Senior CLASS Award Release
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State women's basketball senior guard Teniya Page has been named a final 30 candidate for the prestigious Senior CLASS Award, the organization announced Friday afternoon.
An acronym for "Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School", the Senior CLASS Award recognizes Division I seniors who have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
The candidates will be narrowed to a field of 10 finalists in February, and those names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four C's of community, classroom, character and competition.
The Senior CLASS Award winners will be announced during the NCAA Women's Final Four® this spring.
COMPETITION
- Page's on-court accolades speak for themselves. She is a three-time All-Big Ten pick, two-time All-ECAC selection, and a 2017 WBCA All-American honorable mention and All-Region honoree. Already this season, the Chicago native has earned consensus preseason All-Big Ten honors as well as a spot on the 20-person Ann Meyers Drysdale Award watchlist for the award that honors the nation's top shooting guard.
- Page has totaled 1,725 career points, putting her just 275 points away from hitting the 2,000-point mark. She would become the sixth Lady Lion to reach the milestone if she hits the 2,000-point mark. With 29 regular-season games scheduled and at least one postseason contest guaranteed (Big Ten Tournament), Page will need to average 13.7 points per game this season to reach the milestone. She averaged 15.3 points per game as a freshman, 19.9 as a sophomore and 18.4 as a junior.
- Her 1,725 career points is tied for ninth all-time on the Penn State career scoring charts.
- The standout has already etched her names into several of Penn State's record books. Her 18.0 points per game career scoring average ranks No. 4 all-time. She is one of five Penn Staters with 1,500 career points and 300 career assists. She's averaged 35.4 minutes per game throughout her career, a mark that ranks second in the Lady Lion history books.
- She currently leads the team this season with an average of 19.4 ppg.
CLASSROOM
- Page is on track to graduate in May 2019 with a bachelor's degree in Agricultural Business Management.
- This past summer, Page spent over a month studying abroad in Toulouse, France through Penn State's College of Agricultural Science. While in France, Page compared U.S. and French food systems and production, including the history of the French food system. She studied livestock and visited dairy farms to gain knowledge of milk and cheese production processes. Page observed butchering and foie gras making processes at local duck farms, as well as studying olive oil and wine production.
- Page has career aspirations of working in the international food business in post-basketball life.
CHARACTER
- Page, who has served as a team captain, has been a true leader for Penn State both on and off the court. Page suffered a severe ankle injury while participating in USA Basketball U23 Team Training Camp in the Summer of 2017. After months of rehab, she missed the first five games of Penn State's 2017-18 season before returning. Despite her return for the remainder of the season, Page was not playing at full strength and was playing through pain throughout the entire season. She went on to average 18.4 ppg and earn First Team All-Big Ten Honors.
- Head Coach Coquese Washington had this to say about Page during 2018 Lady Lion Media Day: "She's not somebody who sees herself as a star. She's somebody who is constantly working to improve. She sees her flaws more than she sees the things that everybody else sees. She sees the weaknesses and the areas that she needs to improve in. She's somebody who's always looking to get better, she's always in the gym before and after practice. She's not somebody that has that star mentality, or any kind of diva attitude at all. If anything, she's somebody I have to point out "you're playing pretty well, can you relax a little bit, you're doing quite well" because she's going to hone in on the one or two areas that aren't as good as she wants them to be."
COMMUNITY
- Page and the Lady Lions are highly active in the Penn State and State College communities. The team participates in nearly 200 hours of community service throughout the year. On a weekly basis, Page and the Lady Lions head to local elementary schools to read to the local school children and foster strong relationships with the area youth.
- Page and the Lady Lions have hosted the Lady Lion LeadHERship Academy in each of the past two seasons. The LeadHERship Academy is designed to provide girls with opportunities to develop leadership skills, as well as improve their self confidence in a positive and fun environment. Page and the Lady Lions hosted the second-annual LeadHERship Academy in September, focusing on the topic of "beauty in strength" and what it means to be a strong woman.
- Other community service initiatives that Page and the Lady Lions are involved in include: Penn State Athletes Take Action (anti-bullying campaign), The Jared Box Project, Coquese's Drive for the Centre County Women's Resource Center, PA Pink Zone, etc.