An offense can only carry a team for so long.

The No. 14 Penn State women's basketball team has been outscoring its opposition by almost 14 points per game this season, but its last two times out featured a defense which led the way to the offensive output.

In yesterday's contest against Indiana, the game was going back and forth the majority of the first half, and the score was knotted at 23. From there the Lady Lions turned up the level of their defensive intensity and seemingly took control with an 11-2 run to close out the first half.

"In the last five minutes a lot of good things happened defensively," Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland said.

The Lions appeared to be in control, but the Hoosiers made a run out of the locker room. They stepped up their defense as well, and held the Lions to just two points in the first four minutes.

The Hoosiers capitalized to cut the deficit to seven, but the Lions once again picked up their defense, which wreaked havoc on the Hoosiers, who either turned the ball over leading to a lay-up, or forced a shot.

The Lions went on a 14-0 spurt with just over 10 minutes in the game, which placed them on top for good.

"After the first five minutes were over, we really made some things happen with our defensive pressure," Portland said. "Our defensive pressure in the second half made a major difference."

The difference was all over the court, as the Hoosiers received no easy trips down the floor. The Lions forced 18 turnovers for the game, which led to 22 points. On the other hand, the Hoosiers only converted three points off the 12 turnovers they forced.

Indiana women's basketball coach Kathi Bennett said that her team had its chances to score, but were unable to convert those chances when they did manage to get past the full-court press.

"The press dictated what we did," she said. "When we broke it, we got tentative. We have got to attack and we have to play fierce when they're pressing you."

The Lions' press, combined with their home-court advantage of over 11,000 fans, gave them a leg up on the Hoosiers.

The game marked the second straight in which the Lions held their opponent to under 55 points, as Ohio State could only muster 53.

In their previous five games the Lions had not held a team under 70.

The Lions came into the weekend allowing 67 points per game, which is now a little bit lower.