After the thorough demolition of an Eastern Block basketball team on the court, Penn State center Rashana Barnes remained quiet about her own performance in the contest.
However, the 6-foot-1 Lady Lion from Philadelphia was far from silent in showing her physical attributes and basketball skills in front of the home crowd in the first game of the season. Barnes shot a career high 24 points, adding six blocked shots and seven rebounds in the 106-40 thrashing of LKKA Kaunas, a Lithuanian traveling squad.
As last season's Tom Caldwell Award winner as the "unsung hero" for the Lions, Barnes effectively controlled the paint and basket on the defensive end of last night's contest and consistently ran to make plays happen offensively.
"I think I did an all right job scoring, except for foul shooting" Barnes said. "I think I have to get more comfortable in my position."
Barnes, the likely candidate to fill as center this season along with teammate Maren Walseth, consistently made her presence felt in a span of 25 minutes by knocking the ball back in the faces of would-be scorers for the Lithuania team and pulling down rebounds from arrant shots, both on the offensive and defensive side.
In the game, Barnes went 9 for 15 shooting and 6 for 10 from the free throw line. Early on in the contest, she missed three straight free throw attempts after one lane violation by LKKA, but Barnes would regain her composure for a successful shooting game.
Penn State's sixth player from last season showed ability to take a starting role for the Lions, and the coaching staff seemed pleased with what they saw.
Penn State coach Rene Portland was especially satisfied with Barnes' game and her work ethic shown to get herself prepared for the rigors of starting and taking a lead role with the team. Portland was also surprised by the amount of points scored by the junior, calling it the quietest 24 points ever seen.
"She (Barnes) is very explosive to the bucket," Portland said. "If she fixes her foul shooting she could break some records around here. She has great intensity on both ends of the court. She's just a beautiful player to watch."
