Blue White Illustrated

November 2021

Penn State Sports Magazine

Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1420595

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 44 of 67

N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 1 4 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M WOMEN'S BASKETBALL C arolyn Kieger knew when she came to Penn State in 2019 after five seasons as head coach at Marquette that the Lady Lions were not going to be a quick fix. PSU had posted nonwinning records in four of the previous five seasons, with nine of its 18 losses during the 2018-19 season coming by double-digit margins. Kieger had to rebuild the culture as well as the roster, and that was going to take time. Entering Year 3 of Kieger's tenure in State College, the Lady Lions have put in the work that she has asked of them, and they are hoping to take another step toward NCAA Tournament contention. "We spent a lot of time the past two years talking about work ethic, what it means to compete against Maryland, against Iowa, against Michigan, in order to put ourselves in a position to make the NCAA Tournament," Kieger said at Big Ten media day Oct. 8. "Obviously, we knew coming in that we weren't going to snap our fingers and have success over- night. We wanted to do it the right way. As a coach, your job is to create habits that last a lifetime, not just four years. "I'm really proud of our young women. They're holding each other accountable at a different level. Our goal is to take it from coach-led to player-led … and I think we've made incredible strides in that area." The Lady Lions went from winning seven games in Kieger's first season to winning nine last year. That might not seem at first glance like a significant im- provement, but six of their wins last sea- son were against Big Ten opponents, five more than they won in Kieger's first year. And included in last season's victory total was a 69-67 defeat of 15th-ranked Ohio State, marking Penn State's first win over a ranked opponent since 2018. The Lady Lions were the youngest team in the Big Ten a year ago, with 11 of their 15 players holding either freshman or sophomore eligibility. Now that those players have gained experience in Kieger's system, the next step is to translate indi- vidual improvements into cohesive and competitive team performances night in and night out. Penn State returns eight of its top nine scorers from last season, the only loss be- ing forward Johnasia Cash, who averaged 13.7 points per game. The eight return- ees combined to produce 69.9 points per game for a team that finished eighth in the conference in scoring offense. One of PSU's returnees is sixth-year senior guard Kelly Jekot, who led the Lady Lions in scoring average at 15.9 points per game but didn't have the kind of impact she and the team had hoped due to a sea- son-ending knee injury she suffered in practice in January. A two-time Gatorade Pennsylvania Player of the Year coming out of Cumber- land Valley High in 2016, the 6-foot Jekot announced in April that she was returning for one final season. Kieger said Jekot's impact this year will go beyond just her on-court productivity. "First and foremost, our team is inspired by her coming back," Kieger said. "She fo- cuses on her teammates. She came back for them, she came back for the name on the front of the jersey. I think that's rare to have a leader who inspires not only by what they say, but by their actions. "Kelly has a phenomenal IQ. She does a great job helping the underclassmen. I think [her return] is going to give us a level of experience. She's played in the NCAA tournament [while at Villanova]. She knows what it takes to get there. She can be a great leader for us." ■ Head coach Carolyn Kieger has a 16-38 record entering Year 3 of her rebuilding effort with the Lady Lions. PHOTO COURTESY PENN STATE ATHLETICS Lady Lions Eager To Continue Making Strides M AT T H E R B | M A T T @ B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 2 0 2 1 - 2 2 W O M E N ' S B A S K E T B A L L S C H E D U L E Date Opponent Times (ET) Nov. 9 Long Island TBA Nov. 11 Rider TBA Nov. 16 Delaware State TBA Nov. 21 at Clemson TBA Nov. 26 St. John's* TBA Nov. 27 Opponent TBD* TBA Nov. 28 Opponent TBD* TBA Dec. 2 at Boston College (ACCN) 6 p.m. Dec. 6 at Indiana (BTN) 6 p.m. Dec. 9 Rutgers TBA Dec. 12 Youngstown State TBA Dec. 18 at Duquesne TBA Dec. 22 Towson TBA Dec. 30 Iowa TBA Jan. 3 at Ohio State TBA Jan. 6 at Maryland (BTN) 6 p.m. Jan. 13 Michigan TBA Jan. 16 Illinois TBA Jan. 20 at Northwestern TBA Jan. 23 at Wisconsin TBA Jan. 27 Michigan State TBA Jan. 30 Maryland TBA Feb. 3 at Nebraska (BTN) 8 p.m. Feb. 6 Northwestern TBA Feb. 9 at Purdue TBA Feb. 13 at Rutgers TBA Feb. 17 Nebraska TBA Feb. 21 at Michigan State (BTN) 6 p.m. Feb. 27 Minnesota TBA March 3-6 Big Ten Tournament TBA * Gulf Coast Showcase at Estero, Fla.

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of Blue White Illustrated - November 2021