Jan. 9, 2014
By Mike Esse, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - During the preseason and the early non-conference season, it was unknown who would team up with 2013 Big Ten Player of the Year Maggie Lucas to lead the Lady Lion scoring, although all signs pointed toward it being Ariel Edwards.
Signs no more. Now, it is simply factual. Ariel Edwards can be and will be a viable scoring threat in her senior season at Penn State. Through 13 games, Edwards is second on the team in scoring averaging 13.5 points per game and adds 4.5 rebounds per contest.
Her versatility on the floor has created a new dimension for the Lady Lions and more importantly, according to her head coach, it has created stability.
"The confidence that she [Ariel] is playing with is really helping to stabilize the team so far this year," said head coach Coquese Washington. "She is playing more decisively. When she is aggressive and assertive and decisive she is pretty tough to stop."
The 6-foot-3 senior forward can play either guard position, defend at a high level, score and get rebounds and has been able to do all of those things at almost any given moment during the 2013-14 season.
"It helps me be more effective," Edwards said. "If we are playing a smaller team I can play power forward. If we are playing a bigger team I can play my more natural position, which is small forward."
With a true point guard in Dara Taylor and a lethal shooting guard in Maggie Lucas, Edwards knows the importance of her being versatile on a consistent basis, which is finally becoming a reality.
"It's something that my team needs from me," Edwards said of her versatility and consistency.
Edwards has been able to step up in on multiple occasions for Penn State this season cementing herself as a scoring leader for the back-to-back Big Ten regular season champions. Take the Lady Lions' 66-58 win over then-No. 20/24 Texas A&M.
The Aggies, along with anyone with knowledge of women's college basketball, knew Maggie Lucas was going to get her fair share of points and she did. What may have been the difference though was that Edwards backed up Lucas' 26-point performance with 14 points, five rebounds and four assists.
A few days prior to the win over Texas A&M, Penn State was down, 55-35, at the half on the road against South Dakota State. Edwards led the way in the second half with 16 points, four rebounds and two assists as the Lady Lions nearly erased the 20-point deficit before falling, 83-79.
Edwards has gone from a consistency question to a stable and able option. Position coach Kia Damon believes Edwards has been able to turn the corner because of her growth mentally as well as physically.
"Ariel has always been a very talented player, but what you are seeing this year is that she is putting together the mental aspect with her physical talents," said Damon. "That [the new mentality] has helped her to remain calm in every situation on the court."
Washington agrees. The physical talent and skill was always there, it was a matter of taking the mental approach and making the two work hand-in-hand. That has been able to happen because of her experiences in her first three seasons at Penn State.
"It's been a four-year progression for Ariel," Washington said. "She spends a tremendous amount of time in the gym before practice and after practice working on ball handling, defense and shooting. It's been a gradual growth for her and it's all coming together in terms of her confidence and decision making."
Edwards and Penn State travel to Champaign, Ill. on Thursday, Jan. 9 to take on Illinois at 9 p.m. before their Big Ten home opener on Sunday against Purdue at 3 p.m.