Oct. 12, 2016
By Anna Pitingolo, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Head coach Coquese Washington and the 2016-2017 team met with the media on Tuesday for their annual media day at the Bryce Jordan Center.
The Lady Lions are coming off a 16-16 (7-11 Big Ten) season, and looking to improve on that this upcoming year. The team returns to All-Big Ten selections in guards Teniya Page and Lindsey Spann. Page earned Second Team All-Big Ten and was a unanimous All-Freshman Team selection, while Span earned honorable mention All-Big Ten accolades.
Check out more sights and sounds from Media Day below:
Replacing Banks' production
Brianna Banks may have only played one season in blue and white, but she played an important role on the court. Banks averaged 13.4 points last year and boasted a .380 field goal percentage. Now that she's graduated, Washington isn't looking for just one player to fill in her role.
"I think we'll replace her production with some of the new faces," Washington said. "I think Amari Carter is somebody who can put some points on the board for us. I think our two freshmen have shown promise early in practice and I'd like to get a little bit more out of our post kids, have them be a little bit more impactful. So we're not looking for one person to replace Bri Banks."
Moore and Carter return from injury
Both Sierra Moore and Carter missed last season due to knee injuries that they sustained before the season had started. Now they are healthy and ready to return to the court, and their teammates are happy to have them back.
"It's been very exciting to get back and work with them," said senior Peyton Whitted. "They're really competitive players and they're going to help us a lot in a lot of areas. Amari's really aggressive at scoring and Sierra can do it all, she's a rebounder, she's a defensive player, she's just competitive and she just wants to win. So they are two key components to our team that are going to make us really strong this year."
Freshmen ready to make an impact
With the addition of true freshmen Siyeh Frazier and Jaida Travascio-Green, and redshirt sophomore transfer De'Janae Boykin, Washington is looking for them to make an immediate impact. Boykin isn't eligible to start playing until the spring semester but Frazier and Travascio-Green are ready for the whatever is thrown at them.
"I feel like as far as doing what Coach needs me to do, I'm very competitive so whatever she needs me to do, I feel like I'm ready," Frazier said. "Of course I'm probably not starting ready or game ready right now, but I feel like I can do whatever she needs me to do."
Tamika Williams-Jeter added to staff
In the offseason, Washington added Tamika Williams-Jeter to her coaching staff as an assistant to replace Kia Damon, who left the program to coach at University of Cincinnati.
"It's been a positive having Tamika on staff," Washington said. "She brings a lot of energy and knowledge, she's a fantastic teacher, she's really bonded well and built great relationships with our post players very quickly and I think it's allowed our staff to have tremendous chemistry at this point in the season."