Nov. 6, 2015
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By Anna Pitingolo, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - There are some high expectations for the Lady Lion class of 2019, and with good reason. Head coach Coquese Washington and her staff brought in a Top 10 ranked recruiting class, with two players, Amari Carter and Teniya Page, ranked in the top 20 overall nationally. Carter and Page, along with Ashanti Thomas and Jaylen Williams, will provide a lot of young talent to a Lady Lion team that struggled last year.
Since arriving on campus in August, the four freshmen have been busy getting acclimated not only to college life, but also to life as a Division One student-athlete at a school as large as Penn State.
"It's just a lot to take in. Like any new environment, you have to get used to everything," said Carter, the number 16 recruit in the nation, hailing from Washington D.C. "It's a big campus, getting to know all your teammates, and all your professors, getting acclimated with classes and college life."
Williams, from Easton, Massachusetts and the number 17 ranked post player nationally, agreed, but also noted that her teammates and other members of the basketball program have made a big difference in the transition to campus.
"It's been hard but my teammates have really helped me with that, so I'm never alone. I have my great teammates, [and] there's just really a whole lot of people that are there with me," Williams said.
The highly touted freshmen class will be an important part of Penn State's season, as they work to improve upon last year's "rebuilding" season. The group brings a new wave of energy to the team that has not gone unnoticed by the veteran players. Junior Kaliyah Mitchell has been impressed with how dedicated they are to getting better outside of practice.
"They come to practice every day ready to work, they always have positive energy, positive attitudes, always looking to get better. They always stay after practice and see if someone wants to shoot with them, so I think that they came in with a lot of effort and I think they'll do [well] this year," Mitchell said.
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