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this five-player group collectively in these pages. For while none of them cracked the starting lineup at any point in the season, they combined to produce 11.7 points and 10.5 rebounds per game, and the role they played in support of the Lady Lions' strong senior quartet helped the team lay claim to its third con- secutive Big Ten regular-season championship. Mitchell saw the most action of those newcomers, averaging 17.1 minutes per game, and while her scoring and rebounding averages were modest (4.5 and 4.4, respectively), she had a way of coming up big just when the Lady Lions needed a boost. In addition to the game against Florida, she helped propel Penn State to a pair of victories over Northwestern, hitting 7 of 7 free throws and finishing with nine points and eight re- bounds in a 82-73 win at the Bryce Jordan Center, and clinching a 79-75 victory over the Wildcats in Evanston with two makes from the free throw line with two seconds remaining. She also scored 11 points in her regular-season debut against St. Francis and finished with a season-high 14 points in a 92-49 romp over Bucknell. Mitchell, whose older brother Kenny was an All-Conference forward at Virginia State, had come to Penn State from Stephen- son High in Stone Mountain, Ga., where she established herself as the nation's 88th-best recruit according to ESPN HoopGurlz.com. She hit it off with Washington and assistant coach Kia Damon and was flattered by the Lady Lions' interest, saying it was "nice knowing that a big school was offering you and that they were taking a chance on someone who was 12 hours away." Washington will be looking for more points from Mitchell and her classmates next season. She noted that she expects the Lady Lions to be more balanced following the graduation of their second-leading career scorer, Maggie Lucas. "What exactly that looks like, I'm not sure," Washington said, "but I think we've got a lot of depth and a lot of kids who can contribute in different ways." Mitchell said she sees doors opening for her and her classmates. With Penn State having lost 56.5 points and 20.5 rebounds per game from this past year's Sweet 16 team – Waldner is the only starter returning – those doors aren't simply ajar; they are propped wide open with welcome mats beneath them. Are the team's rising sophomores ready to step over the threshold? Washington thinks so. "They got an up-close-and-personal look at what it takes to compete at this level," she said, referring to the just-completed season. "And at the same time, they have a hunger and a passion and a drive to push the needle a little bit further. We've got a lot of work to do. They've got a lot of work to do individually, but I'm glad that that's where their mindset is." Mitchell set the stage for a big sophomore year with her per- formance against the Gators. Her motivation that night sprang partly from a desire to give the seniors one last victory in the BJC, but also from a desire to simply keep playing basketball. "It was win or go home," she said, "and I wasn't ready to go home." ■ t Ohio State, the calculus is simple: Did the Buckeyes beat Michigan? If so, it's been a good year, no matter what else may have happened on the gridiron before or a;er, no matter what the school's other varsity teams may have accomplished. Conversely, a loss to Michigan makes it a dismal, dreadful year, the kind of year that is perhaps best forgotten entirely. Penn State doesn't have a rival that it hates as much as the Buckeyes hate the Wolverines. When they set their minds to it, Nittany Lion fans can work up a pretty good disdain for both of the Big Ten's most tradition-laden programs, but hating those teams doesn't come quite as naturally as hating, say, Pitt, the in-state rival that the Lions le; behind when they joined the Big Ten. For that reason, as well as a few others, there's a bit of math involved in deter- mining the quality of Penn State's athletic year. On the plus side of the ledger: Penn State not only defeated Michigan this year, but did so in the most satisfy- ing way possible, putting to- gether a 23-second touchdown drive to tie the score at the end of regulation before prevailing in quadruple-overtime, 43-40, on Bill Belton's 2- yard touchdown run. Senior offensive tackle John Urschel called it "probably the greatest college football game I've ever played in." The Nittany Li- ons also stunned Wis- consin, 31-24, in a marvelous season fi- nale that pushed their record to 7-5 – the second consecutive winning season that Bill O'Brien put to- gether despite having to deal with the con- sequences of the NCAA's devastating sanctions. But the season was no joyride. There were setbacks, none more brutal than the 63-14 loss Penn State suf- fered at the hands of the Buckeyes. It was the Nittany Lions' most lopsided defeat since 1899, and it gave Penn Staters yet another reason – as if they needed one – to hold a grudge against the league's flagship program. Fans fumed when Urban Meyer challenged the spot on an apparent first-down catch by Allen Robinson in the third quarter. The spot was overturned, and Penn State's offense trudged back to the sideline, MOMENTS TO REMEMBER A PSU wins a slew of NCAA and Big Ten titles to go with two rousing football victories | THE YEAR IN REVIEW 2 0 1 3 >> 1 4 STARRY NIGHT Belton (far left) exults after scoring the winning touchdown vs. Michi- gan – a score made possible by Robinson's acrobatic catch at the end of regulation. Steve Manuel Steve Manuel

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