Nov. 16, 2015
By ANNA PITINGOLO, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa - When the Lady Lions opened the season on Friday night against Holy Cross, senior Brianna Banks and junior Peyton Whitted both had career games, helping the team to a thrilling overtime 86-82 victory.
On Sunday against Fordham, the duo picked up right where they left off, leading the team to a 75-59 win over the Rams. Banks has been out to a fast start in her first season in a Lady Lion uniform. She scored 22 points against Fordham, two more than she had on Friday, and set a new career-high for herself. She also had a strong showing on defense, with two steals and a handful of blocked passes.
Banks opened up the scoring for Penn State, although that didn't come until over halfway through the first quarter when the Lady Lions were in a 6-0 hole. But once that first shot fell, the Lady Lions came storming back, with Banks scoring four of the team's first 10 points to take the 10-8 lead. And then when the Lady Lions went on a run again late in the game, it was Banks who took over and led the way.
"That's what we want her to do, [we want her to be] that player that is the catalyst for the team and is that sparkplug when we need to stop a run or we need to get a run started," said head coach Coquese Washington. "She has to be ready to step up and make the big shots and take the big shots, and she doesn't have fear, so whether she makes or misses those shots, she's ready for the next one."
Banks credits her two high scoring games to her shooting the ball more, something she's started doing thanks to the insistence by her coaches.
"That's from my coach yelling at me to shoot, everyday; even outside of practice, she texts me to shoot more, so I have to give that to her," Banks said. "[Also], just creating plays on offense, not just for myself but for my teammates too."
Whitted had a quieter day against Fordham than she did against Holy Cross, but she still posted 11 rebounds, with seven coming in the first half, tying her career-high that she set on Friday. Washington sees Whitted doing the same thing in practice that she's doing in the game, and says her aggressiveness has been a huge factor in her getting to the board.
"She's being aggressive and pursuing the ball when it's shot, especially on the offensive end," Washington said. "In the fourth quarter she had a couple of big offensive rebounds and gave us some second possessions, which were big, and when I look at her stat line, she's doing what I had hoped she'd be able to do this year, which is just fill up the stat line. 11 rebounds, nine points, seven assists, she's all over the place and then I thought she did some good things defensively as well, so I'm really pleased with how she played today."
Senior Candice Agee had an impressive outing too, adding 12 points, seven rebounds and three blocks to the mix. While Banks was the first to put the Lady Lions on the board, it was Agee that gave them the momentum to pull ahead.
"Candice Agee came on the floor and her presence was a big difference maker," Washington said. "We were able to exploit that, get some high-low looks, she got to the free throw line a little bit, so I thought her presence opened things up, and then we got a couple of baskets in transition and it just seemed like from there we had a lot more confidence in the rest of the half."
Penn State has a couple days off before they travel down to Knoxville, Tennessee to take on the Lady Volunteers on Wednesday. Tip is set for 8 p.m.