Penn State Sports Magazine
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games in early December provided an early glimpse of the team's strengths and weaknesses. "I'm one of the coaches who did like [the revamped conference schedule]. It gives you a quick snapshot of what you need to work on, what your strengths are, what your weaknesses are and where we move from there," he said. "I thought it was a perfect time to see where we were." The early returns were mixed. Squaring off against a series of lower- tier nonconference opponents that have largely struggled, Penn State secured only one win against a high-major opponent in the early going. That victory was against Pittsburgh, 85-54, at the Legends Classic in Brooklyn. In losing to the Ag- gies the following night, then falling to the Wolfpack a week later, the Nittany Lions were left with no remaining oppor- tunities to test themselves against quality nonconference opponents. What Chambers was able to see, though, was a team that responded to its setbacks. Penn State had jumped out to a big lead at North Carolina State but was unable to hold onto it. In a quick turnaround trip to Iowa, a place where they had not won since 2001, the Lions took a lead in the opening seconds and maintained it for the duration of the game. The victory re- quired solid late-game free throw shoot- ing, and sophomores Lamar Stevens, Tony Carr and Mike Watkins delivered when it counted. Returning to the Bryce Jordan Center to face an uncharacteristically unsteady Wisconsin outfit two nights later, Penn State's results were less favorable. Neither team was able to build much of a lead in the first half, but early in the second, the Badgers started to pull away. Owners of the Big Ten's lowest-scoring offense at 66.1 points per game, they held a 17-point lead with less than 10 minutes left to play. Senior Shep Garner helped spark a furi- ous comeback in the game's final five minutes, but a missed 3-pointer by Carr in the waning moments ended the Nit- tany Lions' hopes. "We have to learn consistency," Cham- bers said. "We have to learn mental con- ditioning. How do you compete the next night after a huge win [at Iowa]? That's what I'm trying to teach our team right now. That's what I'm trying to teach our leaders. We've got to come back and com- pete, regardless of whether you're making or missing shots." The next game out, the Nittany Lions did exactly that. In a 74-54 romp over George Washington on a Saturday afternoon at the BJC, the Nittany Lions produced what Chambers described as some "of the best basketball that I've coached or seen since I've been at Penn State." The challenge, he said, is to get this group to extend the same effort and production for a full 40 minutes. He's optimistic that the gap can be bridged. The Lions aren't suffering from a dearth of talent, after all. They just need to be more consistent. Among the Big Ten's leading teams in scoring margin (+12.4 points per game), blocked shots (6.5 blocks per game) and steals (9.6 per game), the Nittany Lions were faring well in most of the major sta- tistical categories as of mid-December. And with Carr off to an outstanding start – he was second in the league in scoring (20.0 ppg), sixth in assists (4.4 apg) and eighth in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.1) through 11 games – the Lions appeared capable of continuing their upward tra- jectory. "We're working hard. We're building on some of the great wins that we've had, and we've got to learn from some of the setbacks that we've had. We're looking for some consistency," Chambers said. "I've been saying it since the preseason, we've been working on mental condition- ing because that's what the Big Ten is and that's what you're preparing for, espe- cially in the nonconference – being able to find success and then come back the very next night or two nights later and find more success. "Somehow, some way, we need to play [well] for 40 minutes. Because if you can play that way for 40 minutes, night in and night out, we will give ourselves a chance to be really successful." ■ Teniya Page is back. The junior guard returned to action last month at the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout in Las Vegas, scoring nine points against Louisiana Tech and 10 against Kansas State the following night. Page had missed Penn State's 9rst 9ve games while recov- ering from an ankle injury she received last summer at a USA Basketball camp. Despite getting Page back, the Lady Lions lost both of their games in Las Vegas, falling to the Lady Techsters, 71-59, and to the Wildcats, 70-65. Page didn't start ei- ther game but played 16 minutes against Louisiana Tech and 21 against Kansas State. When she 9nally did return to the starting lineup – in a Nov. 30 home game against Wake Forest – she posted a more typical stat line, scoring a game-high 21 points in Penn State's 68-58 victory. "It was exciting," Page said. "Though it wasn't my 9rst game back, the di:erence from being in Las Vegas with just our families cheering for us, compared to coming back home and having a lot of people cheering for us – it was great. It helped me calm down a little bit more, and I think it helped our team, as well, because we feel [more comfortable] in this environment." Page went on to lead the team in scoring in two of its next three games, with 27 points against Fordham and 18 against St. Bonaventure. Despite her return, the Lady Lions have had an up-and-down nonconference season. Against St. Bonaventure, they squandered a 12-point hal;ime lead and fell, 65-62. The loss dropped their record to 8-3 heading into their last two non- conference games against Pitt and Amer- ican. –MATT HERB WOMEN'S BASKETBALL Page returns to action for Lady Lions