What does a team do when they face an All-American?
They make her a non-factor.
In last night's semi-final game of the preseason Women's National Invitation Tournament at the Bryce Jordan Center, the Penn State women's basketball team held Mississippi State forward LaToya Thomas to 19 points.
Yes, a mere 19 points.
Thomas is the heart of the Lady Bulldog offense. It was only one game earlier against Tulsa in the quarterfinals of the WNIT that she set a new all-time tournament record with 42 points in a single game.
Last season, Thomas was No. 2 in the nation in averaging 24.6 points per game, trailing only Penn State's Kelly Mazzante by a fraction of a point for the honor.
"I expected everything," Thomas said.
"I credit their defense for playing great."
Aside from being a three-time Kodak All-American, Thomas was named Power Forward of the Year by both ESPN and ESPN the magazine. She was also SEC Player of the Year last season, and has been named to the All-SEC conference team three times. This is a worthy feat since the SEC is arguably one of the nation's toughest conferences with teams like Tennessee and Vanderbilt on the schedule.
So the woman can play ball.
If she couldn't, there wouldn't have been scouts from multiple WNBA teams in attendance, including the Washington Mystics, looking to add her to their franchise.
It is a virtual lock that she will will be picked in the first round of the draft this year.
It took a team effort to help contain Thomas, and that effort was led by Ashli Schwab. Schwab matched up in size the best. At 6'3", she had an inch over the 6'2" Thomas. And every inch counted.
"I can't take all the credit, obviously I had great help" said Schwab. "I knew if there was a situation where she was trying to take me one-on-one, I might be in some trouble."
Schwab played 39 of 40 minutes and was still able to out-rebound Thomas.
Thomas seemed frustrated at times, scoring minimally with her back to the basket.
The tenacious Penn State defense forced her into three turnovers, and also made her rely on her other teammates for scoring input.
