Portland's Guidance Key
To Penn State's Tournament Success
By Joanne Harrop

Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland was home alone on a weeknight in February, and like a lot of people, she spent the evening watching television.

Only she didn't check out the latest sitcom.

"I watched game tape," said Portland, likely identifying one of the reasons she is a successful basketball coach. Even on her free nights she thinks about basketball.

Portland guided Penn State to the Final Four last year. In that remarkable season, the Lady Lions also won their third Big Ten Conference championship and earned a school-record 30 wins. Last season was the 16th NCAA Tournament appearance for Penn State, which is expected to be back in the NCAA Tournament again this month. The Lady Lions are among the Top 20 teams in the country again this season.

Penn State lost to Tennessee in the semifinals of the NCAA tournament last season, culminating years of hard work. It takes time, solid recruiting, and healthy players to build a successful collegiate basketball program.

Once the foundation is in place, the teams that follow try to emulate the same high goals.

Portland, in her 25th overall season, and 21st at Penn State, has been a key element in creating the tradition. She was named Big Ten Coach of the Year, Women's Basketball Journal National Coach of the Year and was a Naismith National Coach of the Year finalist last season. As a player, she was part of three national championship teams with Immaculata.

"She is not afraid to work at the game," said Duquesne women's coach Dan Durkin, who was the head assistant coach under Portland for eight years from 1986-93. "She is good at recruiting and is always looking at ways to improve her team. Rene has a way of finding the right players who suit her team."

She found two this season in freshmen Kelly Mazzante and Jessica Brungo, the latter a North Allegheny graduate. Mazzante is one of the leading scorers in the Big Ten Conference, and Brungo has given the Lady Lions many key minutes. She hit a 3-point shot to tie the score at 74-74 with 41 seconds to go against Vanderbilt, a game Penn State won.

Mazzante and Brungo complement a veteran squad that includes seniors Maren Walseth, a 6-foot-3 forward and 5-11 guard Lisa Shepherd.

Penn State lost two quality players to graduation in Helen Darling and Andrea Garner, who both signed with teams in the WNBA. Portland also had to deal with losing 5-6 senior guard Chrissy Falcone who tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her knee on Oct. 19.

The future continues to look bright for the Lady Lions, who have signed West Mifflin's Tanisha Wright and Steel Valley's Jess Strom -- two of the top players in the WPIAL.

"This team understands what it takes to get back to the Final Four," Portland said. "I am just trying to keep them focused. I am also trying to stay focused and not be afraid to ask one of my colleagues for advice."

One of the people who Portland has turned to for guidance is football coach Joe Paterno, who was the athletic director when Portland was hired. Paterno handed Portland the basketball and allowed her an opportunity to bring the women's game at Penn State to a new level.

She's been working to improve the program ever since.

Portland continues to remain in contact with Paterno, even though he no longer serves as the school's athletic director.

"I think about being in a grocery store and having people stop me to where it takes me longer to get through the store, and then I think it probably takes Joe (Paterno) 10 times as long to get through a store," she said.

Portland's first coaching job paid $2,000. She makes considerably more than that these days, and rightly so.

That's because Penn State treats the men's and women's programs the same. Portland has all the resources available to her that men's coach Jerry Dunn has.

If Portland's team needs to stay overnight for away a road game, the Lady Lions have the finances available. She has a generous recruiting budget and her players eat as well as the men.

Portland is partly responsible for the equality among the men's and women's squads at Penn State, said Oakland Catholic coach Suzie McConnell Serio, who played under Portland at Penn State. She said Portland was always looking out for her players and a big supporter of Title IX, the piece of legislation which balances the playing field of opportunities between men's and women's athletics.

"That is a credit to her because she has fought for what she has gotten," McConnell Serio said. "I got a lot from playing for her. She encouraged me as a player, and it is because of what I learned from her that I wanted to be a coach. Rene has a passion for what she does, and that passion is contagious among her coaches and players."

Portland also has found a way to balance being a wife to husband John, and a mother of three, Christine, John Jr. and Stephen, all while handling the demands of being a collegiate basketball coach.

Those demands include preparing a team for grueling conference play. While the Big Ten continues to be a competitive conference, Portland is concerned with the overall RPI ratings. That's because some of the teams in the conference play an easier non-conference schedule to get more victories.

"That's hard for us, because then when some of the conference teams play us, they are really fired up to play us," Portland said. "It is hard to play against a team of emotion. That is frustrating."

The Big Ten doesn't dictate which non-conference teams conference squads can schedule. Portland isn't afraid to schedule tough teams out of conference, because that is what gets her players the kind of experience they need to get back to the Big Dance.

That is what makes it all worth it to Portland.

"The experience of making it to the Final Four was so overwhelming for me," she said. "It was also so much fun. The entire week went so fast. Then before you know it, it's over. But it makes you want to go back."

Joanne Harrop is a sports writer with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.