Blue White Illustrated

touched her heart." The drawing showed Greene wearing a Lady Lion basketball shirt. Greene has proved to be a tremendous asset during her four years on the team. She's already collected more than 800 rebounds, including a season-high 20 in a victory against CalState Northridge in November, matching the 20 she totaled in a win over Indiana last season. "She takes pride in her rebounding," Washington said. "When I came to college I figured out my role," Greene said. "I love my role and I take it to heart. It's rebounding and defending the paint. It's pretty much to be the dominant post." Throughout Greene's career, Penn State's scoring leaders have played on the perimeter. Maggie Lucas, Alex Bentley, Zhaque Gray and Dara Taylor have been the producers on offense. Points in the paint are important, but most of the team's shooting has been done by the guards. That doesn't bother Greene. "I love my guards. I would do anything for them," she said. "The offense goes through the guards, so my playing the role as the rebounder – it's cool." Greene's art is a huge part of her life as a college student. Her major in integrative arts adds to the positive experience she's had at Penn State. She is addicted to doodling, something she does in basketball meetings, as well as in class. "Sometimes it gets out of control, but I try to keep myself on track with my school work," said Greene, an Academic All-Big Ten honoree last year. Artistic doodling also helps Greene control her emotions both on and off the court. "I'm starting to do that before games or do it a day before," she said. "I can get those feelings off my head so when I go into the game I'm more relaxed. I'm able to focus in on whatever the coach wants." She must have enjoyed a lot of doodling before the game against CalState Northridge, in which she scored 20 points to go with the 20 rebounds. She also was a double-figure rebounder against Georgetown, finishing with 13. Green began drawing years ago as a hobby. "I kind of used it as a way to express myself when I was very bored or tired or feeling a certain way. I'm a very internal person," said Greene who describes herself as "a shy Southern girl from Texas." Teammate and roommate Marisa Wolfe agreed. "Nikki is the type of person who you need to get to know to be more than an acquaintance. You need to form a relationship before she is going to open herself up." Greene's art does not show up in the living area of an apartment she also shares with Taylor. "It's more in her room," Wolfe said. "You can always see it. It's very colorful. I can't describe it other than it's her." Greene loves the people who live in her Texas hometown, a small town on the eastern side of the state with a population of about 4,700. She returns whenever she can and sees herself as a role model in the community. "A lot of my classmates that I graduated with had opportunities to go to school on scholarship but they didn't take advantage of it," she said. "I guess they felt homesick. I pushed myself to go farther away. I wanted to grow up on my own and be independent." There is a side of Greene that most people don't know. She was her high school's mascot, a lumberjack, for two years, and joined the cheerleader squad as a spotter on pyramids. She had to give both up when sports took over her life. Greene is capable of becoming a 1,000-point scorer at Penn State. Just getting past the 900-point milestone surprised her. "I never thought I'd reach that point," she admitted. "It's a big accomplishment. I'm pleased about it." Add to that playing for a nationally ranked team that is predicted to win the Big Ten and advance in the NCAA tournament. The team's success has made Greene even happier, and although she's never sold her art, she's keeping it in her future plans. "She's a gifted, gifted artist," Washington said. And she's successful in two career paths that she cherishes. PSU overcomes S. Dakota State They wanted a challenge, and they got one. Penn State set up its nonconference schedule specifically to prepare it for the Big Ten season and beyond, and sure enough, the slate has supplied the Lady Lions with lots of resistance. The team suffered its first loss of the season Nov. 29, falling to Miami, 6965. A week later, it lost to Connecticut, 67-52. Both losses occurred on the road against quality opponents. The Hurricanes have been in and out of the Top 25, while the Huskies are ranked second nationally. But the Lady Lions also got a bit of a challenge at the Bryce Jordan Center against unranked South Dakota State on Dec. 16. The score was tied at halftime, 25-25, and 11th-ranked Penn State needed a 7-0 run at the start of the second half to pull away. "Those nights are going to happen," said senior point guard Alex Bentley, who finished with 13 points, nine rebounds and five assists in a 60-50 victory. "That's what I tell my team- mates. Nobody is going to have a perfect shooting night." Maggie Lucas had an unusually scattershot game, going 2 of 12 from the floor and finishing with nine points. "Maggie Lucas is human and she misses shots sometimes," coach Coquese Washington said. "She got great looks; she just didn't knock them down." That's a rarity for the junior guard, as she was averaging 20.9 points through 11 games. But she'll have plenty of opportunities to show off her impressive shooting form in the coming weeks. Penn State opens its Big Ten season Jan. 3 at the Bryce Jordan Center against Northwestern. Three days later, it will travel to Michigan State, a team to which it lost twice last season. Sporting a 9-2 record heading into their nonconference finale against NJIT, the Lady Lions continue to exude confidence. Said Bentley, "You can't hold your head down when shots aren't falling. You just have to say you're going to hit the next one." – MATT HERB

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