UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- There was a point in time where the idea of the Penn State women's basketball team stepping onto the court for its 2020-2021 season seemed unrealistic.
Now, the Lady Lions are just a little over a week removed from their first official game action of the season. Aside from who Penn State will be squaring off with on Nov. 25, there is one common question that has been frequently raised as well.
How did we get this far?
As the players' willingness to get better was challenged on the court, their togetherness and care for one another was also tested off of it.
It was imperative that the Lady Lions followed social distancing guidelines and avoided coming into contact with anyone outside of the team. But of course, it also required collective fidelity and accountability.
"I've been incredibly proud of this group's sacrifices and commitment to making this season a reality," head coach Carolyn Kieger said. "I give a lot of credit to the players. They bought in immediately."
Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, many schools were forced to pause, delay and in some cases, even cut its athletic activities.
"I think during quarantine, not being able to be around my coaches and the rest of my team and our amazing team was really hard," sophomore guard Anna Camden said. "But I'm so grateful for that because it allowed us to come back and attack everything that we had with new fire for getting better."
As the year transitioned into the end of the summer, there were real doubts about the feasibility of holding seasons for all of college athletics, not merely just basketball.
"We've had so many conversations on Zoom before we knew that our season was even going to happen," Kieger said.
Thus, the fact that the Lady Lions were permitted to play a season has made them recognize their good fortune, along with their gratefulness for the opportunity.
"The returners did not have the season we pictured last year, so with the global pandemic, they were fighting for something so much greater than just this season," graduate student Kelly Jekot, who transferred into the program last January, said. "We're all just super excited to prove what Penn State basketball really is."
"We're putting all of the max effort that we had into every single play, every single drill," Camden added. "Just being very grateful to be in the gym because there are teams and players that aren't able to do that right now, and we're very fortunate to be at a university that can afford to test every day and get us to play our season, hopefully."
With that luck and relief comes greater appreciation; not just for the chance to partake in conference or postseason play, but the ability to play, or coach, the game of basketball.
"Just seeing their happiness level and juice day-by-day and I can tell you it continues to grow, and I can just tell the excitement rising," Kieger said of the team's growing appreciation for the bond that brings them together. "So for me, I know that they can feel that it's coming and the wait is over, so I can just tell there's been a weight lifted off their shoulders right now."
"We are just so happy we have basketball, and we're pretty much playing a full season too," sophomore Makenna Marisa said. "We want to win this year and we have a goal, so words can't describe just how appreciative we are because we know that other sports don't get a chance for this because their seasons got cancelled."
As the team gained valuable perspective, its players have gravitated towards one another, and are not taking any opportunities to get better for granted.
"These are probably the best teammates I've ever had," senior Johnasia Cash, in her first season at Penn State following time at SMU, said. "I feel like they're not even working hard for themselves, they're working hard for everyone else on the team."
"Now more than ever we realize how fortunate we are to put the jersey on and represent Penn State," Kieger said.
Though Penn State's tentative schedule remains unclear, there are no floating questions regarding the players' urgency to give all that they have for one another.
