Feb. 11, 2017
By Jack Milewski, GoPSUSports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Senior day is always a bittersweet occasion. It marks the culmination of great careers and is a great celebration of what the respective seniors have meant to their team. On Saturday afternoon in the Bryce Jordan Center, senior day was much more sweet than bitter for three Lady Lions.
Sierra Moore, Peyton Whitted, and Kaliyah Mitchell all notched double-figure stat lines as the seniors provided the spark for Penn State in its 79-73 victory over the Purdue Boilermakers. The seniors were at it early on, as they scored 14 of the team's first 16 points. For the night, Moore had 13, Whitted 11, and Mitchell chipped in with 10 of her own.
"I think they really set the tone for us," head coach Coquese Washington said. "They all play a big role on this team and today they really helped us get off to a fast start today."
Each senior touched on their time at Penn State after the game and the one word that continued to pop up was "family." The way the Lady Lions are playing, winners of three in a row, the team's seniors may have more than a few games left with their Penn State family.
"It's my teammates, the coaches, the fans, it's the type of environment that Penn State is," Mitchell said. "Throughout the four years I was able to build relationships with my teammates and people outside of the gym as well."
Not only did senior day offer a celebration for the seniors and a solid performance from all three of them, but it also continued to showcase a glimpse of the future in the form of the ever dominant Teniya Page. Page finished with a game high 24 points, continuing a run over the last seven games where she is averaging over 20 points a game. Despite a slow start to the game, Page was able to have a dynamic game, in large part thanks to 11 free throws.
"Teniya is always very aggressive and she was again today," Washington said. "I thought she started doing that in the second half and that's why she had so much success. When she is that aggressive, she is just that good."
Page has been one of the best players in not just the Big Ten, but also the nation, since she recovered from a hand injury a little over a month ago. For Penn State, as Page goes, so does the team, and since she has been fully healthy, the team has been phenomenal.
"She is a phenomenal player and was very aggressive today," Boilermaker head coach Sharon Versyp said. "She does a great job drawing contact and she did that again today."
Page and the seniors have just three games remaining in the regular season until tournament time. The Lady Lions have been steadily climbing the standings of the Big Ten and they are currently sitting at 17-8 overall on the season. If Penn State keeps playing well, the Lady Lions may be poised to make the NCAA tournament.
"We just take it one game at a time and one opponent at a time," Whitted said. "That has been our mentality all season long."
Penn State is back on the court next against the Illinois Fighting Illini this upcoming Tuesday. Last time the two teams faced, the Lady Lions took care of business 82-66. The game is set for an 8 p.m. ET tip on the road.