefiting Pink Zone when PSU welcomes Illinois at 2 p.m. on Feb. 9.