Women’s Basketball to Hold Senior Day Thursday

Feb. 22, 2012

CLEMSON, SC – The Clemson women’s basketball team will close out the home portion of their 2011-12 schedule with a televised visit from Florida State  (13-15, 5-9 ACC) on Thursday at 7:00 pm in Littlejohn Coliseum. Clemson (6-19, 2-12 ACC) will honor seniors Lauren Couch before the game. Clemson and Florida State met earlier in the season, with the Seminoles taking a 59-47 decision in Tallahassee. The Noles enter having lost four straight games, while Clemson is riding a five-game skid. The game will be televised by CSS, and is also available on ESPN3.All three seniors are scheduled to receive their respective degrees in May, and will be recognized for their contributions to the program throughout the past four seasons. Pauldo and Mason have been fixtures in the Clemson lineup during their time at the University. Pauldo has appeared in 113 games, starting 55, and has a career scoring average of 8.1 points per game, totaling 918 points entering Thursday. She has accounted for 444 rebounds, 71 blocks, and nearly 2000 minutes of time on the court. She has scored 20-plus points 11 times in her career, including 23 in the ACC Tournament during her freshman season to lead Clemson to a victory over Georgia Tech. Mason has appeared in 110 career games, earning 37 starts and playing more than 1800 minutes. She is a model example of player development, as her scoring, rebounding, and shot-blocking averages have increased in each of her four seasons. She is also a two-time Academic All-ACC honoree, and will be best remembered on the court for her shot-blocking. Entering Thursday, Mason ranked second in school history in blocked shots (158), third in blocked shots per game for a career (1.34), and can still move into the top five in Clemson history in single-season blocks, as she is 2nd in the ACC this season with 67 overall for a 2.7 per game average. Couch joined the squad in the fall of 2011 after making the squad as a walk-on in an open tryout. The Camden, SC native has been called upon this season on several occasions in ACC play to run the point guard spot. She appeared in the first half of Clemson’s upset victory over No. 21 North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and recorded an assist and two rebounds in seven minutes of play against Virginia in Littlejohn Coliseum. She will graduate in May with a degree in Health Science. Despite the strong senior contributions this season, Clemson has played several freshmen big minutes, and they have responded. Nikki Dixon leads all players with a 12.9 points per game average, and ranks fourth in the ACC with 2.6 steals per game. Chelsea Lindsay leads all ACC freshmen in minutes per game, assists per game and assist-to-turnover ratio while starting every game for the Lady Tigers at point guard. Sophomore Quinyotta Pettaway has shown remarkable improvement this season, as she is coming off her fourth double-double of the season, upping her averages to 9.2 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. Clemson plays one more regular season game after Thursday, a Sunday showdown against Georgia Tech in Atlanta at Morehouse College. The Tigers will then play in the ACC Tournament on March 1 in Greensboro, NC.