Blue White Illustrated

King High School to a Class AA state title. Boston College and Kentucky wanted her, but she chose the Lady Lions largely because of her connection with Washington. "She told me that she wanted to put Penn State on the map and make it a highlevel program with great players and great athletes, Edwards said. "And I just believed " her. She was very genuine. She was a family person, and those are things that matter to me. So this was definitely the place I wanted to be at. " Edwards was already familiar with Lucas, because the two had played together on the Philly Belles AAU team before being reunited at Penn State. "I had never met anybody who shot the ball as well as she did coming out of high school, Edwards " said. "And she was just a great person, nice to be around. " For most of her career at Penn State, Edwards has been a supporting player, willing to remain in the background while Lucas, Taylor and others have occupied the spotlight. That's going to change this year, with the Lady Lions having undergone a radical off-season makeover that included the departure of three starters and the arrival of eight newcomers, including seven true freshmen. But maybe it won't change as much as everyone assumes. There's a stealthy quality to Edwards' game that, when juxtaposed against the flashier play of her teammates, allows her to go about her business quietly, even as she's racking up big numbers. Said Gaitley following the Lady Lions' 78-61 victory over Fordham, "When I looked at the stat sheet and saw that Edwards had 17, I was like, 'Where?' She does it almost in a way that you don't even see it. " That's fine with Edwards, as long as people notice her in a few months, when she'll be looking to extend her basketball career in the WNBA or a pro league overseas. "It's hard to believe that I'm almost on my way out of here and this is my last goround, she said. "But it's been an exciting " time for me. I've learned a lot. My coaches have taught me so much about basketball, and I feel like, God willing, I'll make it to the next level and everything they've I taught me will help me out. " PSU finds positives after falling to No. 1 Huskies When she looked into the faces of her players prior to their matchup against No. 1 Connecticut on Nov. 17, Penn State coach Coquese Washington saw a lot of wide-eyed kids staring back at her. But the youthful Lady Lions had enough veteran composure to slash a 23-point deficit down to nine late in the second half. And while a spirited rally ignited by Maggie Lucas's stellar shot-making wasn't enough to stave off a 71-52 loss, the performance against the defending national champions by a largely rebuilt Lady Lion team left Washington encouraged. "There are a lot of positives to take away, she said. "I definitely thought " our team competed. Maggie Lucas showed why she's one of the best shooters in the country, one of the best offensive players in the country. She's relentless, and when she gets an open look, she's gonna knock it down. She played her heart out against a defense that was really keyed on her." Penn State got 18 points from Lucas, including a 3 with 5:31 left that cut Connecticut's lead to nine points, 57-48. But the Huskies scored the game's next five points and closed with a 14-4 run to finish off the 15th-ranked Lady Lions and earn their third victory over a ranked opponent in less than a week. Making their first visit to University Park since 1983, the Huskies held Penn State to 22.6 percent shooting in the first half, including an 0-of-8 performance from 3-point range. Connecticut went into the game on the heels of double-digit romps over third-ranked Stanford and eighthranked Maryland in the previous six days and got off to a slow start, missing 16 of its first 21 shots. But Penn State was even more erratic, hitting only three of its first 13 attempts. Penn State's shooting improved in the second half, as it hit 6 of 13 3point attempts, but it wasn't enough. Said Lucas, "When you get yourself in a hole like that, it's hard to get out. " Still, with the season only three games old, there's plenty of time to work with the six freshmen who are playing this year and develop the kind of chemistry that Washington wants to see. "There are a lot of positives we can take away, and the best positive is that it's Nov. 17 and we've got 29 more games to play," she said. "We'll take some lessons and get better, and we will be fine." – M.H.

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