Blue White Illustrated

WOM E N' S B A S K E T B A LL A stellar cast of veteran players looks to lift PSU to the top of the Big Ten and beyond SENIOR MOMENT | games each of the two seasons before she arrived, the most losses in school history. They lost some more games in Wolfe's S freshman season – 14 total and 10 of their last 12. But since that difficult first year, Penn State has been on a rocket ride back to the stratosphere of the women's college game. Wolfe's class, which also includes point guard Alex Bentley, center Nikki Greene and reserve guard Gizelle Studevent, along with forward Mia Nickson, who transferred in from Boston College – has spear- headed the team's ascent and is un- derstandably proud of its contribution. "It's a great feeling," Wolfe said during the Lady Lions' recent preseason media day. "Our freshman year wasn't the greatest year, but looking back and seeing where we were our freshman year to now, to be able to say I helped get the program back to where it was is such a great feeling." The Lady Lions have been back to the NCAA Tournament each of the past two years, and the only remaining question for the team's stellar senior class is, how will it all end? Expecta- tions are high coming off the 2011-12 season, in which Penn State went 26- 7, won the Big Ten regular-season title and reached the Sweet 16. The Lady Lions lost only one player from that team to graduation – shooting guard Zhaque Gray – and they are joined by two former McDonald's All-Americans this year: junior guard Dara Taylor and freshman center Candice Agee. Taylor, a former AAU teammate of Penn State's Maggie Lucas, is eligible to play after sitting out a year ago following her transfer from Maryland. Wolfe is a co-captain this year along with Bentley and Nickson. She was enior forward Marisa Wolfe commit- ted to Penn State when it was down. Way down. The Lady Lions lost 18 dealing with post-concussion symptoms over the summer and calls her health situation "a work in progress." Other- wise, the Lady Lions are healthy head- ing into the season. At media day, assistant Kia Damon filled in for head coach Coquese Wash- ington due to a family emergency. Da- mon said the senior class will have a big role to play in the team's success. "This class of kids has been very, very special to the program," she said. "When they came in, highly recruited kids, they didn't have a compelling reason to take a chance on Coquese, the staff or her program, but they bought into her vision and knew where Coquese wanted to move the program to, and they wanted to be a part of it. "They are the strong force that propels our team forward. … They've definitely left their fingerprints and footprints all over this program. It's our hope that we can have a phenomenal year so that they can be really, really proud of what they've done in four years." Penn State's 2013 class bursts with high-profile talent MAGNIFICENT SEVEN Rhonda Whitted saw the report on the Internet, and she didn't know what to do. Her daughter, Peyton, is a 6-foot-3 honor student from North Gwinnett, Ga., whose junior-year statistics (12.8 points, 7.8 rebounds) sparked interest within in the Atlantic Coast Conference, Southeastern Conference, Pac-12 and every school in between. Peyton narrowed down her list – Ken- tucky, Georgia Tech, Virginia and Penn State – though she had a gut feeling, for a while, that she knew where she wanted to play. Or rather, who she wanted to play for. "Peyton felt a connection to Coquese Washington at Penn State," Rhonda Whitted said. "But then we saw in April that Coquese was interviewing for the Michigan job. If there was any- thing that was going to change Peyton's mind, or open up her recruiting again, that would be it." Washington won't say whether she was offered the Michigan position, but shortly after she returned to Happy Valley, she reaffirmed her commitment to Penn State. And shortly after that, Peyton Whitted verbally committed to be a part of Penn State's future – a future that ap- pears bright. Whitted is one of seven players in the Lady Lions' 2013 recruiting class – Washington's largest coup yet. McDonald's All-American Candice Agee is Penn State's lone freshman this season. While the 6-6 center could contribute right away, she is surely excited by the supporting cast that will join her soon. Whitted, No. 59 in the ESPN- HoopGurlz's Class of 2013 rankings, joins 6-3 forward Alex Harris (Lorrain, Ohio), 5-6 point guard Lindsey Spann SEE SEVEN NEXT PAGE

• Cover