The Gophers, whose physical play in the game's first stanza helped them stay within seven points, at 35-28, of the heavily favored Lions, recorded 27 personal fouls in the game. One player, starting center Moneeke Bowden, fouled out for the Gophers, while two others stood on the brink of doing just that with four fouls apiece.

"I thought the game was extremely physical in the first half -- physical to the point that I don't think it was right," Penn State coach Rene Portland said. "If you watch our kids, their shirts were out of their pants, and that's not normal. We were shooting fouls really quick. This game was a lot of foul shots. There were a lot of fouls called, and rightfully so."

The Lions visited the charity stripe 35 times against Minnesota, connecting on 25 of their attempts. The Gophers went 11 for 17 from the free-throw line.

In the first meeting between the squads, the Lions had 31 free-throw attempts, but the Gophers had just nine. Portland said the dramatic increase in attempts for the Gophers over the two games might have been due to her team's desire to gain revenge.

"I don't like that kind of game. I don't think that's the way you play the game of basketball," Portland said. "I felt our kids were stooping to that level a little bit. At halftime we talked to them about, instead of pushing off like they're pushing off, we wanted to just take them back to work. We wanted to do things right and not get caught into the holding that was going on underneath the basket.

"There's a way of being physical and a way of crossing the line, and I think the first half crossed the line a little bit."

If Minnesota did cross the line it did so with a surprise attack, Penn State forward Clara Carter said.

Carter, who pulled down 14 rebounds in the contest and is known around the Big Ten as a physical player, said Minnesota gave no warning in the last meeting on Jan. 3 that such a slobber-knocker would take place.

"They took us by surprise. I didn't think they would be that physical," Carter said. "I don't remember them being that physical (in the last meeting between the two teams).

The Gophers disagreed with Penn State's assessment of their play.

Minnesota coach Cheryl Littlejohn said that the physical play occurred between both teams, and that the nature of the game itself is a hard-hitting one.

"That's part of the game," Littlejohn said. "It's not like we're out here doing gymnastics. It's a tough game. Physical play is going to be a part of it, and that's the attitude on both sides."