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see the Lady Lions' program for the past 12 years. Penn State gave Washington her first head coaching job after she had served as an assistant coach on Muffet McGraw's staff at Notre Dame, helping the Fighting Irish win a national champi- onship in 2001. Before that, she had been a standout point guard for the Irish and a pro player in the ABL and WNBA. "I've had an amazing run at Penn State," Washington said. "I'm grateful that I've had the opportunity to work with some wonderful people, especially the talented and dedicated staff members who were with me along this journey. I was fortu- nate to coach some extremely talented players along the way and will remember the fantastic experiences we enjoyed to- gether. I am thankful for the Penn State and Lady Lion fans who supported us strongly year-in and year-out. I will al- ways look back at my time at Penn State with fond memories while taking on this next chapter with my family." Barbour said Penn State will conduct a national search for a new coach, with the executive search firm Ventura Partners assisting in the process. She declined to say when she hopes to have that coach in place but noted that she expects Penn State's previous success – only twice during Portland's 27-year tenure did it miss the NCAA tournament in back-to- back seasons – to prove helpful. "We believe that our history and tradi- tion of success will attract really, really high-quality candidates," Barbour said. "We play in a great conference, a highly competitive conference that has great ex- posure. We have always resourced women's basketball to be competitive in the marketplace, both in the conference and nationally. We have talented returnees and a top-20 [recruiting] class coming in. "And all this is on top of the fact that we're an incredible institution, an in- credible educational entity in a fabu- lously supportive community. We are home to the largest and most passionate alumni network known to the planet. So this is a great job, and I look forward to going out into the women's basketball coaching community with this opening as my calling card." ■ It was different. Yet it was also so beautifully similar. At about this time two years ago, Liam Folkes barreled in on a break- away in overtime and came away eu- phoric, scoring a goal that gave Penn State its first Big Ten championship with a win over Wisconsin. In this year's con- ference tournament elimination game, you didn't see it coming. There was no moment of anticipation before he reached the net. He struck with no warning. Folkes planted himself in the mid- dle of the ice as Alex Limoges turned with the puck behind the goal. Before anyone could react, it was in the back of the Wisconsin net, courtesy of a one-timer from Folkes, who sent the Badgers home yet again as Penn State claimed a 4- 3 overtime win March 10 at Pegula Arena. "I didn't see it go in the net," coach Guy Gadowsky said. "I saw the pass, and then I saw Folkesy sprint to the glass. That's all I saw." It was not a mirror image. There was no trophy ceremony at the end of this hard-fought quarterfinal se- ries, which began with a 4-3 Badgers victory on March 8, followed by a 6- 2 Nittany Lion win the next night to set up the decisive third game. And yet, the euphoria was the same, as the victory sent fourth- seeded Penn State into a single- elimination semifinal game at No. 1 seed Ohio State on March 17. The winner of that game was set to face the other semifinal winner, either Notre Dame or Minnesota, for the league title. Folkes propelled Penn State into the matchup with the Buckeyes by putting the finishing touches on a seemingly harmless play. But it developed thanks to the strong grip of Limoges, who won the puck out of a scrum with a Badger defensemen, wheeled, and found nothing but open space between himself and Folkes standing in the slot. "We saw that we got [the puck] deep, and we saw that Limoges had a little bit of a jump on their defense- man and was able to battle the puck from him," Gadowsky said. "Limo- ges is so heavy on the puck. One of his strengths is winning battles. When he did, he just saw Folkesy alone." And it was over. It all happened so quickly, and yet, it seemed like everyone knew that's how the first three-game series in Big Ten history would end. Gadowsky said two players who were scratched for the game pre- dicted it would be Folkes who scored the golden goal during the intermis- sion before the overtime. Before the game even started, for- mer Nittany Lion Andrew Sturtz texted a group of current players, re- questing that someone else find the winner because he was tired of watching the highlight video of Folkes' Big Ten winner from two years ago. Bad news, Andrew. Better get used to it. "He'll see it for a couple more years," goalie Peyton Jones said, laughing. –DAVID ECKERT Lions advance with OT victory over Wisconsin M E N ' S I C E H O C K E Y FOLKES

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