Athlete: Alex Bentley
Team: Lady Lions Women’s Basketball
Year/Position: Freshman point guard
Why we chose her: Bentley had a career-best performance in last Sunday’s Pink Zone game and has been a key component of the Lady Lions’ turnaround this season.
For any college team, it is rare for a freshman to be viewed as someone with vocal command of the locker room, someone who is considered a leader.
Luckily, for head coach Coquese Washington and the No. 23 Penn State Lady Lions, starting point guard Alex Bentley is not the average freshman.
“She gets after you if you do something wrong and I think that’s something our team needed,” junior Janessa Wolff said.
The ability to speak up in front of the team is a skill Bentley learned and developed in high school. She said her experiences at Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis were similar to the situation at Penn State.
The Ben Davis program was struggling when Bentley arrived, she said. By the time she left, Bentley led the team to an Indiana State Championship and a perfect 30-0 record her senior season.
“I was able to step in there and just be a leader for my team,” Bentley said. “That’s what I’m trying to do [at Penn State] as well.”
The 5-foot-7 Bentley, who is second on the Lady Lions in scoring with 10.9 points per game, is succeeding in gaining the trust and respect of her teammates.
“It definitely feels good,” she said. “I’m a freshman and [my teammates] are respecting me enough to actually listen to me. I could talk and talk and talk, and they don’t have to listen, but they’re listening to me and that just shows how great of a team we are.”
Coming off a breakout game in which she dropped a career-high 19 points along with five rebounds and six assists in a 70-66 win over Illinois, Bentley is finally getting her due.
After the game, Washington said she believed Bentley grew up a little bit and came into her own in terms of directing the team as a point guard. In addition, she praised her efforts on the defensive side of the ball and her overall progress thus far.
On a team in which four freshman contribute on a nightly basis, Washington is considers herself lucky to have a player of Bentley’s caliber. Coming out of high school, Bentley had scholarship offers from multiple schools.
“I’m ecstatic that she is here,” Washington said. “Alex had her pick of schools. She is a kid that picked Penn State over North Carolina, Purdue and Texas. She had a lot of faith that she would have an impact on turning the fortunes of [this] program around.”
It wasn’t just faith that helped Bentley decide on Penn State. Bentley wanted a challenge and she said that challenge is why she, along with the current freshman class, chose Penn State.
“Anywhere else, those are fine schools, great schools, and they’re already known for having outstanding basketball programs year in and year out,” Bentley said. “I wanted to come to Penn State because coach Washington had a vision of winning a national championship and I believe in her. I wanted to rebuild a program.”
In Washington’s first two seasons as Penn State’s head coach, the Lady Lions managed only 13 and 11 wins respectively. With nine regular season games and the Big Ten tournament remaining, this year’s team has already set a high for wins in the Washington era with a 15-4 (7-2 Big Ten) record, and it appears Bentley is on the right path to succeeding.
Bentley credited a lot of her individual and team successes to Washington’s ability to walk the fine line between serious and relaxed. Bentley said Washington finds the perfect balance and is very motivational.
“I think that helps us a lot,” Bentley said. “Day in and day out we have some type of motivation and that gives us our drive. Our goals are to win the Big Ten championship and make it into the NCAA Tournament. I definitely believe we can do that.”
