Jan. 19, 2016
By Mike Gilbert, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- When one thinks of the preparation that goes into playing successful basketball, watching Nickelodeon cartoons isn't the first thing that would come to mind. But the relationship between freshman guard Teniya Page and senior guard Brianna Banks has blossomed by doing activities like that, which in turn has helped the Lady Lions on the court.
"I hear they watch Spongebob together, so that's what they do off the court and things like that," said assistant coach Kia Damon with a laugh.
Page is averaging 15.6 points per game, and Banks, who transferred to Penn State from UCONN, isn't having too shabby of a year either averaging 13.9 points per game. Banks had a laugh when talking about her backcourt counterpart.
"I don't like her too much," she said jokingly with a wry smile.
"We're kind of similar in a way but I just talk a lot more than she does," Banks added. 'She'll ask me questions about basketball, but a lot of times were laughing about something on TV... we're just really goofy together."
Damon thinks the relationship between the guards is similar on the court to when they are just hanging out and watching TV.
"I'm pretty sure Teniya is a student of the game so I'm sure she'll ask Bri some different questions and Bri's always willing to share so what you see on the court is reflective off the court," she said.
The guard play has been a huge part of Penn State's success this season, and with a balanced offensive attack the team hopes it can grind through a tough Big Ten schedule with some wins. The Lady Lions hit the road to play Iowa and Illinois, and still have to face Nebraska, Northwestern, Michigan, Michigan State and Indiana away from the Bryce Jordan Center. According to Damon, having a balanced attack is key, and they can't just rely on the guards to score all the points.
"One of the things we do philosophically is we want to have 5 kids on the floor that the opposing team must worry about, so it makes it difficult for them to say 'hey we're just going to double team this one player and take Penn State completely out of their game plan'," Damon said. "So we do have that, we just have to get consistent in terms of how it shows up from game to game."
Damon also doesn't believe road games should be treated much differently from games played in State College.
"I'm not the one that believes that the game is different when you're on the road. The rim height is the same, the court is the same, the officials are calling the same game. It's just that there are more fans for the other team than there are for us so outside of that, what we have to get accomplished, our game plan, is all the same."
Freshman center Ashanti Thomas has a simple outlook when playing on the road that helps put road trips into perspective.
"You just imagine yourself being at home and playing how you would play at home and trying to adjust your body to the exhaustion of traveling and trying to keep up with classes," she said.
There is no denying that the sister-like relationship between the freshman and senior guards can help during the long stretch of Big Ten play. Page said it best when describing her feelings about Brianna Banks.
"She's like my big sister. We room together, we do a lot of stuff together that's basically our relationship."
Having a tight-knit relationship between two of the better guards in the Big Ten can certainly keep the Lady Lions in every game they play, whether they are at home or on the road.