Blue White Illustrated

FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH Penn State works to get a freshman- and sophomore-laden roster up to speed | T here's no timetable yet for Teniya Page's return to action, but that date is eagerly awaited by the Penn State women's basketball team. Page was a force for the Lady Lions in her first two seasons, becoming only the fourth player in the pro- gram's long history to surpass 1,000 career points by the end of her sophomore year. But in August, while attending a USA Basketball U-23 camp, the 5-foot-7 Chicagoan went down with a right ankle injury. She was forced to have surgery to repair what was ini- tially described as a "fracture/disloca- tion," and suddenly, a proven Penn State backcourt had some questions to an- swer. But Page has persevered, and although it's unclear how quickly she will be able to get back on the court, she's been encour- aged by how well her recovery has gone so far. "It's been a long process, but I've been getting through it," she said last month, prior to the start of Penn State's 2017-18 season. "I was fortunate enough to be able to go home after surgery, so that helped a lot. I've just been getting through it. Obviously, this is the first major injury and first major surgery that I've ever had, but I've been getting through pretty well." While waiting for her ankle to heal, Page has been focused on supporting her teammates. Coach Coquese Washington has strived to make sure that she is a part of the team's development even as she works her way back to full health. "I've kind of been the extra coach and the cheerleader," Page said. "Sometimes Coach will say, 'We have another assis- tant coach here with us today,' jokingly. Once I started doing more stuff, I took the cheerleader role because I need to con- tinue to progress in rehab. But at the same time, I need to be able to look out for my teammates. I may not be able to speak as much as to what they're doing. Just being on the sidelines and just cheering for them during drills and scrimmages is what I've been doing." As she awaits Page's return, Washing- ton is looking for the team's other re- turnees to step up. Redshirt sophomore Amari Carter is the team's primary point guard, taking over a role that she and Page shared last season. Rated the nation's No. 32 prospect by ESPN/HoopGurlz coming out of St. John's College High in Washington, D.C., two years ago, Carter missed nearly all of her freshman season with a knee injury but started all 32 games last year and ranked 11th in the Big Ten with an average of 4.2 assists per game. She has the kind of unflappable demeanor that any coach would want at that position. Said Wash- ington, "She would be very at home in the 1940s Jazz Era. She's just cool as a cu- cumber." Carter said she's just looking to be bet- ter than she was a year ago when she amassed the fifth-highest assist total ever by a Penn State freshman (134). "I want to be more consistent in my play and lead my team better," she said. "We had little ups and downs during a couple of the games last year and [with] my play. I want to be a better scorer, make sure I hit the open teammate, knock down the easy shots when I can and make sure when we get down or get too high I can help us be more well-rounded." The Lady Lions will no doubt welcome her calming influence on the court, given the team's abundant youth. There are no seniors on this year's team, and seven of Washington's 11 players have either freshman or sophomore eligibil- ity. Last season, Penn State went 21-11 and 9-7 in the Big Ten. The Lady Lions fell in the first round of the conference tourna- ment and consequently missed out on the NCAA tourney for the third consecutive season. The Lady Lions did, however, make the WNIT, and they won their first two games, defeating Ohio and Fordham before ending their season with a 64-55 loss to Virginia Tech. Four of the top seven scorers on that team have departed, with Sierra Moore, Kaliyah Mitchell and Peyton Whitted graduating and Lindsey Spann heading to defending national champion South Car- olina as a graduate transfer. But even with those players gone, Washington is hoping to see some carryover from last year's postseason appearance. "I think one of the things it did was whet our appetite and whet the kids' ap- petite for more," she said. "They enjoyed the experience of playing in the postsea- son, a lot of first-time opportunities for many of them, so it whet their appetite to have that experience and to do even better and go even further." Are the Lady Lions ready to take that next step to NCAA tournament con- tention? Their first public appearance of the season was not encouraging, as they lost to Division II Cedarville University, 59-53, in an exhibition game Oct. 29 at the Bryce Jordan Center. But things went much better when the regular season began. In an 86-72 win over visiting Siena on Nov. 10, Carter poured in 19 points and added six rebounds and five assists. Two days later, in an 84-70 win over Drexel, the host Lady Lions got 31 points from sophomore guard Jaida Travascio-Green, including a career- high seven 3-pointers. They also got a W O M E N ' S B A S K E T B A L L CARTER

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