Lady Lions' newcomers already making impact

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Walt Moody - wmoody@centredaily.com

UNIVERSITY PARK — Penn State women's basketball coach Coquese Washington had her second child this past July. Daughter Rhaiyana joined four-year-old son Quenton in the family.

Washington’s parenting skills might come in handy in her professional life, too.

CDT/Nabil K. Mark

Nikki Greene talks to reporters during Penn State Women's Basketball Media Day October 21, 2009. CDT/Nabil K. Mark

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With eight players on the Lady Lion roster who are sophomores or freshmen, Washington and her coaches are going to spend a lot of time teaching the kids and preaching patience.

“We definitely have to go slow,” the third-year head coach said at the team’s annual Media Day on Wednesday at the Bryce Jordan Center. “We just have a lot of players that have not played a lot college basketball and we’re going to expect them to get out on the floor and make plays for us.

“We just have to be patient. There are going to be nights where we’re going to be pulling our hair out because we can’t believe some of the plays that are made and there are going to be nights where we’re shaking our heads in wonderment at some of the plays that they made because of their talent. We’ll see how it goes.”

Washington’s team, which was 13-18 last season, returns first-team All-Big Ten selection Tyra Grant, a senior, starting forward Julia Trogele, a junior, and reserve forward Janessa Wolff, but it’s plain to see that this season’s squad has taken on the personality of its newest members.

“They are a very competitive bunch, so the energy and intensity of practices is usually at a pretty high level,” Washington said of her freshman class. “Certainly, they’re very talented.”

Freshman point guard Alex Bentley, who led her Indianapolis high school team to a state title and USA Today’s top ranking in the country, has certainly made a quick impact.

“They have a crazy amount of energy, but Alex herself could propel a 747,” Wolff said of the freshmen.

The 5-foot-7 Bentley is no wide-eyed freshman and is regarded as the most competitive player on the squad. One teammate described Bentley as “coming unglued” after being on the losing side in a game of “Family Feud” in the locker room before Tuesday’s practice.

“She’s probably the leader with competitiveness with this team right now,” Washington said of Bentley. “She hates to lose. She wants to be first. If we’re walking to the door, she wants to be the first one through. She brings an intensity to practice.”

Bentley says the instinct to take charge comes naturally.

“I’m really comfortable in a leadership role,” she said. “I don’t really think of myself as being a freshman and ‘you can’t be a leader.’ I just look myself as being a competitive player and a teammate who wants to make all of teammates better. That’s the role I’m trying to play.”

While Washington has yet to name starters, freshman Nikki Greene is bound to be get ample playing time.

The 6-foot-5 center, as quiet as Bentley is vocal, already has her teammates and coaches shaking their heads with her combination of strength and athletic ability in the post.

“She’s deceivingly strong,” said Trogele, who compares Greene to two-time reigning Big Ten Player of the Year Jantel Lavender of Ohio State. “There’s things that she can do that I can never do. When she posts up, it’s extremely hard to defend her. She’s rock solid when she moves you it’s hard to stay in place. She’s going to be a huge asset to our team this year.”

Greene is already changing some of Washington’s thinking.

“A couple of times in practice we’ve thrown the ball where I thought like, ‘What are we doing?’ and then Nikki jumps up out of nowhere and catches it,” Washington said. “I’m like, ‘We’ve got to learn that we can throw that pass now.’ We can do some things with her strength and athleticism that we haven’t been able to do in the past.”

While quiet, Greene has already shown her aggressiveness, chasing down Grant during a drill last week and sending the team’s best player crashing into the basket support while attempting to block the shot.

“I guess I kind of fouled her a little too aggressively and she collided with me and fell,” said Greene, from Diboll, Texas. “In a way, it shows I’ve matured more on running the floor better and being able to catch up to a guard.”

“Her personality doesn’t match her game,” Wolff added. “She’s very, very quiet, but when she steps onto the court, she’s a major presence.”

Washingtonsaidher otherfreshmen, shooting guard Gizelle Studevent and post player Marissa Wolfe, have shown they’ll be ready to vie for playing time, also.

“Honestly, they’ve all surprised me in a good way,” Washington said of her youngest players. “I knew they were talented, but some of the things they are able to do on a day-to-day basis has really surprised me. Marissa Wolf and Gizelle Studevent have really surprised me with how they’ve been able to pick up things and how well they’ve been able to adjust to the speed of the game.”

Coupled with returnees like Grant, who averaged 19.6 points per game last season, Trogele (7.6 ppg, team-high 6.3 rebounds) and Wolff (6.8 ppg, 5.6 rpg), there is a renewed sense of optimism that the Lady Lions can end four consecutive seasons of losing.

Still, Washington, whose team begins the regular season Nov. 13 at Drexel, knows winning in the Big Ten won’t be easy, especially with a young group — one that was actually playing duck-duck-goose while waiting for Media Day to wind down — that will test her patience.

“Having a four-year-old at home is great practice,” Washington said. “I’m patient at home and I’m patient at work. It bodes well for me at both fronts.”