Jan. 31, 2013
By Mike Esse, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Lady Lions are 7-0 in the Big Ten, number seven in the country and have three of the hottest players in the conference on their roster as they head to Madison, Wis. on Thursday looking to continue its 12 game winning streak.
The attention is deserved for all three of those storylines, but head coach Coquese Washington and her players, especially her starters, have not neglected to emphasize perhaps the most underplayed Lady Lion storyline: the impact of the Penn State bench players.
They won't wow you in the box score, but the presence has been felt, especially in the past three games. Ariel Edwards, Talia East, Gizelle Studevent, Tori Waldner and Candice Agee have taken the floor in relief for Washington in crucial moments of games and the team hasn't missed a beat on either side of the ball.
"Our bench is coming in the game and doing more than just spelling people's minutes," said Washington. "I like our bench and what they give us. Hopefully they can continue to play with that type of confidence and continue to be impactful for us."
Starting with Studevent and Edwards, Washington has scorers coming off the bench that can score efficiently. Edwards sees a little more time on the floor because of her defensive capabilities, but has scored a combined 15 points in her last two games while logging an average of 18 minutes in the last two contests.
In the past two games Studevent has scored four points, hitting two of three shots in seven minutes against Minnesota and four points in 10 minutes against Ohio State. After struggling toward the beginning of the year, the senior guard feels as though she has gotten her confidence back.
"My shot was a little off for a while, so I just spent extra time shooting before and after practice to get it better, so going into the game I'm pretty confident," said Studevent.
As her shot has improved and Edwards has continued to thrive after moving back to the bench the Lady Lions have been able to tout five scoring threats in the backcourt as well as the defensive prowess brought by the frontcourt.
Nikki Greene has come on as of late in the frontcourt for Penn State, as has fellow senior Mia Nickson. As both of those players have developed, suddenly the defensive abilities of East Waldner and Agee have come alive as well.
Against Minnesota it was Waldner with four rebounds and a game high five blocks in only eight minutes. Three days later against Ohio State it was East with four rebounds and a team high two blocks in just 11 minutes.
For Agee, as a true freshman coming off an ankle injury, her time has been limited as of late, but against Ohio State she was able to have success in her five minutes of play with two points and three rebounds.
Once again, it's the rate of efficiency for the Lady Lion bench and simply their presence that has allowed the team to thrive.
"They're huge," said Bentley about the reserves. "We wouldn't have been able to win these games without our bench. I have been saying all year that our team is filled with depth. They all get in the box score and help us out a lot."
When these players get in the game for Penn State nothing changes on the court and quite frankly nothing changes on the Lady Lion sideline either. When the starters are in and Bentley drives to the lane for a flashy layup it is Studevent, Edwards and company that is out of their seats clapping for their teammates.
As the bench players come into the game that level of intensity coming from the bench is still there. Whether it is Bentley or Lucas or Nickson, the starters feed off of the production of the bench to garner some extra motivation.
"If you ever watch (Alex) Bentley when she's on the bench and somebody does something, you would think she was waving pompoms as big of a cheerleader she is," said Washington. "She's waiving the towel, yelling and on the verge of getting us a technical for standing up too long. Our starters certainly appreciate and value what our bench brings to the floor."
Conversely, what does that mean for the bench players when they see Bentley hyped up on the sidelines? It defines their relationships as teammates.
"It's awesome, I mean we all love each other, we have each other's backs, so it's great just to know that they have my back and they have everybody else's back," said Studevent. "Now, we're just confident and we have to be ready when they call our number."
--NITTANY LIONS--