The Lady Lions' legs were tired, playing their fifth game in nine days, and for the first time this season a game did not end in their favor.

The No. 14 Penn State women's basketball (4-1) team lost to No. 4 Kansas State (4-0) 88-66 in the finals of the preseason Women's National Invitational Tournament yesterday. The weekend was not all bad, as the Lions defeated Fairfield (0-1) 96-50 on Friday.

The big contest for the Lions was against the highly touted Lady Wildcats.

The Lions dug themselves into a hole early and never quite recovered against a talented Wildcats squad, who also reached the Sweet 16 last season.

The Lions were unable to stick with the Wildcats in the second half, possibly due to their tired legs -- playing their fifth game in nine days.

"Our short bench and five games in nine days showed itself," Portland said after the game on WRSC.

"In the second half we were extremely tired and extremely frustrated."

The Wildcats were at home because they outdrew the Lions in attendance in the semi-finals. The home court advantage helped spur on the Wildcats and keep the crowd involved.

"They have three really really good players," Portland said. "They like to run, and they're young."

Three times in the first half the Wildcats had leads of over seven points, including a 43-35 halftime edge, thanks to their match-up defense which stymied the Lions' offense.

All-America hopeful Kelly Mazzante could not get into any rhythm early, although she did break the WNIT scoring record with 112 total points, and finished with 18 yesterday.

Center Ashli Schwab chipped in with a double-double and guard Tanisha Wright finished with a career-high 26 points.

"Tanisha was tremendous in first half," Portland said.

The Wildcats were led by forward Kendra Wecker's 26 points.

She was one of four players who scored over 16 points, while the Lions had only two.

Even with the loss, Portland knows there is still a bright side to things, being this early in the year.

"It's early in the season," she said. "It's all going to work out OK."

Friday's game was a different story for the Lions, who easily disposed of an overmatched Stags team by almost 50 points. Five Lions scored in double figures, including guard Jen Brenden's career-high 13 points.

This weekend's events leave Portland one victory shy of 600 for her career.

The Lions will practice today and Tuesday and then take a few days off for the holiday, before returning to practice on Saturday.