Fierce Carter, lady cagers Indiana bound

The Penn State women's basketball team will look to unleash a new weapon on Indiana in center Clara Carter.

When the Lady Lions beat Indiana last month, they did so with Carter seeing limited action off the bench. Now, the junior has assumed the role of starting center and is playing her best basketball of the season. She'll look to continue that trend when the two teams meet again at 2 p.m. Sunday in Bloomington, Ind.

Clara Carter is a portrait of contrasting personalities.

On the court, the Penn State women's basketball player is an aggressive, verbal player. Off the court, Carter is quiet, withdrawn and often prefers to be alone. However, to those close to her who understand her, she is a nice, good-natured person.

Carter plays with an attitude so fierce it's even scared her coach, Rene Portland. After coming through a pick last Friday against Northwestern, Portland said Carter was screaming at the top of her lungs.

"I thought Dre (Andrea Garner) was going to fall on the floor laughing," Portland said. "(Carter) came through a pick and it was like war zone. The arms were going, the legs were going and at the top of her voice she came running towards the bench. I was ready to run in the other direction."

Physical play is nothing new for Carter. She said she has carried a you-push-me-I'm-going-to-push-you-back attitude since high school. Her experience as a junior college player at Kilgore (Texas) made her even more aggressive as she had to compete against players often more physical than talented.

This season, Carter has brought her style of play to a young Lady Lion team often criticized for being timid. In a short time she has developed into a low-post presence for the team and broke into the starting lineup.

"Clara has given us a presence," Portland said. "There's no doubt in my mind that during the Illinois game (Jan. 16), they were saying, 'Where did they get her?' "

However, Portland said Carter needs to learn how to control her aggression. She has 49 personal fouls and has fouled out a team-leading three times.

Self-control has been something Carter has often found difficult.

"It's a challenge," Carter said. "I've got to learn to control my body. Rene says, 'You've got to stop fouling,' and I try."

Since breaking into the starting lineup, though, Carter has only three fouls in two games.

While being a physical, loud player on the court, Carter is quiet and withdrawn off the court.

Carter often isolates herself from people without meaning to. She said she considers herself a nice person, but sometimes she just needs to be alone and at peace with herself.

However, there are some people in Carter's life who she has grown close to, and her older sister Sedonia Carter is one of them. The two played together for four years at Thomas R. Proctor High School in Utica, N.Y., and for two years at Kilgore.

At the end of last season, though, the sisters decided it was time to go their own ways. So Clara signed with Penn State and Sedonia with Middle Tennessee State.

After having her sister by her side for six years, Clara said it was a hard adjustment being on her own. Missing her sister, in addition to recovering from knee surgery, made Carter's early days at Penn State miserable.

"That took a lot out of me," Carter said. "We've always been there for one another."

Sedonia said Clara has never adjusted well, as it took her a long time to get used to Kilgore. However, she said she's proud of the way her sister has adjusted with the Lions.

"I think she's made a great decision to go to Penn State without me," Sedonia said. "I think she's adjusted fine. She just pulled through like she always has."

And although Clara has adjusted to being without her sister, she said she still calls Sedonia frequently to keep her updated on what's going on in her life.

"You've got to learn to deal with things like that," Clara said, "and you have to adjust because things in life aren't always going to be easy."

And after scoring double figures in her last two games, it appears as if Carter has adjusted just fine.