Penn State Lady Lions notebook: How the teams’ added toughness could mean more wins
Penn State point guard Makenna Marisa barked out defensive orders on the court of the Bryce Jordan Center Wednesday morning and pulled younger players to the side.
The Lady Lions played 5-on-5 basketball with the winner of the point remaining on the court. They set hard screens, crashed the boards with intensity and played with a heightened level of urgency under head coach Carolyn Kieger.
The 39-year old is entering into her fourth year in the position and her teams have gone 27-56 during a three-year span. Penn State went 11-18 last season.
At the conclusion of Penn State’s first round 75-50 Big Ten Tournament loss to Rutgers in March, “toughness” was a word mentioned by Kieger.
She believes that her team’s rebrand with seven new players on the roster exemplifies the toughness that she demands.
“We’re a completely different team,” Kieger said during Media Day. “So, when the fans come out to watch us, you’re going to see a different product out there. We’ll play differently — this is the type of offense and defense that we’ve been building toward. We obviously needed the right personnel to get to this point. We have the pieces, we have the different types of versatility that I’ve wanted to play with here. And we can push pace, we can be versatile, we can defend, we can switch.”
The seven new players include sophomore transfer guard Ivane Tensaie (North Dakota State School of Science), first-year forward Aicha Dia, first-year guard Shay Ciezski, senior transfer forward Chanaya Pinto (Oregon), senior transfer guard Taniyah Thompson (East Carolina), graduate transfer forward Alexa Williamson (Temple) and senior forward Johnasia Cash, who returns to the team after taking a year away from the game.
Cash’s return is especially important to Kieger’s team redesign. The senior forward was an All-Big Ten Second Team selection by the media, was third in the conference with 8.8 rebounds per game and was eighth in the league with 26 blocks during the 2020-21 season. The majority of her points were inside of the paint, displaying tireless effort on the glass to get putback opportunities.
“It’s super exciting to finally be back here, be back on the team and be back at the BJC and back around my teammates,” Cash said. “The team is so much different — coming back in and knowing just three players that returned (Makenna Marisa, Leilani Kapinus and Anna Camden). It’s a completely new environment, a completely new everything. I’m loving it.”
Penn State will also bring back junior 6-foot-4 forward Ali Brigham, who played in 28 games and made 17 starts, averaging 8.4 points and 4.1 rebounds. Her 55.4% from the field is an added bonus from the paint. The Lady Lions also have Kayla Thomas, a 6-foot-3 sophomore forward who is finding her stride in the rotation.
Returning leadership
Penn State will host a litany of seniors on the team, with consensus 2021-22 All-Big Ten First Team pick Marisa leading the way. Marisa was sixth in the NCAA in scoring at 22.2 points per game, along with averages of 4.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game.
Marisa had a triple-double against Delaware State last season, scoring 30 points, while dishing out 11 assists and poaching 10 steals. She ranks 25th all-time at Penn State in scoring with 1,244 career points and was named to the Nancy Lieberman Award Watch List on Monday.
How does she continue to improve? “Consistency” is a key factor, she said. During practice, Marisa also called out coverages on the defensive side of the ball and made sure younger players knew how to run their sets. Following practice, her voice was hoarse from yelling, a badge of honor for the senior who just wants to make her team better.
“Being a good teammate and being a reliable teammate is being consistent every single day and that’s something I’m trying to bring,” Marisa said. “I’m bringing a consistent all-around game or bringing a consistent voice to the team, bringing a consistent energy, IQ, helping the team every single day in practice and I think energy is really important too as an upperclassman and as a leader this year.”
Her backcourt mate Kapinus brings a similar, if not more dogged energy to the team on the defensive side of the ball. Kapinus flew to the ball during practice and read the eyes of the players that she guarded on-ball and still found a way to disrupt off-ball with getting her hands into passing lanes.
The redshirt sophomore guard is known for her defensive pressure, totaling 33 blocks, 59 steals and she averaged 5.7 rebounds per game. Kapinus and Marisa are looking to pick up the rest of their teammates to build with one another, whether it’s using the nuances of their games to capitalize on open shots or picking up where the other comes short.
“(Marisa’s) offense helps me so much,” Kapinus said. “Stretching the floor out, she’s a shooter. So, when she has the ball, the defense all collapses and they look at her and that sets me up for backdoor cuts. She always finds me and hits me in the pocket with a pass. Just her IQ and I just know that she’s going to knock her shots down. In a ‘3-2-1’ scenario, I just know we’re going to pass it to Kenna and she’s going to hit that shot.”
Then, there’s 6-foot-3 forward Anna Camden — the “heart and soul” of the team, according to multiple teammates. She played in 29 games, making 20 starts and averaged 6.1 points per game and 4.9 rebounds per game. Kieger expects the senior to have an added role and Camden looks to respond with her leadership.
Camden and the rest of her teammates took part in “The Program,” an obstacle course near a cabin in an undisclosed area of central Pennsylvania. There, Camden continued to display her leadership, taking on the course with a quick pace and helping her younger teammates along the way.
“We did a team retreat in July and slept in a cabin in the woods with no air conditioning and no Wi-Fi and kept a fire burning all night,” Camden said. “It sounds ridiculous, but experiences like that have really bonded us as a team and I’m super excited to see how that reflects in our season.”
QUICK HITTERS
First-year guard Shay Ciezki was ranked as the No. 56 and was the No. 14 in the Class of 2022 by ESPN.
Bellwood-Antis graduate Alli Campbell is fully cleared to play for the Lady Lions, after suffering as a season-ending injury before the 2021-22 year. She will play both guard and forward for Kieger’s team and should compete for a starting role.
Former Penn State shooting guard Maggie Lucas (2010-14) has joined the coaching staff. Lucas was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year (2011) and a two-time Big Ten Player of the Year (2013, 2014) during her tenure at Penn State. She played eight years of professional basketball that included a three-year stint with the Indiana Fever (2014-16) and she played the 2018 season with the Atlanta Dream and Dallas Wings.
Katie Sosnoskie, head coach of Saint Joseph’s Catholic’s girls basketball team, joined Penn State as an assistant.
Terri Williams also joined the staff in May. She’s spent 17 seasons as a head coach, most recently serving at Auburn for the past nine years.
