Blue White Illustrated

Basketball Ratings, thanks in large part to the nation's seventh-hardest sched- ule. The Lions were the highest-rated team with a losing record in the Ken- Pom, clearing Missouri by 26 places, and they proved themselves capable of competing with and, eventually, beating teams that would reach the NCAA tour- nament. And maybe most important, the expe- riences gleaned from that schedule would prove to be important for a roster that is likely to remain largely intact for the 2019-20 season. "These experiences are all new for these freshmen. I think these freshmen are going to be really, really good, and they've shown that. They showed it es- pecially in the month of February and March," Chambers said. "Another great experience, another great learning les- son, another growth opportunity, and that's the way I'm going to present it. "Our freshmen become sophomores, that's a great thing. Sophomores be- come juniors, and juniors become sen- iors. I really like the direction of where this program is headed." ■ W O M E N ' S B A S K E T B A L L PSU hires Kieger as head coach Carolyn Kieger, who built Mar- quette into one of the top pro- grams in the Big East, has been named head coach of the Penn State women's basketball team. Keiger, a 2019 Naismith Women's Coach of the Year Award semifi- nalist, was announced on April 3 as the Lady Lions' new coach, nearly four weeks after athletic di- rector Sandy Barbour launched a national search for Coquese Washington's successor. Kieger (pronounced KEE-ger) is a 2006 Marquette graduate who spent five years at the helm of her alma mater, posting a 99-64 over- all record. During the past three seasons, she led the Golden Eagles to a 76-26 mark (43-11 Big East), which included a pair of Big East regular-season championships, a conference tournament title and three NCAA tournament appear- ances. In this year's NCAA tour- ney, the fifth-seeded Golden Eagles opened with a 58-54 over- time victory over Rice before falling to fourth-seeded Texas A&M, 78-76, in the round of 32. "We are excited about the ex- pertise, passion, compassion, leadership and enthusiasm Car- olyn will bring to our program and its students, and to her engage- ment with recruits, our Lady Lion alumni and fans in returning Penn State to a position of competing for championships, with contin- ued academic achievement and community impact," Barbour said. Prior to serving as head coach at Marquette, the Roseville, Minn., native spent six seasons as an as- sistant at the University of Miami. BWI will have more on Kieger's hiring in our next edition. ■ N O T E B O O K BARBOUR OFFERS SUPPORT A

• Cover