After her breakout 2002-2003 season, there were so many things Lady Lions guard Tanisha Wright could have done over the summer to escape the spotlight and unwind.

She could have reconnected with all those old friends that "keep her grounded" even as she's grown to the status of a local star.

She could have relaxed and gladly accepted the meals her friends' parents make for her — just as they always do when Tanisha stops by for a visit.

"When I'm around them, I don't have to worry about all the chaotic stuff you have to worry about when you're up here," she says, "when everyone wants to talk to you, when you have to be in the gym 24/7. When you play a game one day, you have to practice the next day and play a game the next day."

She could have spent time going to the movies or out to eat with former classmates. All the things typical college students do when they're at home during the summer.

But, no, she didn't.

That would have to wait for a couple months.

Instead, she decided that a chance to play for a gold medal with the USA Young Women's National Team at the FIBA World Championships was a little more inviting.

"Fortunately I made USA basketball and had a great experience and unfortunately I didn't get to do a lot of things that I would have done over the summer," Wright says. "But I had a great time during USA basketball and I wouldn't have changed it for anything."

After a long season of playing basketball for Penn State, the junior guard continued training to prepare for the USA team's tryouts in Colorado.

Once she made the squad, the training didn't stop as the team prepared for the championships held during June in Croatia.

Team practice was just getting started, but at that point, Wright had been playing basketball almost non-stop for about nine months. The demand to push her body each day became grueling for the former high school All-American.

More frustrating was her lack of playing time for most of the tournament; she generally only saw five to 15 minutes per contest with USA basketball.

"[Louisiana State senior point guard Temeka Johnson] and I were in the same position — we really weren't playing that much," Wright said. "She just told me to keep my head in it. She helped me a lot. Once I got in there I was able to produce."

Though she wasn't getting an ideal amount of playing time, Wright could still make the most of her situation by learning in practice. And matching up in practice each day with Louisiana State sophomore guard Seimone Augustus, one of the most versatile offensive threats in women's college basketball, is a good way to get an education on playing defense.

"I had the chance to play defense on her throughout this summer. I got to learn some of her moves," Wright said. "It helps playing against great players."

After an experience that had been as arduous as it was worthwhile, Wright had enough. She needed to get away from basketball.

"If I had went straight from USA basketball to Penn State then I would have totally burnt out," she said. "There was a two-week time span — maybe longer — where I didn't even touch a basketball. If I didn't take that time, then I would have hated the thing. I wouldn't even want to put my hands on it."

Wright knew about the season's expectations — a Final Four berth and nothing less would be the Lions' Holy Grail — and the stress that would come with those lofty aspirations. Wright said the break was the change of pace she needed before she came back to Happy Valley.

And now with the season underway, there appears to be another change: Wright, who for two years was the second scoring option behind All-American Kelly Mazzante, is more aggressive taking her shots than ever before.

And the shots have been falling. She's been first or second on the team in scoring in three of the first four games — scoring 62 points in four games (only Mazzante has more with 65). She's added the long-range jumper to her quick first-step — a combination that could make her the difference maker the Lions need to avoid another Sweet 16 loss.

When she met head-to-head with USA basketball teammates Augustus and Johnson in the first game of the season, she used her added outside threat to bury a three in the opening minute of the Lions blowout win against Louisiana State. It was the first points scored in a contest the Lions would lead wire to wire. She plays defense the same as she always has — like a pesky bulldog, gnawing at ball handler's ankles. But even as she's playing the best ball of her collegiate career, she still seems to be the same old "T," as her fellow players call her. She still hustles on every play.

She still, as she says, "tells it how it is."

She still looks forward to the next time she can kick back with those old friends in West Mifflin.

"It takes a toll on me that I don't get to see them often," Wright said. "I get into my slumps where I just want to leave here and I just want to go home and be with my friends."

But for right now, she's never been happier — or better — with her hands on the basketball.