Lady Tigers Open Season Sunday

GAME SETUP

Site: Littlejohn Coliseum (10,000)Date: Sunday, November 11, 2012City: Clemson, SCTime: 2:00 PMRadio: WCCP 104.9 FM (Roy Philpott, Kanetra Queen)Web: TigerCast on ClemsonTigers.comPromotions: Food Drive

CLEMSON, SC – The Clemson women’s basketball team will tip off the 2012-13 regular season on Sunday at 2:00 pm when the play host to the Presbyterian College Blue Hose in Littlejohn Coliseum. The Lady Tigers begin their third season of play under head coach Itoro Çoleman.

The Lady Tigers are 3-0 against the Blue Hose all-time, with all three of those meetings coming in Littlejohn Coliseum. The most recent meeting came in 2010, Coleman’s first season, as the Tigers took a 61-49 decision. Only two of Clemson’s players, Quinyotta Pettaway and Chancie Dunn, were on the roster for that contest. Both appeared in the game for a total of 36 minutes and ten points.

The Lady Tigers return 74 percent of their scoring, 76 percent of rebounding, 88 percent of assists, and 89 percent of their steals from a season ago.

Clemson’s two top scorers, Nikki Dixon (12.4 ppg) and Pettaway (9.1 ppg) are each back this season. Pettaway also led the team in rebounding last season at 7.2 per game.

Defense has been a priority for the Lady Tigers, who improved in nearly every statistical category from 2010-11 to 2011-12. Most notably, they held opponents to five points fewer per game overall and ten points fewer in ACC play over the previous season.

Four freshmen will likely make their respective debuts on Sunday, in what is one of the most heralded recruiting classes in school history. Led by No. 17 overall player in the class, Jonquel Jones, and the No. 65 player, Danaejah Grant, the Tigers will show some new firepower in the lineup as part of a class that ranked 16th nationally by two major recruiting services.

Clemson will play its’ first of ten home Sunday contests this season. The Lady Tigers start the season with home games against the Blue Hose and South Florida on Tuesday, Nov. 13, before heading away from home for four games. The Tigers will play at South Carolina in a televised contest on Nov. 18 before heading to Dallas, TX for a tournament at SMU. Finally, Clemson will play at Indiana in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.