Dec. 5, 2016
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. ââ'¬" The early season has been fruitful for one of the top players in the Big Ten, as sophomore Teniya Page (Chicago, Ill.) earned her second Big Ten Player of the Week honors on Monday, Dec. 5 from the conference office. Page shared this week's honor with Northwestern senior Nia Coffey.
Page earned her second Big Ten weekly honor of the season, making her the ninth Lady Lion in school history to win multiple conference weekly awards in the same season. She is the first two-time winner of the B1G POTW honor since Maggie Lucas won it three times in 2013. Page was also named the College Sports Madness Big Ten Women's Basketball Player of the Week for the second time, as she earned both honors previously on Nov. 21.
It is the third in-season honor of her career, as she earned the Big Ten Freshman of the Week last season on Jan. 4, 2016.
The Lady Lions (6-2) captured a pair of wins last week, defeating Boston College on the road, 60-56, in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, before taking down Marshall, 82-80. The win over Marshall enabled the Lady Lions to remain perfect at home (4-0), while the win over Boston College was the first road win in the ACC/B1G Challenge in five tries for Penn State.
Page recorded back-to-back 20-point games for the second time in her career, both coming this season, after tallying 24 points at Boston College and tying a career-high with 31 points vs. Marshall. She also averaged 3.0 assists and 2.5 rebounds per contest, while making 67 percent of her shots from 3-point range.
Against Boston College, Page scored 13 of her team-high 24 points in the second half, including eight in the fourth quarter. She hit 8-of26 shots from the floor, with none bigger than her old-fashioned three-point play with 21 seconds remaining in the game to give Penn State a one-point lead they would not relinquish.
With the clock under one minute vs. Marshall, Page dribbled down the floor with her team trailing by one. A hesitation dribble at the top of the key froze the defender and Page darted into the lane, avoiding two defenders, for the slashing layup to pet her team ahead with 35 ticks left on the clock. Penn State would not give the lead back to remain undefeated at home.
Versus the Thundering Herd, Page scored a career-high-tying 31 points - including 19 in the second half. She connected on 10-of-15 shots from the field and was a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Her effort also included a 5-of-6 mark from 3-point range. She also assisted on four baskets, which led to 10 Penn State points.
On the season, Page is averaging 20.8 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.4 rebounds per game. In eight starts, she ranks No. 19 nationally in points per game, while sitting No. 14 nationally in 3-point field goal percentage (.526) and among the leaders in 3-pointers made per game (2.5). She has scored 15-plus points in seven of eight games, with the only exception her nine-point, six-rebound, three-assist effort in 24 minutes of a lopsided victory against Georgia State.
The sophomore is one of 11 Penn State players with multiple 30-point games in a career, scoring in double-figures on 32 career occasions. Of her 32 double-digit efforts, 25 of them have been with 15-plus points and 10 of them have gone for 20-or-more tallies.
Up Next
Penn state travels to Worcester, Mass. for a non-conference tilt with Holy Cross on Wednesday, Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. For those who cannot make it to the game, the contest will be carried live over the airwaves of the Penn State Sports Network and with live audio at GoPSUsports.com.