Feb. 21, 1998
CLEMSON LADY TIGERS PROBABLE STARTERS (21-6 Overall, 11-4 in the ACC) Foward–#31 Jeanette Davis, 6-2, SR (5.5 ppg., 3.5 rpg.) Forward–#24 Nikki Blassingame, 6-3, JR (7.3 ppg., 4.9 rpg,) Center–#35 Kerri Thomas, 6-3, SR (6.2 ppg., 4.8 rpg.) Guard–#25 Itoro Umoh, 5-7, JR (11.3 ppg., 4.4 rpg.) Guard–#33 Amy Geren, 5-11, JR (14.4 ppg., 3.7 rpg.)
Head Coach: Jim Davis (229-108 in 11th season at Clemson, 248-116 career record, in 12th season on NCAA Division I Level)
CLEMSON PLAYS AT GEORGIA TECH SUNDAY–Clemson will play at Georgia Tech in the last game of the regular season before the ACC Tournament.
NATIONAL RANKINGS-Clemson is ranked 19th in both the Associated Press and USA Today polls.
THE SERIES– This will be the 39th meeting between Clemson and Georgia Tech on the basketball court. The Lady Tigers lead the overall series 30-8. The Lady Tigers have a 12-4 lead in the series involving games played in Atlanta, GA. This season, Clemson defeated Georgia Tech 79-56, on January 22. In this game, Atlanta native Kerri Thomas had 14 points and nine rebounds in the Lady Tigers victory.
CLEMSON’S RECORD–Clemson has a 21-6 record this season. The Lady Tigers have an 11-4 mark in the ACC. The Lady Tigers have won 18 of their last 22 games. The Lady Tigers finished the season undefeated at home with a 13-0 record. This is the first time the Lady Tigers have ever been undefeated at home. Clemson has won five games in a row.
LADY TIGER LEADERS–Clemson is led in scoring by junior Amy Geren with a 14.4 ppg. average. Itoro Umoh is averaging 11.3 ppg. Natasha Anderson is averaging 5.0 rpg. to lead the team. Umoh leads the team in assists (115) and steals (65).
ACC LEADER-Amy Geren leads the ACC in free throw pct. (.891) three-point field goal pct. (.430) and three-point goals per game (2.4). She is also seventh in the ACC in scoring with a 14.4 ppg. average.
TIGER STREAKS–Itoro Umoh has started 31 straight games dating back to the 1996-97 season. She has also scored in 62 straight games. Amy Geren has scored in 42 consecutive games. Geren has hit 57 of her last 61 free throws this season. She has also hit 20 free throws in a row.
GEREN HAS HOT HAND FOR THE LADY TIGERS-Geren leads the Lady Tigers in scoring this season with a 14.4 ppg. average. She is also 121-274 from the field for a .442 pct. Geren is also 64-149 from the three-point line for a .430 pct. Geren scored 26 points in the both the Duke game on December 13, and in the Florida State contest on December 16, for her season highs. She scored 21 points in the 74-70 overtime win over Maryland on 2-12-98.
CLEMSON HEAD COACH JIM DAVIS WINS 100TH ACC GAME–Clemson Head Coach Jim Davis won his 100th career regular season Atlantic Coast Conference game, (not including ACC Tournament games) with the 64-41 win over Wake Forest on February 15. Currently Davis has a 100-67 record against ACC foes during the regular season. He is the fourth winningest coach in the history of the ACC with the 100 victories.
LADY TIGERS WIN 11TH ACC GAME –Clemson has won 11 ACC games this season. This ties the school record for most ACC wins in a single season by Clemson. The 1994 team also had 11 ACC victories. With a win over Georgia Tech, the 1997-98 team could set the school mark for most ACC wins in a season.
CLEMSON WINS 20th GAME OF THE SEASON-Clemson won its 20th game of the season with the 64-41 win over Wake Forest on February 15. The Lady Tigers are now 21-6 this season. This marked the fifth time the Lady Tigers have won 20 or more games before the ACC Tournament in the history of the program. The Clemson teams that have won 20 or more games before the ACC tournament include: 1979-80, 1980-81, 1981-82, 1987-88, and 1997-98.
