Nov. 16, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - Penn State Lady Lion basketball coach Coquese Washington announced today the addition of Ariel Edwards (Elmont, N.Y./Christ the King) to the 2010 recruiting class, which is ranked No. 20 by ESPN HoopGurlz and No. 24 by Collegiate Girls Basketball Report. Edwards joins Maggie Lucas (Narbeth, Pa./Germantown Academy) and Talia East (Philadelphia, Pa./Friends' Central) who signed National Letters of Intent last week. Transfer Mia Nickson (Ashburn, Va./Notre Dame Academy/Boston College) is also considered a member of this recruiting class. All four players will start their Lady Lion careers in 2010-11.
A 6-2 forward Edwards is another highly touted recruit for the Lady Lions as she is ranked 39th by Blue Star Basketball and 66th by ESPN HoopGurlz. She was a member of the New York City Girl's All-Star Team last season as she led Christ the King High School to the CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens title. Edwards averaged 13.8 points and 9.1 rebounds per game as a junior at Christ the King en route to first team All-Queens honors and a berth on the New York Daily News first team All-Queens. She was also a nominee for McDonald's All-America and WBCA All-America. Edwards and Lucas play AAU for the Philly Belles, which was ranked third in the country. The Belles finished second in the 2009 U.S. Junior Nationals in Washington D.C. and second in the 2009 Boo Williams Tournament.
"Ariel is a tremendous athlete for us and will play a combination three-four," Washington said. "Her game is still evolving, but she is a great athlete with very good length. She can play inside and outside and she can defend practically every position on the floor. She will be a very versatile player for us and will give us the opportunity to do a lot of different things offensively and defensively."
Maggie Lucas |
Lucas, the 14th-ranked player by Blue Star Basketball and 34th-ranked player by ESPN HoopGurlz, led Germantown Academy to a 31-0 record en route to their 11th-straight Inter-Academic League title and a No. 18 national ranking in the final MaxPreps poll in 2008-09. The 5-8 shooting guard was a first team ESPNRISE.com High School All-American last season after averaging 21.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.3 steals and 2.6 assists per game as a junior. Lucas is a two-time first team All-State selection and three-time Inter-Ac first team choice. Lucas enters her final season at Germantown Academy with 1,557 career points, which is seventh on Germantown Academy's all-time scoring list (boys and girls). Lucas needs 690 points to break the school's all-time scoring mark set by Laura Kurz. "The Sporting News" Preseason All-American plays AAU for the Philly Belles, which was ranked third in the country.
East, the 29th-ranked center by ESPN HoopGurlz, averaged 10.8 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.6 blocks as she led Friends Central to a 26-2 record last season. The Phoenix were ranked eighth in the Philadelphia area in 2009 and were semifinalists in the Pennsylvania Independents Tournament. The 6-3 post player enters her senior season with 766 career points and 668 career rebounds. The 2009 All-State selection also has been on the All-Friends League team and the All-Mainline team each of the last three years. East played AAU basketball with the Philly Triple Threat.
Nickson, who will sit out the 2009-10 season due to NCAA transfer rules, played in 28 games for Boston College last season, averaging 1.6 points and 2.0 rebounds per game. She had a career-high seven points against Wake Forest on Jan. 15, 2009. She also had a solid outing against Virginia Tech with five points and a career-best seven rebounds. At Notre Dame Academy, Nickson was a two-time first team All-Met selection in 2007 and 2008. The Ashburn, Va., native was also a Preseason All-American selection by The Sporting News heading into her senior season in 2008. She averaged 12.9 points per game as a senior and finished her career with more than 1,500 points. Nickson was a member of the Notre Dame Academy squad that was ranked fourth in the ESPN High Elite 25 Girls Basketball Rankings her senior season.
The Lady Lions begin a four-game road trip on Thursday at Bucknell at 7 p.m., they will then travel to South Carolina to take on the Gamecocks Sunday at 3 p.m. Following the Maine Thanksgiving tournament, Penn State returns to the Bryce Jordan Center on Wed., Dec. 2 to face Georgia Tech in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge at 6:30 p.m. Single-game tickets can be purchased by calling the Penn State ticket office at 814-865-5555.
The 2010 WBCA Pink Zone at Penn State will take place on Sunday, Jan. 24 at 1 p.m., as the Lady Lions take on Illinois in the Bryce Jordan Center. The game can be seen on www.bigtennetwork.com. The first three Pink Zone events have raised more than $80,000 for breast cancer awareness. This year's fundraising efforts will benefit the Mount Nittany Medical Center, Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute, Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition and the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund. For more information on the Pink Zone at Penn State, visit the official Pink Zone website at www.gopsusports.com/pinkzone.
The Lady Lions are on Twitter. Follow head coach Coquese Washington (@psucoachquese), sports information contact Kris Petersen (@ladylionsid) and the Lady Lions and assistant coaches (@pennstatewbb) to get the inside scoop. The Lady Lions are also on Facebook. Search Lady Lion Basketball and become a fan.