Experience is imperative for a team that is bringing along new players to compete in a tough conference.
That's the feeling that Lady Lions coach Coquese Washington has as her team prepares for a nonconference schedule she hopes will prep them for the tough Big Ten schedule.
With three seniors gone and four freshmen replacing them, Washington thinks this season's nonconference schedule will help bring her younger players along.
"Hopefully they can get out on the floor and learn how to play, learn the speed of the game, the strength of the game and the intensity at which college basketball is played," Washington said.
Last year the Lady Lions' nonconference schedule included five teams that had reached the NCAA tournament the year before, including national champion Connecticut. While this year's schedule has just three teams from last year's tournament, the team isn't taking this season any lighter.
The first game on the slate is a home game against Drexel. Last season, the Dragons finished first in the Colonial Athletic Conference and earned a No. 12 seed in the tournament. This year, Drexel has once again been picked to win the CAA title.
Also on tap for the Lady Lions this season is Pittsburgh, a team that reached the final four of the Big East Championship and advanced to the Sweet 16 last year. Georgia Tech is another tournament team that will come to the Bryce Jordan Center Dec. 2.
The trio of tournament-caliber teams has Penn State eager to get the season underway.
"I always love playing big schools," junior forward Janessa Wolff said. "We played Duke my freshman year, and we played UConn last year. It prepares us for the physical-ness of the Big Ten."
Senior guard Tyra Grant agreed with Wolff, saying the nonconference schedule will not be an easy task, but it will be beneficial in the long run.
The Big Ten looks to be one of the top conferences in the country again this season. Five teams from the conference advanced to the tournament last season, with three reaching as far as the regional semifinals.
Despite the success of the conference in tournament play, Wolff feels the teams in the conference don't get the recognition they deserve.
Still, the players understand the grueling task ahead of them and are grateful to have some solid competition before conference play opens up.
"Big Ten basketball is hard," Wolff said. "People don't give our conference a lot of credit, but we're tough. We're fast and we're big and [the nonconference schedule] just prepares us for that."
