It was an unfamiliar situation for the Lady Lions.
For the first time in three years, their first game was not at the Bryce Jordan Center. Instead, it was in Philadelphia.
With the opening game against Drexel came a tough task for the Lions -- winning on the road.
The Lions were up to the task, however, and with the 71-61 win over the Dragons, they accomplished something that they only did three times last season.
The road win two games ago, senior guard Tyra Grant said, will give the Lions confidence going forward.
"It was great just to know that we can win when we're not at home, and we don't have that home crowd advantage," Grant said. "That was a hostile environment."
Playing in that kind of environment, though, will be beneficial to the Lions as they progress in the season. On Thursday, the team begins a four-game road trip when it travels to Lewisburg to take on Bucknell.
After Bucknell, the Lions travel to South Carolina to face a much-improved Lady Gamecocks team.
Penn State then travels to the University of Maine for the Maine Classic where it will play Buffalo and then either the host Black Bears or Holy Cross.
The two-week stretch away from home will be a challenge for the young Lions, but Grant said the experience of playing at Drexel prepared the team for the tough road ahead.
"It's a confidence booster to ourselves to know that any kind of environment that we're in, any kind of obstacles
that we face that we can still get
through them and over them," Grant said.
While coach Coquese Washington was pleased by her team's effort on the road, she feels that the venue shouldn't matter. The key for the coach is fundamentals. She wants her team to execute the little things regardless of where the game is being played.
Specifically, the coach mentioned
the need to rebound and play solid defense.
Against the Dragons, Penn State won the rebound battle by a margin of 46-31. The team also forced Drexel into some bad shot selection, leading to the Dragons shooting just 35.9 percent from the floor.
If Penn State wants to continue to have success, Washington said they need to continue to stay solid on the glass and keep up the intensity on the defensive end.
"If we don't do those things, it doesn't matter if we're home, on the road or a neutral spot," Washington said. "We've gotta get great at doing what we do. If we do that game in and game out, then we'll have a shot."
