Sept. 10, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - Seven former Penn State Lady Lions have signed contracts to play overseas this fall. Tanisha Wright, Alex Bentley, Nikki Greene, Maggie Lucas, Ariel Edwards, Dara Taylor and Brianne O'Rourke will all continue their playing careers with various teams in Israel, Turkey, France, Poland, Italy and Spain.
Wright, a 2005 graduate, has signed to play in Turkey. Wright just finished her 10th season with the WNBA's Seattle Storm. In her tenure with the Storm, Wright has accrued 2,591 points, 1,008 assists and 903 rebounds. She is a four-time WNBA All-Defensive first team honoree and helped Seattle to the 2010 WNBA Championship. As a Lady Lion, she was a three-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and finished her career with 1,995 points and 267 steals.
After completing stellar WNBA season with the Connecticut Sun, Bentley will play for Tarbes Gespe Bigorre of the LFB in France. Bentley accounted for 12.2 points, 3.7 assists and 1.3 steals while starting 30 of 34 games for the Sun. She ranked 25th in points per game and 14th in assists and steals average in the WNBA this season. In 2013, Bentley took home WNBA All-Rookie Team honors with the Atlanta Dream. As a Lady Lion, Bentley was a three-time first team All-Big Ten honoree and finished her career with 1,786 points, 567 assists and 325 steals. She was just the fourth player in Big Ten history to amass 1,500 points, 500 assists and 300 steals.
Greene completed her rookie season with the WNBA's LA Sparks and will now play in Israel for the Ramat Hasharon Electra Basketball Club. Greene and the Sparks reached the postseason, but fell to top-seeded Phoenix in the Western Conference semifinals. Greene collected 1,132 points and 994 rebounds in her Penn State career, which rank 30th and fourth, respectively. She also finished her career second on Penn State's career blocks list with 215.
Fresh off a WNBA Eastern Conference Finals appearance with the WNBA's Indiana Fever, Lucas will now play for Arras Pays D'Artois Basket Feminine for the LFB in France, which is the same league as Bentley's Tarbes squad. Lucas accounted for 3.7 points per game and shot .957 from the free throw line in her rookie season with the Fever. A two-time Big Ten Player of the Year for the Lady Lions, Lucas finished her career second in school history and fourth in Big Ten history in scoring with 2,510 points. She also broke the Big Ten and Penn State record for three-pointers with 365.
Edwards has signed a deal to play with C.B. Bembibre PDM of the LFB in Spain. Edwards jumped her scoring production by nearly eight points per game in her senior season, finishing seventh in the Big Ten with a 15.7 scoring average on the way to All-Big Ten first team honors for the first time in her career. Additionally, Edwards was second on the team in rebounding, pulling in 5.7 boards per game. She was also among the conference leaders in free throw percentage, finishing eighth with an .814 mark from the charity stripe. Edwards finished her career ranked 34th in Penn State history in scoring (1,054).
Taylor inked a contract to play with AZS UMCS Lublin of the Basket Liga Kobiet in Poland. She was a defensive dynamo as a senior at Penn State, collecting a Big Ten-leading 2.7 steals per game on the way to earning the 2014 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year award and a second-straight berth on the Big Ten All-Defensive team. Taylor improved in nearly every offensive category from her junior year to her senior campaign, upping her scoring average by nearly five points to 11.7 points per game and finishing fourth in the conference in assists (4.8 apg). She finished her Penn State career fifth in program history in assist average (2.6) and 12th in assist average (4.1), while ranking 18th in assists (262) and 24th in steals (164) in just two seasons in Happy Valley.
O'Rourke has signed with Pallacanestro Torino of the Italy-Serie A2 league. Since graduating in 2009, O'Rourke has played in Germany and Slovakia in the last five years. With the Lady Lions, O'Rourke tallied 1,084 points, 560 assists and 196 steals in her career. She ranks 32nd on Penn State's career scoring chart.
New season ticket packages will be available beginning September 23 by calling 1-800-NITTANY. Season ticket renewal notices have been mailed and the renewal deadline is September 12. Adult season tickets are $105, youth season tickets are $52 and courtside season tickets are $247. Additionally, the family section season ticket is $80 for adults and $25 for youth.
The Lady Lions are on Twitter. Follow sports information contact Kris Petersen (@ladylionsid) and the Lady Lions and coaches (@pennstatewbb) to get the inside scoop. The Lady Lions are also on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pennstateladylions.