| Tyra Grant was named Ohio Ms. Basketball after averaging 30.8 ppg and 10.7 ppg this year for Youngstown Ursuline. |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; March 21, 2006 - The Penn State women's basketball coaching staff has much to look forward to after reviewing the senior seasons of its three early signees. The trio finished stellar prep careers, and was highlighted by Tyra Grant (Youngstown, Ohio), who collected Ohio Associated Press Ms. Basketball accolades.
The 5-11 guard from Youngstown Ursuline snagged the prestigious award given to the top girls high school player across all divisions after averaging 30.8 ppg, 10.7 rpg, 3.7 spg, 2.9 apg, and 2.8 bpg during the 2005-06 season. Grant was also named the 2006 Ohio AP Division III Tri-Player of the Year, and earned AP Division III first-team all-state honors.
The talented guard led Ursuline to the Ohio state Division III finals before falling, 55-49, to Jonathan Alder. Grant, who was named to the Division III all-tournament team, scored 30 points in that contest, to go along with 9 rebounds, 7 blocks, 6 steals and 3 assists. Grant, who does have a state title on her resume from her sophomore year, finished her career with 2,292 points, the most ever at Youngstown Ursuline and in the Mahoning Valley area.
"She's terrific," said Lady Lion head coach Rene Portland. "She has a wonderful offensive attitude, great guard skills and has the ability to make her teammates better. She has tremendous speed and great footwork that will help us on the defensive end. We are very excited for her to put on the Lady Lion uniform."
Meggan Quinn (Red Lion, Pa.), a 5-9 guard from Red Lion High School, finished her career with 2,044 points and is the all-time leading scorer at Red Lion (boys or girls), far surpassing the previous mark of 1,646. Quinn, who averaged 19.4 ppg this season, led Red Lion to the PIAA Class AAAA Sweet Sixteen. All-state selections aren't out yet in Pennsylvania, but last year Quinn was named to the second team, while also picking up first-team all York County honors.
"She will be a great Penn Stater," said Portland. "She has an incredible offensive knack; the kid can really shoot the ball. She's very driven, and she will give us 100 percent every time she's out on the floor.
Penn State's final early recruit, Meredith Monroe (Olney, Md.), was part of another exciting year at Our Lady Of Good Counsel, helping her team to its second-straight Washington Catholic Athletic Conference title. The 6-3 forward then helped Good Counsel claim its second-straight DC City Title, which pits the top parochial team against the top public school team in the Washington DC area.
"Meredith's upside is terrific and she's going to get good for us," said Portland. "She's very agile, has a nose for the basketball and has great speed. She's got a lot of championship experience like the kids we have now do, and will bring in that winning mentality.