Nicholson tall on tenacity

By BRAD YOUNG
Collegian Sports Writer

Ohio State forward Lisa Negri had two points and a three-point Buckeye lead, in her firm grasp. She grabbed the offensive rebound and was ready to put it back up, ready to put the Buckeyes ahead 65-62 with just over two minutes remaining in the Big Ten tournament final against Penn State on March 6.

But Negri brought the ball down to her waist for just a split second. Big mistake.

That provided plenty of time for Lady Lion point guard Tina Nicholson to snatch the ball away. A frustrated Negri fouled Nicholson, and the Big Ten's best free-throw shooter nailed both ends of a one-and-one, putting the Lady Lions ahead to stay in a game they won 68-63.

"She had (the ball) right out in front of me, so I just slapped at it," Nicholson said at a news conference after the game. "It came away and I just got it."

If the reporters in that conference expected Nicholson to expand upon the situation a little further, they quickly found out she doesn't mince words. Her answers to questions are often as short as her 5-foot-3 frame, as quick as her no-look passes and crossover dribble.

Ask her anything, and she'll give you one, maybe two sentences in return, like she does when asked if she's the best point guard in the Big Ten.

"I don't like to say that," Nicholson will answer with a smile that seems to be as wide as her talents.

And that's pretty wide.

Nicholson is the Big Ten's best point guard, and one of the nation's best as well. When she takes the floor Friday in the Lady Lions' first-round NCAA tournament game against Jackson State, she will do so as a first-team All-Big Ten selection for the second-consecutive season. Her eight assists per game led the conference, and her three steals per game placed her second.

Those numbers have also made Nicholson one of 10 candidates for the Associated Press Player of the Year Award to be announced at the Final Four in Minneapolis April 1-2.

Her value to the Lady Lions this season, particularly toward the end of the campaign, is not lost on Coach Rene Portland.

"If you look at her play down the stretch this season, she's just been terrific," Portland said.

She was especially outstanding in the Big Ten tournament. Nicholson's late-game heroics against Ohio State were just a part of a three-game effort that landed her a spot on the all-tournament team. She had 26 assists, six steals and just six turnovers in the tourney.

But things were not always as grand for the Downingtown native. The stats from her freshman year as a Lady Lion weren't all that bad -- she scored 7.9 points and dished out 3.6 assists per game in a reserve role. On the court, everything was fine. But . . .

"There was a lot of off-the-court stuff that I wanted to smack her for," Portland said.

Nicholson's huge phone bills and frequent trips home revealed the root of her problems.

"I missed home a lot, put it that way," Nicholson said. "I didn't know how to use my free time. I was always in trouble."

Nicholson has made sure that Lady Lion opponents have been the ones in trouble since then, though. Throughout a standout season last year and an even better one this year, Nicholson has directed a Penn State ship that has sailed to two straight conference co-titles.

"As she goes, we go," Portland said.

Nicholson's teammates realized that when they named her a team captain at the beginning of the season. And they also know who to listen to during games.

"She's very good at reading things and telling everybody where to go and how to post up," forward Missy Masley said. "She's great."

Portland is aggravated that USA Basketball has not been convinced of that fact. She said the organization has "snubbed" Nicholson when invitations were sent to participate in the U.S. Olympic Festival.

"It's unfair," Portland said. "It's a stupid opinion that you have to be 6-foot-1 to be a good guard."

But it has not really affected Nicholson, as she explains in one of her typically short responses.

"As long as my team's winning, that doesn't bother me at all."