Blue White Illustrated

N o one was expecting a quick fix when Carolyn Kieger was hired last spring to take over a Penn State women's basketball program that had endured four nonwinning seasons in the previous five years. Sure enough, Kieger's first sea- son was a struggle. That season ended on March 4 with an 85-65 loss to Minnesota in the first round of the Big Ten tourna- ment in Indi- anapolis. It was the Lady Lions' 15th consecutive loss, and it dropped their final record to 7- 23. They went 1-17 in Big Ten play, claiming their only conference win on Jan. 9 when they beat Michigan State, 86-73, at the Bryce Jordan Center. Against Minnesota, Penn State looked strong in the first half and held a seven-point lead early in the third quarter, but the Gophers went on a 28- 7 run and never looked back. The loss was indicative of Penn State's season in two key ways. First, it illustrated the Lady Lions' penchant for up-and-down play, an inability to put 40 solid minutes together. "I loved our fight in the second quarter," Kieger said. "I thought we shared the basketball well. Second half, I thought we got really selfish on offense. Our discipline and our lack of habits and our bad habits show up during a 40-minute game, and we've just got to spend this entire off-season getting better. We've got to be way better." One area in which the Lady Lions will absolutely have to be better is on the defensive end. The Gophers shot nearly 50 percent as a team, and that performance was not out of character for a Penn State opponent. The Lady Lions finished last in the Big Ten in scoring defense, giving up an average of 76.2 points per game. Opponents hit 43.8 percent of their attempts from the field vs. Penn State, the highest average in the conference. "We've got to learn how to play some defense," Kieger said. "It's a huge liability for us, and we're spend- ing a lot of time in the off-season working on that." The Lady Lions will have to replace their second-leading scorer, as guard Siyeh Frazier is graduating after aver- aging 13.4 points as a senior. Frazier was also a defensive standout, ranking third in the Big Ten in steals with an average of 2.3 per game. But of the eight other players who made at least one start this season, all have one or more years of eligibility remaining. What's more, Penn State will welcome a four-player recruiting class high- lighted by point guard Leilani Kapi- nus, the 30th-ranked overall prospect in the country according to ESPNU HoopGurlz. Of the returnees, the biggest name is Kamaria McDaniel. The junior guard from Inkster, Mich., enjoyed a break- through season for Penn State, finish- ing second in the Big Ten in scoring at 19.8 points per game and claiming first-team All-Conference recogni- tion from the media (second-team from the coaches). McDaniel reached double figures in all but two of Penn State's 30 games, including a 22-point effort in the loss to the Gophers. She also drew 11 fouls in the game, impressing Kieger with her aggressiveness. "The way she attacks the rim with the ball in her hands is elite," Kieger said. "What we're working on is trying to make her a complete player. I'm ex- cited for an off-season to work with her and fine-tune her game and help her understand what it means to be an elite-level guard." McDaniel said that as she prepares for her senior season, she'll be focused on doing whatever is necessary to help Penn State rebuild its program. "None of my personal accolades matter," she said. "I'm trying to win." ■ W O M E N ' S B A S K E T B A L L Loss at Big Ten tourney ends Lady Lions' season | McDANIEL dence he continued to exude even amid his struggles earlier in the year. "Sometimes the ball just doesn't go in," Dread said. "I shoot thousands and thou- sands of shots, hundreds of shots a day, thousands of shots a week, but I've done enough repetition to know as soon as I re- lease the ball if it's in or not. So I'll just get back in the gym tomorrow and shoot some more and keep doing what I've been doing my whole life." The recent performances stand as a re- minder of the principles that have led to the team's success this season. The Lions haven't panicked during their slumps, nor have they gotten complacent when they've been winning. Dread was hitting 31.9 per- cent from 3-point range and 34.3 percent overall heading into the Big Ten tourna- ment, and he was determined to stick with the approach that had gotten him this far. "I'm going to get back in the gym to- morrow, shoot some more shots, and move on," he said. "I'll continue to play hard, play defense, rebound and take charges – do the little things, and the ball will find its way into the basket." ■

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