Lady cagers focus on 'the' tourney

By BRAD YOUNG
Collegian Sports Writer

Missy Masley and her Penn State teammates had just captured the Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament title last Monday with a 68-63 win over Ohio State. But Masley, the Most Valuable Player of the event, didn't want to dwell on present successes.

"These wins are great and they're wonderful, but they're to get us ready for the tourney," Masley said. "That's what we're all thinking about."

Those thoughts will come to fruition Friday as the Lady Lions begin the tourney -- the 1995 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament -- as the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region.

With a Friday night matchup against the 15th-seeded Southwestern Athletic Conference Champion Jackson State (22-6), Penn State (25-4) starts an NCAA tournament journey that it hopes will extend two steps farther than it did a year ago.

In tournament last season, the Lady Lions were also placed in the Midwest Region, as a No. 1 seed. They advanced all the way to the regional finals before being upset by Alabama, 96-82, falling just two wins away from a National Championship.

Being so close has provided extra incentive to this year's squad, junior team captain Kim Calhoun said.

"I think the team (members) that were there last year and are here this year can taste (the Final Four)," the center said. "I think we'll work harder."

Part of the reason the Lady Lions fell shy of their goals last season is because they were tasting more than just a Final Four berth. Toward the end of the season, the Lady Lions ate a little more and worked out a little less than they should have.

"We felt at the end of last season our team put on some pounds that were unneccessary," Lady Lion Coach Rene Portland said. "I think they got out of shape."

The other teams in the Midwest Region will try to do what the excess flab did a year ago -- knock Penn State out of the postseason. The first squads that will get a shot at the Lady Lions will be in State College next weekend for sub-regional play.

Friday at 6 p.m., 7th-seeded North Carolina State (19-9) takes on No. 10 seed Marquette (19-11) in Rec Hall. Penn State-Jackson State will tip off one-half hour after that game concludes. The winners of those two contests face off Sunday afternoon, with a Sweet 16 trip to Des Moines, Iowa, on the line.

If they can emerge from State College victorious, teams like No. 3-seeded Georgia (24-4), No. 4 seed George Washington and No. 1 seed Colorado (27-2) may be stalking in the Iowa cornfields, waiting for a shot at the Lady Lions.

"I think our bracket has a lot of great games in it," Portland said. "Obviously everybody's being very careful not to look too far ahead and being very guarded about their first game."

Portland said that her troops have also grasped another important concept that is necessary in getting to Iowa and beyond -- ideally, to the Final Four in Minneapolis April 1-2.

"The girls know 25-4 is out the window," Portland said. "You can't get any in the loss column right now. I think they're excited about the challenge."

Point guard Tina Nicholson also made it evident that the Lady Lions understand something else, as well.

"We know that we can't eat as much as we did last year," Nicholson said.