Jen Harris is on a roll.
In the win over No. 5 North Carolina on Sunday afternoon, Harris tied her career-high in points, 19, for the second consectutive game.
The sophomore guard couldn't have picked a better time to get hot, either. The Penn State women's basketball team is trying to recover from a 0-3 start to its season, and thanks, in part, to Harris, they've evened up their record at 3-3.
Harris now sits third on the team in points per game, with 12, and has drastically improved her jump-shot to the point where she leads the three starting guards in field goal percentage at .467.
After the Carolina game, Associate Head Coach Annie Troyan explained that Harris' recent success has paralleled the success of the offense as a whole -- an offense just beginning to gel.
"We're beginning to feel more comfortable in all the different things we're running," Troyan said.
"We keep adding more and more wrinkles."
Where Harris has really surprised some people, including even herself a little bit, has been from behind the arc. Against the Tar Heels, Harris was 3-5 from three-point land, another career-high.
To start off the second-half, Harris hit a clutch jumper from downtown that sparked a 7-0 Lady Lions run. Harris was so confident the shot was good before it went in that she kept her right wrist raised, and began to backpedal onto the defensive side of the court.
Before coach Rene Portland's medical leave of absence, one of Troyan's primary responsibilities was guard development, and Harris spent most of her freshman season at Troyan's side. Now that Troyan is filling in for Portland as acting head coach, she's certainly turned Harris loose.
"I'm shooting well now, so if I get the ball I'm going to keep shooting and it's going to go in," Harris said. "If the team wants me to keep shooting, I'll be there."
Primarily a slashing guard, just like her on-the-court mentor Tanisha Wright, Harris' jumper adds a new dimension to the Lady Lions' offense.
Wright and point guard Jess Strom have been going to the basket a whole lot more this season, without the safety-blanket of Kelly Mazzante's shooting touch, and each time 'T' and Strom drive the lane, they're drawing a lot more attention from defenders too.
Enter Harris.
Instead of forcing a tough shot with as many as two or even three defenders in their faces, Wright and Strom can dish the rock to Harris who can either pop-out for the jumper or drive-in again, herself.
"I think that she basically has found confidence in her own game," Troyan said. "We always knew it was there, that she could attack. She's starting to feel a little more comfortable in the sets, where she can contribute -- where she can do something with the ball."
The Lady Lions with Harris at the top of her game continue to get closer to their goal, as Troyan said, of being, "A complete and balanced basketball team."
