The Penn State Lady Lion basketball team has been a part of my world for 33 seasons, the first being the inaugural season that former coach Rene Portland was the head coach.
Back in those days, I worked for a local radio station and remember going into Portland’s office and asking her if she would mind me doing her games on the radio. Thankfully, she said she would be glad to work with us in those early days.
Back then, we did all the home games, some away games and of course any postseason games as well. I remember jumping into my Mazda GLC or my Dodge Dart and heading to driveable locations such as Temple and St. Joe’s in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Rutgers, Virginia and other independent and Atlantic 10 opponents.
Back then, before the Big Ten days, you would see a large number of Penn State fans who would also jump in their cars and head to an away game. Or, the Lady Lion Cager Club would sponsor a bus or two to head to those closer venues. That is not nearly as easy as those early days with the long distances the team travels to play in the Big Ten and other nonconference games.
Speaking of the Lady Lion Cager Club, it was the initiative of a small group of us that put this wonderful booster club together that has grown to be one of, if not the best in the country; people like former Lady Lion coach Patty Meiser, Jack Infield, Cheryl Speakman, Diane Gustine and myself. Seeing that the team back then was ready to make a big impact on the national scene, it seemed to be the wise thing to do. Start a booster club that would support a winning program. History has shown that we may have been wiser than even we thought we were back then.
Over these past 33 years I have seen some very memorable games, including the very first NCAA playoff game to be played in women’s college basketball when Penn State hosted Clemson on March 12, 1982 in Rec Hall and came away with a 96-75 win. That Clemson team featured the sister of a pretty good player by the name of Earvin “Magic” Johnson.
I remember Shelly Caplinger hitting an incredible long-range jumper as time ran out in Charlottesville, Va. to give the Lady Lions a 73-71 win over the No. 1 Virginia Cavaliers in Jan. 1991.
I remember Tara Macciocco hitting a deep 3 as time ran out in Iowa, enabling the Lady Lions to defeat the Hawkeyes, 61-60, in Jan. 1997. One of my favorite players, and there are many, Tanya Garner, sitting on the rim of the basket, while it is still at 10 feet, in 1990 after the Lady Lions defeated No. 23 St. Joe’s in the Atlantic 10 championship game cutting down the net.
I remember the 1991-92 season when the Lady Lions were a team without a conference in that “tweener” year after the Atlantic 10 and prior to full-time play in the Big Ten, playing many road games as an independent.
As I sit and reflect, I think about how lucky I am to have been a part of this program and this university in this capacity. There are memories that space restricts me from putting down on paper, memories that will live with me forever, memories that will come to me after I conclude writing this column, memories that no matter what someone says or does, will be mine to enjoy and reflect on for many more years.
This program is vibrant, it is growing and it is exciting. Coquese Washington has the Lady Lions going in the direction of greatness and sustainability, and if you haven’t jumped on the band wagon, you might want to think about it.
Based on those few memories I have mentioned above, there are many, many more to come.