TWO CLEMSON PLAYERS REACH THE 900 POINT MARK-Two Clemson players reached the 900 point mark in their respective careers in recent games. Itoro Umoh now has scored 919 points, while Amy Geren has scored 912.
CLEMSON’S JIM DAVIS IS 8-4 IN OVERTIME GAMES DURING HIS CAREER–Head Coach Jim Davis is now 8-4 in overtime games during his career at Clemson. He has also guided the Lady Tigers to five straight wins in overtime games. Clemson defeated Maryland 74-70 in overtime on February 12. This season the Lady Tigers are 2-0 in overtime as the Lady Tigers also defeated N.C. State 68-58 in overtime on February 7.
UMOH HAS MORE STEALS THAN PERSONAL FOULS–Itoro Umoh has more steals (65) than fouls (58) this season, a rare occurrence in college basketball statistics.
ANDERSON STARS FOR THE LADY TIGERS-Natasha Anderson is the Lady Tigers’ third leading scorer with a 9.5 ppg. average. She was named the MVP at the Bahamas Shootout in Nassau, Bahamas on December 22-23. She tied her career high with an 18-point performance in the Virginia game on January 5. She also leads the team with a 5.0 rpg. mark. She had a career-high 11 rebounds vs. Florida State on 1-29-98.
CLEMSON WINS OVER UNC-ASHEVILLE 87-50–Jennifer Davis scored a career-high 17 points and teammate Amy Geren added 14 in leading 19th-ranked Clemson to a 87-50 win over UNC-Asheville, at Clemson, SC February 18.
This was the last home game for Clemson and the Lady Tigers finished undefeated (13-0) at home for the first time in the program’s history.
Davis finished 8-13 from the field and hit one free throw in 25 minutes of play. The senior also had four rebounds.
UNC-Asheville was led in scoring by Emily Hill with 13 points and Candy Credito with 10 points.
Clemson won the battle of the boards 54-24. Jeanette Davis led the Lady Tigers in rebounding with eight boards as every Lady Tiger had at least two rebounds in the contest.
The Lady Tigers had a 29-27 lead with 2:19 left to go in the first half. However from this point the Lady Tigers outscored the Bulldogs 7-3 and took a 36-30 lead into the lockerroom at the intermission.
In the second half, Clemson outscored the Bulldogs 34-4 in the first 11 minutes of the second half and took a 70-34 lead with nine minutes remaining in the game. Geren scored 10 of her 14 points in this Lady Tiger rally.
CLEMSON DEFEATS WAKE FOREST 64-41–Itoro Umoh scored 18 points in leading 21st-ranked Clemson to a 64-41 win over Wake Forest at Clemson, SC February 15.
Umoh was 6-8 from the field and hit two three-point shots. She also had two assists and five steals in 27 minutes of play. Umoh also went over the 900 point career mark in today’s games and now has 909 career points.
With the win, Head Coach Jim Davis won his 100th career regular season Atlantic Coast Conference game (not including ACC Tournament games. Davis now has a 100-67 record against ACC foes during the regular season. He is the fourth winningest coach in the history of the ACC.
Clemson also picked up its 20th win in today’s game. This is fifth time in the history of the program that the Lady Tigers have won 20 or more games before the ACC Tournament. It was also the ninth time in Coach Davis’ 11 years at Clemson that he has won 20 or more games.
This was also the 11th ACC victory of the season for the Lady Tigers. This tied the school record for most ACC wins in a single season by Clemson.
Olivia Dardy scored 11 points to lead Wake Forest in scoring. Heidi Coleman had seven rebounds to lead the Demon Deacons.
Jennifer Davis tied a career-high with 10 points as she was the other Lady Tiger in double digits.
Clemson shot .377 from the field while Wake Forest shot .297.
The Lady Tigers opened a 23-10 lead with 4:34 left to go in the first half on their way to a 26-15 halftime lead. In the first 10 minutes of the second half, Clemson outscored the Demon Deacons 21-8 in taking a 47-23 lead as Umoh scored eight points in this rally.
NATIONAL LEADERS-Amy Geren is ranked sixth nationally in free throw pct. She is also 19th nationally for best three-point field goal pct. The Lady Tigers are 10th nationally for best three-point field goal pct. as at team.
