Posts filed under ‘Lady Lion basketball’
Think Pink
If you end up missing the mark with a certain someone’s Valentine’s gift, or forget it all together, you are in luck. The Lady Lion basketball team launched the Pink Zone Auction this week, which is being hosted on charitybuzz.net. There is a wide array of auction items, 46 in total. 
You could bid on a chance to meet Tony Bennett, spend an evening with ex-CIA spy Valerie Plame Wilson ’85 and her husband, experience a taping of Saturday Night Live in New York with Penn State President Graham Spanier and his wife, or collect a few signed (and used) Paterno items. My favorite item in the bunch is the chance to have Chip Kidd ’86, famed book jacket designer, design a cover just for you.
The goal is to raise $150,000 with proceeds benefitting breast cancer charities. There is still plenty of time to bid. The auction opened this past Monday and goes until March 2.
To view a full list of auction items click here.
If one auction isn’t enough for you, another Pink Zone online auction is taking place at gopsusports.com. It also runs until March 2. Happy bidding.
Jessie Knuth, graphic designer
The Honors Roll in for Penn State Student Athletes
Senior offensive lineman Stefen Wisniewski last week became Penn State’s first ever three-time Academic All-American; on Monday, we were reminded that he’s just as sharp on the field as in the classroom. Wisniewski was named an All-American by the American Football Coaches Association, the first of a handful of recognized All-American teams to be announced for the 2010 season.
He wasn’t the only Penn Stater honored in the past few days. Corey Hertzog, who led the nation with 20 goals for the men’s soccer team this season, has been named national Player of the Year by TopDrawerSoccer.com. Hertzog led the Nittany Lions to the third round of the NCAA tournament, where they lost Sunday to defending national champion Maryland.
And on Monday, Lady Lion rookie Maggie Lucas was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week for the second time this season. The 5-foot-9 guard is averaging better than 15 points per game for the Lady Lions, who are off to a 6-1 start.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Penn State Sports: The Monday Blahs
The busiest Penn State sports weekend of the semester was a bit of a letdown. There was some good news: the Nittany and Lady Lion basketball teams and sixth-ranked wrestling team opened their seasons with wins, and the No. 8 women’s volleyball team extended its Rec Hall unbeaten streak to 88 matches with sweeps of Wisconsin and No. 9 Illinois.
That was the good news.
There was disappointment but no shame as the field hockey and women’s soccer teams both fell to higher-ranked opponents in NCAA tournament play. The men’s soccer team, meanwhile, hosted the Big Ten tournament at Jeffrey Field, beating Northwestern in the opener and upsetting top-seeded Indiana in the semis to set up a meeting with Michigan in the final. We were blessed with unbelievable weather this weekend, so I took in both Friday’s semifinal and Sunday’s final.
I also took our camera; credit for whatever half-decent shots I got goes largely to our Nikon D40. Here’s one from Friday afternoon’s semifinal against IU. That’s Penn State midfielder Drew Cost (8) lining up a long-range shot. (Click to enlarge)
Jeffrey Field is one of my favorite places on campus to be in the fall. The sunsets up there can be gorgeous, and they made for some great shadows and color on the field. It’s also a nice backdrop for a fan looking contemplative over his vuvuzela.
Penn State lost the title game to Michigan, 4-1, a score that didn’t reflect how well Penn State played — the Nittany Lions actually outshot the Wolverines 23-16 on the day. Here’s one of those shots, a first-half attempt by freshman forward Jordan Tyler.
The Nittany Lions’ only goal came late in the first half, when Cost received a pass on the edge of the Michigan box, made a quick move to his right and shot low toward the far corner…
The keeper never had a chance.
The final score was a bummer, but at least the kids had a good time: That’s my son and my buddy Dave’s two boys clowning around at halftime.
Figured I’d end it with some cuteness.
The soccer team awaits confirmation of an NCAA at-large bid, to be announced Monday afternoon.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
JoePa Gets 400, and Much More From a Busy Weekend of Penn State Sports
It’s shaping up to be a beautiful week in State College, fitting weather for the campus-wide good vibes still lingering from Saturday night. I took my 5-year-old to Beaver Stadium, and after the game I told him that one day he’d be able to tell his kids about seeing Joe Paterno win his 400th game. Honestly, I don’t think he grasped it; all my son knew was that he had a blast high-fiving our neighbors in section NAU over and over again in that second half.
