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and 100 assists as a freshman. She went on to receive second-team All-Big Ten honors and was named winner of the Joanie O'Brien Award (most outstanding player) at the Lady Lions' postseason ban- quet. This was not entirely surprising. Page had been one of the more coveted prospects in the coun- try when she commit- ted to the Lady Lions in September 2014, just as she was begin- ning her senior year at Marian Catholic High. She was rated the No. 27 prospect in the country by ESPN HoopGurlz and was pursued by several of the nation's top programs, including 2005 national cham- pion Baylor. She eventually narrowed her choices down to Illinois and Penn State. Located only a few hours from Chicago, the Illini had the home court advantage, but Page had been an admirer of former Lady Lion point guard Alex Bentley, and she had hit it o= well with Washington during her recruitment. So she chose Penn State and arrived last year as part of a highly regarded four-player recruiting class. The Lady Lions have had their share of freshman phenoms over the years. Lindsey Spann led them in scoring in 2014-15 as a redshirt freshman. Maggie Lucas began her career-long scoring binge by averaging a team-best 15.8 points per game in 2010- 11, while Tyra Grant (14.6 ppg) did the same four years earlier. All told, the Lady Lions have been led by a freshman in 10 of their 42 seasons, a list that includes Kelly Mazzante (18.2 ppg in 2000-01) and Susan Robinson (18.0 ppg in 1988- 89). Lucas, Grant, Mazzante and Robinson all went on to lead the team in scoring for the duration of their respective careers. Page appears to have that potential, too, but she's more interested in victories than in stats. When she was informed following a 74-62 loss to Rutgers in early February that she had just become one of the top 10 freshman scorers in school history, she thanked the reporter for letting her know, but said ruefully, "We didn't have the win." The Lady Lions only won 12 games in 2015-16, but they found a star. If Page keeps pouring in points, the wins may well follow. ■ TESSA BARRETT CROSS COUNTRY The redshirt freshman from Waverly, Pa., helped Penn State claim a conference title, turning in a time of 20 minutes, 21.4 sec- onds to finish 12th overall at Big Tens. She went on to finish 38th at NCAAs in 20:26.7, becoming the Nittany Lions' first All-American since Caitlin Lane in 2011. MADISON CARTER LACROSSE Carter became the first Penn State player to win Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors, racking up 47 goals through 20 games to rank second on the team. The attacker from Davidsonville, Md., received five Big Ten Freshman of the Week citations. AURELIA MEIJER FIELD HOCKEY The first international player in the program's history, Meijer was born in South Africa and came to Penn State from Hattem, Netherlands. She made an immediate impact, tying for second place on the team in goals (six) and points (19) and winning first-team All-Big Ten honors. KALEIGH RIEHL SOCCER Riehl couldn't have picked a better time to score her first collegiate goal, coming through in the 79th minute of PSU's College Cup semifinal matchup with Rutgers. The defender from Fairfax Station, Va., was named to the Col- lege Cup All-Tournament team and also received second-team All-Big Ten recognition. BRYANNA WEISKIRCHER VOLLEYBALL Coming off a redshirt season, the freshman from Rockford, Ill., started 33 of PSU's 34 matches at setter and averaged 10.83 assists per set. She received honorable mention AVCA All-Northeast Region honors. – M.H. H O N O R A B L E M E N T I O N HOOP DREAMS Page led the Lady Li- ons and was 17th in the Big Ten with an average of 15.3 points per game. She also led PSU in assists and minutes played. Pho- to by Patrick Mansell T H E Y E A R I N R E V I E W

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