Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1187122
| A year ago, Kamaria McDaniel was one of the more productive players on the Penn State women's basket- ball team. She made five starts as a soph- omore and finished as the Lady Lions' third-leading scorer with an average of 9.7 points per game. She was 11th in the Big Ten in rebounds per game (7.1) and 13th in blocks per game (1.09). It was a fine season. But was fine sufficient? After watching Penn State make a quiet exit from the Big Ten tournament with a 65- 57 loss to Wisconsin in the first round, McDaniel wasn't so sure. "I feel like I was given a lot of God-given ability," she said, "and I was [relying] on that for a long time." Enter Carolyn Kieger. Penn State's new head coach arrived in April with a man- date to improve an under- achieving program. Kieger inherited a roster full of players like McDaniel, former high school stand- outs who maybe hadn't gotten the most out of their ability and definitely hadn't found the team success they had sought when they joined a Lady Lion program with a history of contending for Big Ten titles and appearing in NCAA tourna- ments. If there's one thing that Kieger has made clear in the eight months since she took over the program, it's that potential is not going to go unrealized on her watch. Since leaving her alma mater Marquette, she has strived to create a competitive culture in which players are always looking to max-out their abilities in every phase of their lives. McDaniel appears to be one of her early success stories. "She had a great summer session, and now she's kind of transforming into a leadership role as a junior," Kieger said. "She scored around nine points a game last year, but I look for her to kind of ex- plode into a scoring role this year – com- ing off of ball screens, shooting the three, W O M E N ' S B A S K E T B A L L SHOOTING FOR THE STARS Carolyn Kieger has ambitious plans as she works to engineer a Lady Lion resurgence NO NAME POS YR HT HOME SCHOOL 1 Alisia Smith F Jr. 6-3 Lansing, Mich. Waverly 2 Jayla James G Fr. 6-1 Upper Marlboro, Md. Riverdale Baptist 3 Nia Staples G Sr. 5-8 Cincinnati, Ohio Lakota West 4 Siyeh Frazier G Sr. 5-9 Detroit, Mich. Renaissance 5 Kamaria McDaniel G Jr. 5-10 Inkster, Mich. Dearborn Heights Robichaud 10 Mya Bembry G Fr. 6-1 West Orange, N.J. West Orange High School 11 Anna Camden F Fr. 6-3 Downingtown, Pa. The Shipley School 12 Kayleigh Semion G Sr. 5-6 Dunmore, Pa. Dunmore 20 Makenna Marisa G Fr. 5-11 McMurray, Pa. Peter's Township 23 Shay Hagans G Fr. 5-6 Manassas, Va. Osbourn Park 31 Jaida Travascio-Green G Sr. 6-2 Lisle, Ill. Downers Grove North 33 Lauren Ebo F So. 6-4 Washington, D.C. Riverdale Baptist 43 Bexley Wallace F So. 6-3 Pickerington, Ohio Pickerington Central 2 0 1 9 - 2 0 R O S T E R KIEGER