In the two days since, there have been a bunch of great stories on Joe Paterno’s 400th career win (we’ve already linked to a couple of them on our Facebook page). Here’s a couple more you might have missed:
-This wrap-up from the Altoona Mirror is cool for the embedded video link, which offers a close-up view of Paterno on the shoulders of lineman Eric Shrive and graduate assistant coach Gus Felder ’02 (who I’m pretty sure was on the field as a player when Joe broke Bear Bryant’s Division I victory record back in 2001). It offers a (more…)
Tanisha Wright is a WNBA Champion
After leading the Seattle Storm to the verge of a WNBA title on Tuesday night, Tanisha Wright ’06 helped her team seal the deal on Thursday, totaling 13 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals to help the Storm sweep the Atlanta Dream for the WNBA championship. That’s Tanisha standing just left of center, with her right hand on the trophy. She earned it.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Tanisha Wright On The Verge of a WNBA Title
Tanisha Wright ’06 scored 17 points and added a game-high 5 steals Tuesday night to help the Seattle Storm take a 2-0 lead over Atlanta in the WNBA Finals. Wright, who was recently named to the WNBA all-defensive first team for the second straight season, is one game away from following Kelly Mazzante ’04 as a WNBA champion. Mazzante won a ring last season as a member of the Phoenix Mercury.
ESPN.com posted a video interview with Wright earlier this week, and it’s worth a quick look. Game 3 of the best-of-five series is Thursday night in Atlanta.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Tyra Grant & Talor Battle, Updated
The futures of Tyra Grant and Talor Battle look slightly more certain this morning. Grant, the former Lady Lion hoops All-American, was chosen by the defending champion Phoenix Mercury with the final pick of the second round (24th overall) in Thursday’s WNBA draft. The Mercury were looking for a “slasher,” a player who could fit into their open-court, fast-paced style, and Grant fit the bill.
Grant will still have to impress her new coaches enough to earn a roster spot, which is a similar challenge to the one now faced by Battle. The Nittany Lion junior announced yesterday than he was throwing his name into the ring for the 2010 NBA draft, but, by not hiring an agent, he left himself the option of returning to Penn State next year. Battle confirmed that his decision is about determining his best options: If he impresses NBA scouts enough to get a first-round guarantee (and the guaranteed contract that comes with it), he’d be crazy not to leave. But if — much more likely — he’s told that he’s a second-round pick at best, Battle will almost certainly be back for his senior season. As respected draft analyst Jerry Palm told the Daily Collegian, “I don’t really see a lot of reason for optimism from him in terms of the draft. I would expect he probably comes back to school.”
I imagine I speak for all Penn State basketball fans when I say I’d love to see Talor Battle in an NBA uniform… just not next season.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Talor Battle & Tyra Grant Hope to Feel A Draft
The 2010 WNBA draft tips off today at 3 p.m., and former Lady Lion Tyra Grant is among the players hoping to hear their names called. The consensus among WNBA “mock” drafts is that Grant will be chosen in the second or third round of the three-round draft. Recent Collegian alumnus Matt Fortuna has a nice piece on Grant’s pre-draft preparations in today’s Altoona Mirror. You can follow the draft live online on the WNBA Web site.
And some “breaking” draft news — received just as I was about to post this: Nittany Lion junior Talor Battle has submitted his name for the 2010 NBA Draft. Before Penn State hoop fans panic, know that Battle’s decision is almost certainly exploratory, and nothing more: By not hiring an agent, he gives himself the chance to work out for NBA scouts, get feedback on how to plug the holes in his game, and pull his name out of the hat before the NCAA-mandated May 8 deadline. I have yet to see an NBA mock draft that includes Battle’s name for 2010, but if (as expected) he comes back with a better sense of where he needs to improve and has a strong senior season, he’ll give himself a decent shot of being chosen in 2011.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
She Doesn’t Play Much, But She Has No Regrets
I really liked the story in today’s Daily Collegian about Nicole Arcidiacono, a senior on the Lady Lion basketball team.
Arcidiacono joined the team as a walk-on two years ago, and although she has since earned a scholarship, she still plays only sparingly. Penn State has to have a pretty insurmountable lead before she gets into the game, and that doesn’t happen too often.
Yet she plays a big role on the team, according to the Collegian piece.
“She’s always telling us what we need to be doing and always sending us text messages reminding us about every little thing there is to know,” freshman guard Alex Bentley says in the article. “She’s almost like the Team Mom.”
And Arcidiacono (who, by the way, has a name that’s fun to say; it’s pronounced arch-ee-dee-OCK-uh-no) seems to relish her experiences as a part of the team, even if she rarely gets a chance to play in the actual games: “If I had to do it all over again,” she says, “I would do it in a heartbeat.”
Tina Hay, editor
Two Great Basketball Shots
Andy Colwell is a Penn State student who is an avid and very talented photographer—he does a lot of shooting for Penn State Public Information and is amassing a portfolio of terrific images. (He’s the guy who took the photo of the Pattee Mall in an October snowstorm that many of you loved.) He often photographs Penn State basketball, and two of his recent photos from Lady Lion games really stood out for me.
One is the above image from last Sunday’s Pink Zone game; it captures Karisma Penn of Illinois fouling (to say the least) Penn State’s Tyra Grant. Click to see it larger—and note the sweat flying off Grant’s uniform!
The other is the photo below of Grant flying through the air toward the basket in last Thursday night’s game against Purdue.
You can see more photos from the Pink Zone game here, and you might also want to check out Andy’s own Web site, here.
Tina Hay, editor
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