May 15, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - A pair of former Penn State Lady Lions, Helen Darling and Tanisha Wright, are on opening day WNBA rosters as the season opens today. Penn State's two WNBAers are tied with Purdue, Minnesota and Ohio State for the most among Big Ten teams. Darling and the San Antonio Silver Stars will host Atlanta tonight at 8 p.m., while Seattle opens its season at home against Los Angeles on Sunday at 9 p.m.
Darling is in her fourth season with the San Antonio Silver Stars and 10th season in the league overall. She had nine points in 17 minutes in her only preseason game. Darling accounted for 3.1 points, 1.8 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 34 games for San Antonio last season. In her nine seasons as a WNBA player, Darling averages 4.3 points, 2.9 assists, 1.1 steals and 2.1 rebounds per game.
Wright is in her sixth season with the Seattle Storm. In her only preseason appearance, Wright accounted for 15 points and four assists against the Tulsa Shock. She is coming off of a career year in which she accounted for 12.2 points, 3.9 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game to lead the Storm to the second seed in the WNBA playoffs. She also ranked third in the WNBA in free throw percentage with a .906 mark this season. Wright finished 2009 in the Top 10 in the league in assists per game (9th), minutes played (1,072; 10th) and total assists (129; 9th). She had five games last season with 20 or more points. Wright is averaging 6.3 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists with a 43.2% field goal percentage and a 83.3% free throw percentage in her WNBA career.
The Lady Lions hold several camps throughout the summer. There is a Lady Lion Basketball Camp available for girls of all ages, ranging from shooting camp to elite camp. The 2010 Lady Lion Basketball Camp schedule is as follows: Shooting Camp (June 13-15), Elite Camp (June 20-22), Skills Camp (June 20-23), Total Package Team Camp (June 24-26) and Games Galore Team Camp (August 6-8). For more information on Lady Lion Basketball Camps, please visit psusportscamps.com and click on Lady Lion Basketball Camp.
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.