CLEMSON HAS DEFEATED THREE TOP-10 TEAMS THIS SEASON-With the 68-58 win over N.C. State on February 7, Clemson has defeated three top-10 teams this season. Earlier, Clemson defeated fifth-ranked North Carolina 77-63 on January 2. On January 5, Clemson defeated ninth-ranked Virginia 74-67. This is the first time in the school’s history that the Lady Tigers have defeated two top-10 teams in consecutive games. The North Carolina and Virginia games were 72 hours apart.
CLEMSON BREAKS ATTENDANCE RECORD-Clemson broke the single-game home attendance record in the Lady Tigers’ 68-58 win over N.C. State on February 7. A crowd of 4,871 attended the game, a Clemson single game home record for women’s basketball.
NURIA FORNS HAD CAREER-HIGH 14 POINTS AGAINST WOFFORD-Freshman Nuria Forns had a career-high 14 points in the Wofford game on February 10. She was 5-11 from the field, including 4-8 from the three-point line. She also had two steals in this game. This season she is 11-30 from the three-point line for a .367 pct.
JENNIFER DAVIS HAS CAREER HIGH–Jennifer Davis scored a career high 17 points in the 87-50 win over UNC Asheville on February 18. She was 8-13 from the field in the game. She has now scored 27 points in the last two games.
PLAYING TIME FOR EVERYONE-Clemson has 10 players averaging in double figures in minutes played. Itoro Umoh leads the team in minutes played (29.9 minutes per game).
BLASSINGAME HAD CAREER HIGH IN SCORING–Junior Nikki Blassingame had a career-high 15 points in the Wofford game on February 10. In the New Orleans contest, she had a career high 12 rebounds on December 20.
UMOH HAS CAREER HIGH IN ASSISTS–Itoro Umoh had a career high 11 assists in the Maryland game on January 11. She leads the team in assists with 115 this season. Umoh is the first Lady Tiger to have 100 or more assists since Dana Puckett had 156 in the 1993-94 season.
THOMAS HAS CAREER-HIGH 12 REBOUNDS IN NORTH CAROLINA GAME-Kerri Thomas had 11 points and 12 rebounds in the North Carolina game on January 2. The 12 rebounds is a career-high for Thomas. The 12 rebounds helped give the Lady Tigers a 54-41 rebounding advantage in the game.
CLEMSON’S RECORD VS. RANKED TEAMS-Coach Jim Davis has defeated 36 top 25 teams since his arrival at Clemson in the 1987-88 season. At Littlejohn Coliseum, he has a 24-16 record vs. Associated Press Top 25 teams. This season, Clemson is 4-5 vs. top 25 teams.
DAVIS IS CLEMSON’S WINNINGEST COACH–Coach Jim Davis has compiled a 229-108 record as he is in his 11th season at Clemson. He became the Lady Tigers’ all-time winningest coach in 1996-97. He passed former Lady Tiger Head Coach Annie Tribble (1976-87), who compiled a 200-135 mark during 11 seasons. He was named ACC Coach-of-the-Year in 1990 and 1994.
GEREN NAMED ACC PLAYER-OF-THE-WEEK TWICE THIS SEASON-Amy Geren was named ACC Player-of-the-Week for the second time this season as announced by the league’s office on January 5. Geren scored 24 points in Clemson’s 77-63 upset over fifth-ranked North Carolina on Friday, January 2. Earlier this season, Geren was named ACC Player-of-the-Week for her performance in Clemson’s 72-61 upset win over Duke on December 13. In the Duke game, Geren scored 26 points and was 10-14 from the field. She also was 4-4 from the three-point line.
LAST HOME GAME RECORD–Clemson is 18-5 over the years when playing in its last home game of the season. Clemson defeated UNC-Asheville 87-50 on February 18, in the last home game of the season.
THIRD MOST WINS BEFORE FEBRUARY 1-Clemson won 16 games before February 1. The 16 wins is the third most victories by a Clemson team before February 1 in school’s history. The 1979-80 team won 19 games before February 1, and the 1980-81 team won 17 games before February 1. This is the most wins before February 1, under Head Coach Jim Davis since his arrival at Clemson.
