Penn State Hits The Road For Rutgers Thursday NightPenn State Hits The Road For Rutgers Thursday Night
Mark Selders

Penn State Hits The Road For Rutgers Thursday Night

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State women's basketball team returns to the road when the Lady Lions travel to Rutgers for a Thursday night battle. Tipoff from Piscataway, N.J. is slated for 7 p.m.
 
FOLLOW ALONG

 
OPENING TIPS

  • Penn State hits the road for a mid-week showdown at Rutgers Thursday night in Piscataway, N.J.
  • Penn State 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 19.9 points per game. Senior Siyeh Frazier (12.7 ppg) is also averaging double-digit points.

 
IF PENN STATE BEATS RUTGERS

  • Penn State would earn its first win in Piscataway since 1997 and first since Rutgers has been a member of the Big Ten. PSU's last win at Rutgers was a 53-43 victory on Nov. 19, 1997.
  • Penn State would earn its second win of Big Ten play and snap a seven-game losing streak.

 
SCOUTING RUTGERS

  • Rutgers enters Thursday's game with a 16-5 overall record and 6-4 conference mark that is good for fifth place in the Big Ten standings.
  • The Scarlet Knights have dropped three of their last four games, including a 73-71 double-overtime loss at Minnesota in their most recent game Sunday.
  • Rutgers owns the stingiest defense in the Big Ten, allowing an average of just 55.0 points per game.
  • Arella Guirantes is the Big Ten's second-leading scorer, averaging 19.4 points per game. Tekia Mack follows with 12.3 ppg and a team-best 6.8 rebounds per contest. Khadaizha Sanders chips in 10.7 ppg.

 
AGAINST THE SCARLET KNIGHTS

  • Rutgers leads the all-time series that dates back to 1977, 28-19. Penn State is 1-8 against the Scarlet Knights since Rutgers joined the Big Ten.
  • Rutgers pulled away in the final minutes of the season's first meeting for a 62-57 win on Jan. 16 in Happy Valley. The Scarlet Knights spent the final 30 seconds of the game on a 7-3 run to secure the 62-57 victory.
  • Senior Siyeh Frazier led three Lady Lions in double figures with 14 points. Junior Kamaria McDaniel scored 11, while classmate Alisia Smith added 10.
  • Penn State held the Big Ten's then-leading scorer in Arella Guirantes to 10 points, her lowest-scoring effort that far into the season. She entered the game averaging 19.7 points per game.

 
KAMARIA McBUCKETS

  • Kamaria McDaniel is the Big Ten's leading scorer and averaging 19.9 points per game. That mark ranks 15th in all of Division I as of Feb. 5. Her 21.7 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. She then put together a 35-point effort at Purdue on Jan. 26. It marked her third 30-plus point performance of the season.
  • She has tallied nine 20-plus point efforts, six of which have come in conference play, and has scored in double figures in 21 of Penn State's 22 games.
  • The guard scored 20 or more points in four of Penn State's first five Big Ten games. She was the first Lady Lion to score 20-plus in four of the first five conference games since Tyra Grant did so during the 2009-10 season.
  • McDaniel's scoring jump comes after she finished her sophomore campaign averaging 9.7 ppg in 2018-19.

 
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 12.7 points per game.
  • The Detroit native is shooting a team-best 41.5 percent (17-for-41) from three-point range. She entered this season having made only 12 three-pointers in her career, and has already drained 17 this season.
  • She leads the team with 50 steals and ranks third in the conference with 2.2 steals per game. She has already surpassed her mark of 48 steals from a season ago.

 
FINDING THE FREE THROW LINE

  • Penn State ranks 12th nationally in free throws made (322) and 27th in free throws attempted (442) as of  Feb. 5.
  • Kamaria McDaniel has found her way to the free throw line the most, attempting a team-best 150 freebies. Her 150 free throw attempts lead the Big Ten and rank ninth in the nation. Freshman Makenna Marisa is shooting a team-best 84.9 percent (45-for-53) from the charity stripe.

 
UP NEXT

  • Penn State returns home Sunday to host Illinois in the Lady Lions' 14th-annual Play4Kay Game Benefiting Pink Zone.
  • Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m. from the Bryce Jordan Center.