In the beginning, the game had the makings of a classic upset at the expense of the Penn State women's basketball team. A slow start, mental mistakes, and some bad luck put it on its heels, but it was able to battle back and come away with a win.

Last night at the Bryce Jordan Center, the No. 10 Lady Lions (7-1) held off a feisty St. Joseph's (2-4) squad to seal their the seventh win of the season, despite a disappointing first half.

"We're happy with the win, I'm not sure I'm happy with the way of the win, but we're happy with the win," Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland said.

"I think in the first half we were sluggish."

"Sluggish" was the appropriate word to describe Penn State's play after the opening tip off.

The Hawks frustrated the Lions with an aggressive defensive scheme, forcing off-balance shots as well as turnovers.

Penn State shot a mere 39 percen from the field and an even weaker 13 percent from beyond the arc. Up until the six minute mark in the first half, Penn State never even had a lead.

"I think at half time we re-evaluated some things and came out and did a better job defensively," Portland said.

"In the second half, and in the end of the first half we did pick up speed, picked up tempo, picked up our defense, and made some nice runs."

The first 20 minutes were not all bad news, as the Lady Lions managed to rally and pull ahead just before heading to the locker room with the score 36-31. Kelly Mazzante led all scorers in the half with 16 points, and in the game with 30.

"We just have to realize that our rebounding is what's going to win this game when our offense is bad," Mazzante said.

"We just have to be patient."

At the start of the second half, the Lady Lions came out possessed, and knocked down four quick points in the first 30 seconds.

For the first three minutes, the Hawks were also held scoreless, surrendering 10 unanswered points.

Ashli Schwab and Tanisha Wright sparked the offense and defense for Penn State.

Wright doubled her first-half point total within the first 10 minutes and finished with 23, while Schwab was a force in the point, accounting for 12 points and three rebounds on the night.

On the defensive side, the two were able to combine for three blocks and four steals.

"I just take it as it comes," Wright said. "Whenever I see opportunities to attack, I try to take them."

St. Joseph's came off a weekend long road trip against Penn State after facing Buffalo and No. 1 Duke in the Duke Tournament in Durham, N.C. Forward Stephanie Graff racked up 18 points to lead her team.

"I was happy with our kids play for about 23 minutes of the game," St. Joseph's women's basketball coach Cindy Griffin said.