March 28, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - The Penn State women's basketball team held its annual senior banquet today at Mountain View Country Club and honored seniors Tori Waldner (Milton, Ga.) and Molly Dincher (Williamsport, Pa.), as well supporters of the program.
The Kent Petersen Student Fan of the Year Award was presented to Kaycee Keith from Bellefonte. Three-year season ticket holder Joe Mykolayko of Frackville, Pa., was honored with the Ruth Ingram Award in recognition of a Lady Lion Basketball fan for outstanding enthusiasm and support. Mykolayko attends nearly every Lady Lion home game, despite having to travel 114 miles, each way. Penn State athletic communications contact, Kris Petersen, was recognized for her outstanding service to Lady Lion basketball with the Hank Gambocurta Award.
Waldner is a four-year letterwinner for the Lady Lions and leaves ranked eighth in program history with 120 blocks. She is one of just nine players with 100-plus career blocks and the third Lady Lion to accomplish the feat in the last three seasons. As a senior, she is having a career year in points, rebounds, assists and steals. Waldner can lay claim to back-to-back-to-back Big Ten Championships and as a starter in 2013-14, she helped Penn State to earn a third consecutive conference title for the first time in program history.
The Milton, Georgia native has also excelled off of the court, participating in the LifeLink program, serving as the student-athlete advisory board President and earning a spot on the 2014 Homecoming Court. She is also going to participate in the So You Want to Be a Coach program at the Women's Final Four in April. She is expected to graduate in May with a degree in kinesiology.
Dincher is served as a manager for the Lady Lions for a year and a half before earning a spot on the squad as a walk-on this season. She spent two seasons playing for Penn State Wilkes-Barre before moving the University Park. With the Mountain Lions, Dincher ranked among the national leaders in blocks and led Wilkes-Barre won the PSUAC North Division Championship. Once on the University Park campus, the Williamsport, Pennsylvania native joined the club basketball team where she helped the team to a runner-up finish at the National Championship in 2012-13. She is expected to graduate in December with a degree in kinesiology with a physical and health education option.
2014-15 Lady Lion Basketball Award Winners
Ruth Ingram Award - Joe Mykolayko
Kent Petersen Student Fan of the Year Award - Kaycee Keith
Hank Gambocurta Award - Kris Petersen
The 2014-15 Penn State Lady Lion Basketball season is presented by Kish Travel and Kish Insurance.
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