Humble Penn State freshman Tori Waldner readily admits she’s surprised to seeing the 10 minutes per game coach Coquese Washington has been giving her this season.
“I’m playing more than I expected,” the 6-foot-5 center from Milton, Ga. said. “It was kind of a shocker getting some minutes. Like my first game when
I played, I was so nervous. I’m just glad that (Coquese) has enough confidence to put me in and know that I won’t screw up too badly to bring us down.”
Heading into today’s 1 p.m. clash at Northwestern, Waldner’s play has often given the No. 18 Lady Lions (19-5 overall, 9-3 Big Ten) a lift.
There was no bigger boost than a week ago at Minnesota, where the Lady Lions has lost seven straight. Penn State opened the game 1-for-18 from the floor before Waldner entered and broke the wretched start by nailing back-to-back jump shots. Penn State eventually rallied from a 15-point deficit to beat the Golden Gophers 68-65.
“She’s got a lot of confidence,” Washington said. “... She didn’t hesitate at all. She was huge. She really gave us a big lift off the bench against Minnesota and helped us getting back in the game.”
Waldner, playing 16 minutes, tied a career-high with six points on 3-for-5 shooting and blocked two shots in a victory that kept Penn State in contention for the Big Ten regular-season crown.
“The coaches never tell me not to shoot,” Waldner said. “They think that I’m smart enough to know what shot to take. I haven’t proved that all of the time, but I did take the shots that I do take in practice. It looked less rushed on film and it looked like I knew what I was doing, so I guess that’s why I hit them. I was happy we won. It was a close game. I didn’t know any of my stats, I was happy I could do something.”
Washington said that kind of confidence has been building since Waldner stepped on campus. Waldner has not only improved thanks to practice, she’s had an enhanced role on game days. Because of injury problems with forwards Mia Nickson and Marisa Wolfe and center Nikki Greene’s seemingly persistent foul trouble, Waldner has gotten those opportunities that she didn’t anticipate.
After sitting on the bench for the opening two games of the season, Waldner has played in every game since. She has turned in some solid efforts, including six-point games against Wisconsin and Minnesota, a four-block game against Indiana and a 10-rebound effort against Wagner.
“She hasn’t always been that confident,” Washington said. “In October before we started playing games, she wasn’t nearly that confident. I think she’s played pretty much every game this year. Each and every game, she gets a little bit more confident.
“I think the time in practice where she’s been able to get used to the speed of the college game and the demands that we put on her as a coaching staff, now at this point in the season she feels pretty confident what she can do when she gets out there. She doesn’t hesitate when she is out there.”
Waldner says she also draws confidence from her teammates and that there is a certain camaraderie within the program because Washington has used her bench liberally this season.
“When you can get the whole team playing and we each get a little highlight or something we do well in the each game, it’s really cool,” Waldner said. “We all cheer for each other. When someone does well, we’re going to cheer for everyone. Everyone gets playing time. Everyone is happy. Everyone can play a part in winning — you don’t have to play to do that, but it does help.”
Winning has moved the Lady Lions up to second place in the conference standings. Penn State trails leader Purdue (9-2) by a half-game and is a half-game ahead of Ohio State (8-3) and Nebraska (8-3) heading into the final two weeks of the regular season.
The Lady Lions face a Northwestern squad that has dropped five of its last six games. The Wildcats rely on starters Kendall Hackney (15.1 ppg), Morgan Jones (14.6) and Dannielle Diamant (13.5).
Washington said her team hasn’t been dwelling on the Big Ten race.
“We’ve got four games left and we’re taking them game-by-game,” said Washington after Thursday’s 69- 54 win over Wisconsin. “We’re not looking past anybody. We’re not looking big picture and all of that. We’ve got four games and the next one is Northwestern.”
Notes:Penn State is 29-7 all-time against Northwestern, 11-5 at Evanston. The Lady Lions have won nine of their last 11 meetings. ... Penn State’s eight road wins are the most since the 2004 team won nine. ... Diamant has upped her scoring average from 2.8 last season. ... The Wildcats are second in the Big Ten with 16.4 assists per game.
