When someone says their all-time favorite player is Charles Barkley, you immediately can figure out two things about them.

The first is an unquenchable will and desire on the court, whether it deals with rebounding or scoring. The second is a hard work ethic and dedication to the game.

Lady Lions forward Ashli Schwab grew up watching "Sir" Charles jump and fight for rebounds on the Philadelphia 76ers. Schwab is now the one jumping and fighting underneath the boards for the Penn State Lady Lions.

After sitting on the bench most of last season, Schwab has seen herself become an integral part of a team challenging for the Big Ten title this season. Unfortunately, Schwab's dream season hit a bump in the road when it was discovered her shin splints turned into a stress fracture. She has not played significant minutes over the past six games and has missed the last four. Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland said Tuesday that she has not yet been cleared to practice but is working out on an aqua treadmill. A return is expected before the post-season. The Myerstown native is not a stranger to injuries that have forced her to watch her team.

In her senior year at Elco H.S., she tore the ACL in her left knee during the District 3 championship game.

"I think she is taking [the injury] a little better, but it bothers her a whole lot," said her father, Charles Schwab. "She is handling it a little better because she has been through it."

Barkley also tore an ACL in what his last season in the NBA, but Barkley refused to end his career by being carried off the court. So in less than a year, late in the season he made a miraculous return to the court and walked off under his own power. After rehabbing in the summer, Schwab was also back on the court in less than year, but she spent most of her freshman season playing sparingly and not having the confidence on the court that she once had.

"I felt that I could [play], it was all a matter of getting myself healthy again and back to the player I was in high school," Schwab said. "I did a lot of hard work over the summer to get back to where I was."

Portland commended Schwab on her efforts over the summer and that she met the conditioning requirements. Schwab believes she has the same type of confidence she had in high school, where she became Elco's all-time leading scorer with 2,189 points.

After not being projected in the starting lineup at the end of last season, a few things changed for the Penn State women's basketball team. Jackie Shook transferred and Courtney Upshaw couldn't cut it with Portland's conditioning program and asked for her release. These moves cleared the way for Schwab and even before the season started, Portland seemed confident that Schwab could get the job done.

Portland's confidence was warranted as Schwab was averaging 10.3 points and a team-high 7.9 rebounds before playing two games where she played just 10 minutes apiece.

Rebounds were Barkley's calling card, and have been Schwab's best asset.

"When I was younger watching him I just wanted to be like him," Schwab said. "Big and strong, getting rebounds all the time. Being like an animal under there."

LaToya Thomas, a three-time Kodak All-American, must have thought Schwab was an animal when she came to the Bryce Jordan Center for a WNIT game this season. Thomas scored 19 points and had 7 rebounds, but had to take 20 shots to get it and had just come off a game in which she had 42 points and 15 rebounds. Schwab managed to post her first career double-double against one of the nation's elite forwards as she had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

"The Mississippi State game gave me a lot of confidence because I was guarding LaToya Thomas and did a pretty good job," Schwab said. "That game gave me a lot of confidence in myself."

Her other two biggest games of the year have come against Top 25 talent. She dropped 22 points and 11 rebounds against then-No. 2 LSU and had nine points and a career-high 16 rebounds against then-No. 9 Purdue. Big games against big-time opponents is something that Barkley patented in the early 1980's at Auburn. Filling in for the 6-foot-3 forward have been sophomore Hazel Joseph and redshirt freshman Tiffany Tomlinson. Joseph has come on as of late and Tomlinson has done what is expected of her, but neither have the combination of offense and defense that Schwab possesses. For the Lions to get back to the Sweet 16, they will need Schwab's ability in the starting lineup.

If a hard-work ethic is what it will take for Schwab to get back on the court and help the Lions to the Big Ten championship and to the Sweet 16, she should have no problem getting it done. Her high school coach, Dave Meyer, has publicly stated that in his 20-plus years of coaching, Schwab is the only player he has seen that never took a play off while on the court.

Right now Schwab just wants the opportunity to play on the court.