Nov. 22, 2017
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -The City of Lights plays host to the Penn State women's basketball team, as the Lady Lions travel to Las Vegas to play in the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout. Penn State will play Louisiana Tech on Friday, Nov. 24 before tangling with Kansas State on Saturday, Nov. 25.
Follow Along
Fans can follow along with Penn State's stay at the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout on Twitter and Instagram (@PennStateWBB), or via live audio, live stats and live video with the links to the right.
Series Quick Facts ââ'¬" Louisiana Tech
// Penn State is 3-7 all-time vs. Louisiana Tech, including a 1-2 record in neutral site contests. More on Page 4
// The last meeting came on Dec. 21, 2003, a 87-84 decision in favor of No. 12 Louisiana Tech in University Park, Pennsylvania.
Series Quick Facts ââ'¬" Kansas State
// Penn State is 1-1 all-time vs. Kansas State, with the Lady Lions winning the only neutral site meeting the series. More on Page 5
// Penn State defeated No. 9 Kansas State, 69-56, in the last meeting on Nov. 29, 2003 in the Junkanoo Jam in The Bahamas .
Opening Tips
// Penn State started the season 5-0 for the first time since 2012-13, when it began the season 5-0. It is also the third time head coach Coquese Washington started a season 5-0.
// Sophomore Jaida Travascio-Green poured in 31 points vs. Drexel to become the 17th Lady Lion to ever record a 30-point game. Her 31 points marked the 69th 30-point game in program history. MORE ON PAGE 6
// Penn State blocked 13 shots vs. Drexel on Nov. 12, a total that ranks No. 4 in school history and is the second-most blocked shots in Bryce Jordan Center history. MORE ON PAGE 8
// Freshman Kamaria McDaniel sparked Penn State with a career-high 20 points off the bench at Marshall. The rookie hit 7-of-11 shots and 5-of-8 shots from 3-point range. MORE ON PAGE 7
// Redshirt-sophomore Amari Carter scored a career-high 23 points at Providence and followed that with a 20-point effort vs. Central Connecticut State. MORE ON PAGE 6
// Head coach Coquese Washington is looking for her 200th career victory, entering tonight with 186 career wins on the sidelines. More on Page 8
// Penn State is one of 11 Division I programs to enter the 2017-18 season with zero seniors on its roster, including one of only two power five conference teams. MORE ON PAGE 8
// Penn State inked three prep standouts for the 2018-19 season, with Lauren Ebo, Karisma Ortiz and Bexley Wallace all singing National Letters of Intent on Nov. 8. MORE ON PAGE 9
Scouting the Lady Techsters
// The Lady Techsters enter the weekend with a 3-1 overall record, starting the season with wins over Grambling, LSU-Alexandria and Memphis at home, before falling at Auburn in their last contest before the South Point Shootout.
// Louisiana Tech has owned the boards in its first four games, owning a plus-13 rebound margin. The Lady Techsters are averaging 45.5 rebounds per game, while the opposition is sitting at 32.5 boards per contest.
// The Lady Techsters have both forced turnovers and given the ball away. Louisiana Tech is averaging 20.8 turnovers per game, while forcing 18.8 missteps per contest.
// Kierra Anthony leads the way in the scoring column at 13.8 points per game, while Alexus Malone chips in 12.0 points per contest.
// Malone also leads the team with 8.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.
// Amber Dixon leads the team with 6.2 assists per game.
Scouting the Wildcats
// Kansas State enters the South Point Shootout with a 4-0 mark, including a road victory at North Texas. // The Wildcats also have wins over Stephen F. Austin, Omaha and Florida A&M (in order) to open the season.
// The Wildcats will face UCLA in their opening game of the South Point Shootout on Friday evening.
Rachel Ranke has appeared in all four games with three starts, not cracking the starting five in the season opener, but scoring 10 points with seven boards vs. Stephen F. Austin to earn the starting spot.
// Ms. Do-It-All Shaelyn Martin is averaging 7.8 points, a team-best 8.0 rebounds and 5.7 assists in four starts.
// Kaylee Page and Kayla Goth are two of three Kansas Staters to average double-figures, sitting at 12.8 and 12.3 points, respectively, entering the weekend.
Last Five Games
// Penn State is riding a five-game winning streak to start the 2017-18 campaign, the longest winning streak since a six-gamer from Nov. 30, 2016-Dec. 20, 2016.
// Penn State has wins over five different conference, defeating (in order) Siena (Metro Atlantic), Drexel (Colonial), Marshall (C-USA) and Providence (BIG EAST), Central Connecticut State (Northeast).
// The five-game winning streak to start the season is the longest since winning five-straight games to open the 2012-13 season.
// Over the last four games, Penn State has four victories of 10-plus points, with the other victory coming by nine points at Providence.
// As a team, Penn State has reached the 80-point mark in four of five games this season, including a season-best 86 points vs. Siena in the season opener.
// Redshirt-sophomore Amari Carter has reached double-figures in the scoring column in four of five games this season. She averages 15.6 points per game.
// Carter has also handed out at least five assists in four of five games, including nine assists vs. Drexel.
// Redshirt-sophomore De'Janae Boykin has pulled in five-or-more rebounds in each game this season. She had a career-best 19 boards vs. Drexel.
// Freshman Kamaria McDaniel has reached double-figures in two of her last three games, scoring 20 points at Marshall and 17 against Central Connecticut State. She had six points at Providence during that stretch.
Last Meeting ââ'¬" at Penn State 73, Central Connecticut State 47 (Nov. 22, 2015)
// Jess Strom hit a 3-pointer with three seconds left to tie the game at 82 apiece, but Amber Obaze came back with a three of her own with 1.2 seconds left to give the Techsters a three-point lead they would not relinquish.
// The last 1.2 seconds took several minutes to complete as the No. 12/12 Lady Techsters mobbed Obaze on the court as they thought time had run out.
// After consulting the video monitor, they set the clock at 1.2 seconds, giving the No. 6/6 Lady Lions one last attempt to win.
// Tanisha Wright was fouled and made her first, then tried to miss the second only to see it bank in.
// Kelly Mazzante was then called for a foul, giving Tasha Crain two free throws which she made to seal the game.
// Mazzante led the team with 29 points, and Wright finished an all-around game of 19 points, five assists and a team-best nine rebounds.
// With her 29 points on the afternoon, Mazzante inched closer to the Big Ten all-time scoring mark, and was only 132 points shy from the record of 2,578 set by Ohio State's Katie Smith.
// The loss snapped the Lady Lions' 24-game home winning streak.
Last Meeting ââ'¬" Penn State 69, Kansas State 56 (Nov. 29, 2003)
// Penn State captured the Junkanoo Jam title with a 69-56 victory over Kansas State, as the No. 8 Lady Lions downed the No. 9 Wildcats on Grand Bahama Island.
// Tanisha Wright earned tournament MVP honors after scoring 23 points in the event finale - doing do on her birthday.
// Jess Strom and Kelly Mazzante joined Wright on the all-tournament team.
// Both teams came out firing from behind the arc, and by halftime, Penn State had already attempted 14 threes, making 6-of-19 in the game, while Kansas State went 5-of-21 from 3-point range.
// The Lady Lions fell behind early, before taking a 31-26 lead into the break behind late 3-pointers from Strom and Mazzante.
// Penn State opened the second half with two straight fast break buckets and a short jumper by Wright
// The Lady Lions battled foul trouble inside, with starting center Ashli Schwab collecting four fouls and Reicina Russellsitting with three just three minutes into the second half.
// Kansas State's Nicole Ohlde took advantage to the tune of 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Complete notes package available by clicking here.