CLEMSON RECORDS 10TH WIN BEFORE JANUARY 1-With the win over Winthrop on December 30, Clemson won its 10th game of the 1997-98 season. This ties the school record for most wins before January 1. Clemson also had a 10-2 record before January 1, in the 1979-80 season.
RECORD NUMBER OF GAMES IN NOVEMBER–The Clemson-Georgia Game on November 30 marked the fifth game Clemson played in the month of November. The five games are the most contests played in the month of November by a Clemson team.
CLEMSON HAD 13 BLOCKED SHOTS IN SOUTH CAROLINA GAME–Clemson had 13 blocked shots against South Carolina on November 25. The 13 blocked shots are the second most in school history. Clemson had 14 blocked shots against Kansas State on January 5, 1983.
CLEMSON HAD 34 OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS IN THE FURMAN GAME–The Lady Tigers had 34 offensive rebounds in the Furman game on December 4, which set a new school record for most offensive rebounds in a single game.
CLEMSON’S DEFENSE–Under Coach Jim Davis, the Clemson Lady Tigers have held opponents to 50 points or less 43 times and have never allowed an opponent to reach the 100-point plateau. All 43 games have resulted in Lady Tiger victories. The Lady Tigers have only been held to 50 points or less twice during Davis’ tenure.
RETURN TO SENDER— Kerri Thomas is seventh on the school’s career list with 70 blocked shots. She needs 12 to move into sixth place.
CLEMSON'S CAREER BLOCKED SHOTS LEADERS Name Years Blocked Shots 1. Peggy Caple 1981-85 298 2. Jackie Farmer 1989-91 129 3. Barbara Kennedy 1978-82 128 4. Jaci Stimson 1993-97 125 5. Shandy Bryan 1989-93 96 6. Louise Greenwood 1985-89 81 7. Kerri Thomas 1994- 70
FIRST HOME GAME RECORD–Clemson now has a 20-3 record over the years when playing its first home game of the season. The Lady Tigers defeated Boise State 81-65 on November 23, in Clemson’s first home game of the 1997-98 season.
ALL-TIME HOME RECORD–Clemson has a 240-70 record when playing in Littlejohn Coliseum for a .769 mark. Last season the Lady Tigers were 9-3 at home. This season, the Lady Tigers are 13-0 at Littlejohn Coliseum.
100% GRADUATION RATE–Since the beginning of the women’s basketball program at Clemson in 1975-76, 100% of the players staying for four years have graduated.
GEREN IS CAREER LEADER FOR BEST FREE THROW PCT.–Amy Geren is Clemson’s career leader for best free throw pct. with an .848 mark. During her career she is 207-244 from the free throw line.
TWO CONSECUTIVE CLEMSON GAMES HAVE SAME SCORE-N.C. State defeated Clemson 73-51 on January 8. In the Lady Tigers’ next game, Clemson defeated Maryland by the same score 73-51. This is the first time in Lady Tiger basketball history that consecutive Clemson games have resulted in the same score.
CLEMSON’S RECORD IN REGULAR SEASON TOURNAMENTS–Since Jim Davis took over the coaching reins at Clemson in 1988, the Lady Tigers have won 12 regular season tournaments. and have a 32-7 record in those tournaments. Through the years, Clemson has won 20 regular season tournament championships.
In 1996-97, Clemson won the Boise State and the Dartmouth Tournaments. This season the Lady Tigers won the Sun Splash Shootout in the Bahamas
THREE-POINT WEAPON–Amy Geren is in third place on the Clemson career list for most three-point field goals scored in a career (139).
CLEMSON'S CAREER LIST FOR MOST 3PT GOALS MADE Name Yrs Years GP FGA FGM 1. Tara Saunooke 4 1991-95 121 586 252 2. Kerry Boyatt 4 1989-93 121 450 178 3. Amy Geren 3 1995- 87 374 139
JEANETTE DAVIS, ONE OF CLEMSON’S BEST ALL-TIME REBOUNDERS-Jeanette Davis is 13th on Clemson’s all-time top rebounders list with 534. She is only the 17th Clemson player to have 500 or more rebounds in a career.
