Jarosz, Macciocco bid adieu to Lady Lion cagers

It seems whenever coach Rene Portland and her Lady Lion squad have been able to string together a few wins this season, something or someone has always pulled the rug out from beneath it.

Junior center Julie Jarosz and junior shooting guard Tara Macciocco quit the Lady Lion team earlier this week, both citing personal reasons for their departures.

"That's a personal choice on their parts," Portland said yesterday, following her team's 66-63 loss to Iowa. "It was pretty cut and dry."

Macciocco had been a major tool in Penn State's offensive arsenal for a majority of the season. She had seen action in 22 of 23 games, starting six and averaging 16 minutes per game. Perhaps her most memorable moment came Jan. 21 in Iowa, when she sank a 30-foot buzzer beater to clip the Hawkeyes, 61-60. Macciocco was averaging 6.3 points and 1.3 rebounds per game.

"I left the team for personal reasons," Macciocco said when reached yesterday at her home in Dunmore, Pa. "I really don't want to say anything. That's is all I have to say."

She did not say whether or not she intended to transfer.

The Lady Lions could have used Macciocco's heroics yesterday against Iowa. Trailing, 64-63, with under a minute remaining, shooting guard Tiffany Longworth popped open at the top of the key and fired a 3-pointer. It fell short and to the right, barely catching a piece of the backboard. Penn State fell to the Hawkeyes, 66-63.

Jarosz, the tallest Lady Lion ever to suit up at 6 feet 6, was averaging just over five minutes per game but said playing time wasn't her main reason for leaving the team.

"I thought it was best for me to leave the team," said Jarosz, who was averaging 1.7 points and 1.4 rebounds per game. "It was just personal differences."

Jarosz said Portland did not handle the center's asking to leave in a fair manner. Jarosz, a Bridgeview, Ill., native also insisted she has no regrets, and her leaving was in no way linked to Macciocco's departure.

"I'm Julie, and I just know what I've done," she said. "I've made a lot of great friends here. You find out who your true friends are at a time like this."

After playing a total of only 217 minutes last season, Jarosz was forecasted to become a larger part of the offense this season. She showed signs of becoming a dominant post player in last season's NCAA tournament game against Kent State, scoring 17 points and leading the Lady Lions to an 86-59 win.

But Jarosz showed up to practice this year out of shape, and Portland said her center needed to meet conditioning requirements before more playing time would come. Jarosz plans on completing her academic year at Penn State and transferring by next year.

"I was surprised," Longworth said about her teammates' departures. "We're trying to take it in the most positive way possible. We're sticking together."