The Big Ten regular season title is so close, it can taste it.

The No. 12 Penn State women's basketball team (21-5, 11-1 Big Ten) defeated No. 9 Purdue (19-4, 8-3) 80-68, last night at the Bryce Jordan Center in front of a crowd of over 9,000.

The win increased the Lady Lions lead in the Big Ten to two and a half games with only four remaining.

"We are very happy," Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland said.

"Tonight was a very good night for the Lady Lions."

The Lions took the lead mid-way through the first half and never relinquished it.

They played up double-digits the majority of the second half until a four-point play by Beth Jones cut the deficit to eight with just over three minutes remaining.

That was as close as the Boilermakers came to a comeback.

The game was also a showcase of two of the frontrunners for Big Ten player of the year -- Kelly Mazzante and Shereka Wright.

Mazzante struggled and finished with just 16 points. Wright on the other hand carried her team and ended with a game high 24. The Lions had no trouble picking up the slack for Mazzante, as four Lions recorded over 14 points.

Jess Brungo led the charge with 23 points, while Tanisha Wright chipped in with 15 and Jess Strom added 14 and 10 assists for the first double-double of her career.

"Their supporting cast had a five-star effort tonight," Purdue women's basketball coach Kristy Curry said. "If they were a movie, you would need to go and watch."

Brungo was the biggest factor for the Lions, helping to pick up the slack for Mazzante. Curry described her performance in a simple manner.

"It was Brungo versus [Lindsay] Hicks one-on-one and she flat out kicked our butt," Curry said.

The first half featured everything that a basketball fan could ask for. The players were playing with emotion, resulting in technical fouls, offensive fouls and everything in between. Shereka Wright and Tanisha Wright picked up double technical fouls following an altercation under the boards, the first issued to a Lion this season.

They were not the only ones playing with added emotion, as both teams were playing with the intensity one would expect in a game of this magnitude.

Both teams shot over 60 percent for the half, but something happened to the Boilermakers at the half. The Lions stepped up their defense, turning to a zone, and held the Boilermakers to just seven made field goals over the final 20 minutes.

"You would have thought that I gave them Benadryl at half time," Kurry said.

The Lions took anything but, and finished the game at a 55 percent clip.

The Lions will look to continue their momentum when they travel to Iowa Sunday afternoon at 2, to play at Carver Hawkeye Arena.

With each win the rest of the way, the Lions will inch closer and closer to a Big Ten championship.