Tennessee to provide test for Penn State women’s basketball team

Two games, 13 assists and 26 points into the season, true freshman point guard Teniya Page is as cool as cool can be.

“She is probably the most poised freshman point guard I’ve seen,” said Washington, who was a guard herself. “Nothing fazes her; nothing rattles her. And if it does, you wouldn’t know it. She keeps it in.”

Page said on Tuesday afternoon that she never really feels nervous. Basketball is something she knows; she’s played since she was five but wasn’t allowed by her father to be on a real team until she was 11 because “she had to know how to play before she earned the right to be on a team.”

“I just play,” she said, smiling calmly.

In fact, the only time Page has displayed any sign of her age this year was in the Lady Lions’ season opener overtime win against Holy Cross, in which she missed two free throws at the end of regulation that would have put the game away.

Aside from those, Page is averaging 13 points and 6.5 assists per game, and has turned the ball over just four times through two games for a 6.5:2 turnover-to-assist ratio.

“Like I said, she makes great decisions,” said Washington. “She’s a big key to us having opportunities on the offensive end, she just makes good decisions and gets the ball in her teammates’ hands at the right time, when they can be successful, and that’s key.

“For as many good plays that she makes, I’m more impressed with the bad plays she doesn’t make.”

Page’s play complements that of veteran senior forward Brianna Banks, who is averaging 21 points per game and has cruised by opposing defenses thus far with her smooth, fluid style. Banks has proved to pace the team in each of their outings and is shooting 53.1 percent from the field, and 44 percent from three with four 3-pointers this season.

Her presence adds balance to a young team.

“We’re still learning roles, you know, you’ve got two freshmen in the starting lineup,” said Washington, who added she liked the visible improvement she’d seen from the team from last Friday’s home-opening win over Holy Cross, to the following win against Fordham on Sunday afternoon.

“I like to see us continue to grow and get better, moving into Wednesday.”

That improvement can’t come soon enough, as Penn State travels to Knoxville to take on the No.4 Lady Vols at 8 p.m. on Wednesday night. Penn State has beat the storied program just once in nine attempts, on Jan. 27, 1985 at Rec Hall.

“I think it’s fun. I think it’s a lot of fun to have these kind of games, these kind of opportunities,” said Washington. “That’s the fun part about playing this game.”

The not-so-fun part, possibly, is devising a way to stop the powerhouse that is Tennesee basketball.

In two games, one of which was an exhibition, Tennessee is averaging 101.5 points per game behind Kortney Dunbar’s 24-points-per-game average alongside 13 rebounds per game. Only six players saw the court in Tennessee’s 102-47 win over Central Arkansas on Sunday, and five of them hit double figures (three scored over 20 points) in the victory.

“They’re really talented, and they’re really deep,” said Washington. “Very athletic team, they’ve got good size, they’ve got good speed, they’ve got good athleticism, they shoot the ball well. They’re just a very talented team and they have pretty balanced scoring.

“So those kind of things present challenges; when you’ve got a talented team, a deep team, and they get contributions from a number of people.”

Just keep shooting

Redshirt sophomore Lindsey Spann has come out of the gate cold, with three makes on 19 attempts — she’s also has not hit a 3-pointer yet this season, despite her nine attempts.

Washington isn’t worried. She said she knows the kind of player Spann is, and the kind of shooter, and added that she hasn’t even had a single conversation with her oldest point guard about her shots over the two-game span.

Instead, the head coach will continue to encourage Spann to take the same types of shots she has been.

“Just keep shooting,” said Washington. “That’s it.”

The Lady Lions have also opened cold at the line, shooting just 57.9 percent with four of seven players who have been to the line making under 70 percent of their freebies.

“I think it’s coming together…Some of it’s just that you’ve got to get out there and play games. You know, we shoot free throws a lot better in the South Gym than we do on game day.” said Washington. “You’ve got to get out there and see who responds to the game day atmosphere.”

Freshman Ashanti Thomas, who is 1 of 7 from the line and 3 of 7 from the field through two games, also has yet to find her poise.

“Ashanti sees the headlights a little bit more,” laughed Washington, who added that Thomas has shown she can defend the paint in practice; now, the 6-foot-4 center has to produce offensively. That comes with being tested by other bigs in the post.

“I think as we move into playing against teams that have a little bit more size, it might be a little bit more comfortable for Ashanti to get out there and compete,” she said.

Notes: Penn State’s matchup with Tennessee is the first of a home-and-home series. … The game will broadcast on the SEC Network, on Penn State Sports Network (Jerry Fisher and Meredith Monroe have the call on 1390 AM and GoPSUSports.com) and will stream online at GoPSUsports.com.

This story was originally published November 18, 2015 at 11:48 AM with the headline "Tennessee to provide test for Penn State women’s basketball team."