Johnasia Cash’s personality might have been enough to light up all of Bryce Jordan Center by itself if early Wednesday morning’s snow and rain caused a power outage.
“I am so very excited. I cannot wait for the season,” Cash said. “We have been working so hard, putting in all the work that we need to, and I just can’t wait for it to all pay off.”
Undeniably, Cash was happy to be back, even if only three other Penn State women’s basketball players still are on the roster from when she last suited up for the Lady Lions in the 2020-21 season. Sitting about 20 feet behind her and to her left, Alli Campbell, now healthy after missing last season, exhibited the same energy and expressed how eager she was to get into a real game again for the first time in almost two years.
A lot of new faces — some of them, like Cash and Campbell, familiar ones making a return — were on the scene at a noticeably upbeat Lady Lion media day. After going 11-18 last year and losing in their Big Ten tournament opener for the fourth consecutive season, Carolyn Kieger thinks she finally has the squad that can take that next step, and Cash and Campbell will add a dose of toughness the fourth-year Lady Lion coach made clear at the conclusion of the 2021-22 campaign she thought was sorely lacking.
Penn State opens its season on Nov. 9 when Norfolk State visits the BJC.
“I’ve been doing this for a long time. I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited for a group. I know our team really wants to hear our name called in March, and we’re hungry and we’re ready to put this team back on the map,” said Kieger, who is 27-56 at the helm but whose Lady Lions have increased their win total in each of her seasons.
“We’re a completely different team. When the fans come out to watch us, they’re going to see a completely different product out there.”
Kieger and the players promised a faster tempo than the team that was eighth in the conference last year at 70.6 points per game, a team that would get after it on the defensive end and would be tougher.
“We’ve been practicing tough. We’ve been competing since the season ended last year,” said 6-foot-3 senior forward Anna Camden, who’s started 51 games in her career. “There was no skill work this summer. All we did was compete. We did a lot of 3-on-3s, just testing our competitiveness, testing our grit, testing our ability to push through fatigue. I think all of that comes to toughness.
“Then, on top of that, I think we’ve added a lot of tough pieces.”
Specifically, that list starts with Cash and Campbell.
The 6-2 Cash should be a key addition when it comes to physical toughness: She was third in the Big Ten in rebounds two years ago at 8.8 per game and fourth with 10 double-doubles as the media named her second-team all-conference. Her presence should help put a dent in what was the worst rebounding differential in the Big Ten, minus-6.8 per game. A team can play great defense but it doesn’t matter if they don’t wind up with the ball after the opponent’s shot.
A McKeesport native who transferred to Penn State from SMU, Cash actually re-entered the portal at the conclusion of the COVID-19 shortened season before having second thoughts, sitting out last year and then being added to the roster a couple of months ago.
“At the end of the day, I knew my new home was here. We thought it was smartest for me to take a step back to focus on my academics and, once I was ready mentally and academically, to return,” Cash said. “It’s been a long journey. There was a little rust on the old kneecaps, but I came in early so I had time to get back in shape and work out the old kinks because I’m really old now. What? 23?”
Where Cash will supply a dose of physical sturdiness to share the interior minutes with Camden, 6-4 returning post Ali Brigham, 6-1 transfers Chanaya Pinto (Oregon) and Alexa Williamson (Temple) and 6-1 Canadian National Team freshman Aicha Dia, Campbell is being looked at to add control on the perimeter.
“She’s just poised. She’s got a really high IQ. She makes the right read. She makes everybody else feel settled,” Kieger said.
It showed in the open practice that kicked off media day when Campbell called for the ball in the corner when the offense was breaking down. A slow, lazy pass found her, but she maintained the composure to swish the 3-pointer, helped by her 6-0 frame and length that made it difficult for the defense to affect her shot.
Campbell was a top-25 national recruit when she signed with Notre Dame out of Bellwood-Antis High School, less than 40 minutes down I-99. The Fighting Irish changed coaches, though, so Campbell decided to transfer closer to home, but didn’t play last year because of an unspecified offseason injury.
“I’ve been waiting for this for a while. It was a long year. A lot of patience, and I’m not a very patient person,” Campbell said. “This team has a lot of depth, and I’m ready to go in and do whatever the team needs, whether it be knock down shots, be a solid, reliable defender, rebound, run the floor, whatever the team needs.”
Along with Campbell, Penn State has brought in a lot of firepower on the perimeter. Freshman sharpshooter Shay Ciezki was the No. 56 recruit in the country according to ESPN. Ivane Tensai was the national junior college freshman of the year, shooting 42% from 3-point range. And transfer Taniyah Thompson was first-team All-AAC last year at East Carolina, where she scored more than 1,000 points in three seasons.
That and the expected offensive improvement of Big Ten all-freshman team member and Lady Lion defensive stopper Leilani Kapinus should make things easier for all-conference senior point guard Makenna Marisa.
A first-team All-Big Ten pick who enters this winter 25th on the Lady Lions’ all-time scoring charts, Marisa has little to prove at the college level, but she does have something in mind.
“Our goal is to get a lot of wins, make it to the (NCAA) tournament and be in the top half of the Big Ten,” said Marisa, who averaged 22.2 points and 4.2 assists as a junior. “Being consistent is something I’m always working on. Being a more consistent rebounder is something I’m really working on right now.”
Kieger said Lady Lion fans shouldn’t be surprised to see her play 10-to-12 players on a given night to try to accentuate what she considers improved depth, length, speed and tenacity. Kieger felt improved leadership has accelerated the process of incorporating all the new players.
“I think we’re going to be a surprise in the Big Ten this year,” Kieger said. “I’m excited to see how we gel together.”