CLEMSON CAREER REBOUNDS LEADERS Name Yrs. Years GP Avg. Reb. 1. Barbara Kennedy 4 1978-82 127 9.9 1252 2. Peggy Caple 4 1981-85 119 9.1 1087 3. Shandy Bryan 4 1989-93 126 6.9 874 4. Louise Greenwood 4 1985-89 112 7.7 859 5. Laura Cottrell 4 1993-97 119 6.8 808 6. Donna Forester 2 1976-78 63 12.2 766 7. Debra Buford 4 1977-81 127 5.3 735 8. Karen Ann Jenkins 4 1985-89 111 6.2 687 9. Bobbie Mims 4 1976-80 126 5.0 630 10. Jackie Farmer 2 1989-91 58 9.8 570 11. Janet Knight 4 1982-86 114 5.0 565 12. Jaci Stimson 4 1993-97 115 4.7 535 13. Jeanette Davis 3 1994-98 119 4.5 534
GEREN HAS CLEMSON’S VERY FIRST FOUR-POINT PLAY-Amy Geren completed a very rare four-point play in the Lady Tigers’ victory over Duke on December 13. This was the first four-point play in Lady Tiger history. Geren hit a three point field goal from the right side and was fouled in the process by Duke’s Georgia Schweitzer with only 4.2 seconds remaining in the first half. Geren converted the free throw attempt.
Geren also had a four-point play in the Wake Forest game on January 15, in Winston-Salem, NC.
DAVIS IS THE FOURTH WINNINGEST COACH IN ACC HISTORY–With the 87-84 win over Florida State on December 13, Clemson Head Coach Jim Davis became the fourth winningest coach in the history of the ACC. Currently, Davis has 229 victories at Clemson. Davis is already fourth for most ACC victories with 100 and is the third all-time winningest coach in the ACC by percentage, (.680).
CLEMSON ON TELEVISION–Clemson has won 12 of its last 19 games on television. The Lady Tigers are 2-2 when appearing on television this season.
GEREN HAS SCORED 238 POINTS VS. ACC TEAMS THIS SEASON–Junior Amy Geren scored 238 points in Clemson’s 15 Atlantic Coast Conference contests this season. Geren scored 26 points in Clemson’s upset win over 11th-ranked Duke on December 13. She also scored 26 points in the Lady Tigers’ 87-84 victory over Florida State on December 16. In the North Carolina contest on January 2, Geren scored 24 points as the Lady Tigers upset the fifth-ranked Tar Heels. She has hit 39-89 from the three-point line vs. the ACC this year for a .438 pct.
JENNIFER DAVIS IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPROVED PLAYERS ON THE SQUAD-Jennifer Davis has scored 90 points this season. The 90 points is more than she scored in the last two years combined (44). This year she is averaging 3.5 ppg. and 1.7 rpg. She is also 39-83 from the field for a .470 pct. In the last two games, she has scored 27 points.
UMOH IS IN SEVENTH PLACE FOR MOST STEALS–Itoro Umoh is in seventh place on the Clemson career list for most steals. Currently she has 193 steals and is also fourth all-time at Clemson for most steals per game with a 2.12 figure.
CLEMSON CAREER LIST FOR MOST STEALS Name Yrs. Years GP S/G Steals 1. Barbara Kennedy 4 1978-82 127 2.57 327 2. Ramona O'Neal 4 1985-89 117 2.44 286 3. Debra Buford 4 1977-81 127 1.88 239 4. Bobbie Mims 4 1976-80 126 1.77 224 5. Courtney Johnson 4 1988-92 125 1.56 195 6. Itoro Umoh 3 1995- 88 2.12 193
VERSUS THE ACC-Amy Geren leads the Lady Tigers in scoring against the ACC with a 15.9 ppg. average. She is 77-169 from the field vs. the ACC. She has also hit 39-89 from the three-point line for a .438 pct. Itoro Umoh is averaging 10.9 ppg. vs. ACC competition. Geren is averaging 4.3 rpg. vs. league foes. Kerri Thomas is averaging 5.1 rpg. against ACC opponents.
UMOH AND GEREN MOVING UP CAREER SCORING CHART– Itoro Umoh is 18th on the Clemson career list for most points scored with 919. Amy Geren has 912 points and is 19th on the Clemson career list for most points scored.
October 15, 2024