UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- After second-year head coach Carolyn Kieger first publicly announced the news of Kelly Jekot's season-ending injury following Penn State's loss to Northwestern on Jan. 17, the question regarding who would fill the team's leading scorer's shoes naturally arose.
Though Kieger certainly knew that compensating for such a devastating loss was no small task, she affirmed that her group would have to adapt a "by committee" approach to do so.
Penn State was faced with the challenge of replacing the production that it got on a consistent basis from its emerging senior guard. Jekot, who had been averaging 15.9 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, was thriving in the first season that she was eligible to play in the Blue and White since transferring from Villanova last January.
Since that day, Kieger's viewpoint on the unforeseen predicament has not only remained constant up until this point — it's starting to come to fruition.
"I think everyone knows right now that they have to do a little bit more than they did before, a little bit extra.," Kieger said. "And honestly, it's more of the little things, it's not just the scoring that Kelly did...right now, we've just been talking about filling that void by committee and not just one player."
With the productive graduate transfer's absence, guard Makenna Marisa and forward Johnasia Cash, the team's second and third leading scorers, respectively, were asked to step up in her place. Thus far, they have answered the call.
"As soon as Kelly's injury occurred, I went right to Makenna and said, 'You're going to have to play off the ball a little bit more, you're going to have to be a scorer for us, you're going to have to hunt your shot every possession," Kieger said. "I think she's done a phenomenal job of that."
In Marisa's first action without her close teammate, Jekot, she dropped 25 points against Minnesota. The sophomore then managed to exceed that performance by scoring 24 points, collecting six rebounds and handing out four assists in an 80-76 win over Illinois.
For Cash, on the other hand, she has simply elevated her game to the point of being widely recognized as not just one of the best frontcourt players in the Big Ten, but in the country.
In the Lady Lions' first three games without Jekot, Cash has recorded three straight double-doubles (22 points and 15 rebounds vs. Minnesota, 14 points and 10 rebounds at Illinois, and 28 points and 12 rebounds vs. Purdue), averaging 21.3 points and 12.3 rebounds per game within that span.
"She's doing such a great job of hitting and holding on her rebounds right now and pursuing the ball," Kieger said. "She's altering shots, but I think the biggest thing she's adjusted in the past couple games has been her patience and her footwork, and not rushing under finishes. It's really paid off for her."
As Cash's usage rate continues to skyrocket, expect her numbers and impact on each game only to trend in the same direction.
While the scoring has increased from Marisa and Cash, they aren't the only Lady Lions stepping up.
Experienced transfer Niya Beverly has seamlessly transitioned into the role as the team's primary facilitator. Through the past three games, the former three-year starter at Wisconsin has dished out 18 assists while committing just two turnovers.
"She's doing a great job of getting people in the right spots and understanding the flow and the tempo that we want to play at," Kieger said. "I think she's going to just keep getting better, the more reps and practice and game-speed repetitions that she gets."
In addition, sophomore forward Anna Camden has posted back-to-back double-digit scoring outings, freshman sharpshooter Maddie Burke has knocked down a number of important perimeter shots throughout the past few games, and Shay Hagans has set the defensive intensity on the court.
"You look at Anna, with better games from the scoring down low and even stretching out and hitting threes," Kieger said. "I think every game, somebody else has done something that they needed to do."
For Penn State, perhaps the most overlooked aspect of losing Jekot to injury is the consequential absence of her on-court leadership and experience.
Jekot, with years of experience under her belt, provided intangibles that go far beyond the stat sheet. As a result, the Lady Lions are still adjusting to the shared responsibility of being more vocal.
In its 85-76 loss to Minnesota, the Lady Lions were outscored 32-16 in the fourth quarter, a 10-minute span that highlighted the glaring absence of Jekot's leadership.
"Against Minnesota, we blew a lead and kind of lost our composure in the fourth quarter," Kieger said. "I'm really challenging our guards to be more vocal, that's something that Kelly did every day."
Nonetheless, Penn State has been able to right its wrongs as of late following that Minnesota contest, maintaining each of its leads that it had entering the final quarter throughout its past two games to put together a 2-0 road trip to the Midwest.
"Our team did a great job of responding against Illinois and Purdue and weathering the storm," Kieger said.
Thus, while the difficulties presented by the loss of Penn State's mental, emotional and scoring leader cannot be overstated, the Lady Lions have embraced the challenge with a collective approach.
"We've been doing a lot of goals lately before games and challenging the players to give what they need in order for Penn State to win," Kieger said. "I think our players are really latching on to that."
