The Penn State women's basketball team may have turned some heads this season with its run to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament, but the Lady Lions have a lot of work to do if they want to make an encore appearance next year.

After 94 victories, seven NCAA Tournament wins, a Final Four appearance and a Big Ten championship, it's all over.

Lady Lion sophomore sensation Kelly Mazzante has been named to her third All-America Team of the season, as she has earned second-team All-America status by Gballmag.com, an on-line magazine devoted to women's basketball.

One was a 5-foot-7 point guard who would be shadowed all day by the best player in the country. The other had not played against this caliber of guards on the defensive or offensive side of the ball this season.

The Lady Lions (23-12) played an inspired first half of basketball on Saturday but could not pull off an upset, losing to No. 1 Connecticut, 82-64, in the Mideast Regional Semifinals of the NCAA Tournament at the U.S. Cellular Arena.

On Saturday in the U.S. Cellular Arena, the Connecticut women's basketball team used 6-foot-2 senior forward Tamika Williams as the acid that slowly ate away at Penn State's chance to advance to the Elite 8.

At times during the 2001-02 Penn State women's basketball season, Kelly Mazzante has single-handedly dominated entire teams with her outstanding play. Mazzante has been a one-woman wrecking crew for the Lady Lions, breaking records and setting the Big Ten on fire with highlight-reel shots.

Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics is holding a send-off for the Lady Lion basketball team as they depart for the Sweet Sixteen in Milwaukee.

For once, the reporters weren't exclusively huddled around the nations' leading scorer, Kelly Mazzante, even though she dropped 32 points.

Recruiting requires a coach to become completely versed in the ability and life of the players that he or she covets. Preparing for the NCAA Tournament this week has given Rene Portland a chance to become reacquainted with the skills of a player she once took a close look at while recruiting.

Penn State sophomore Kelly Mazzante was named to 2002 The Associated Press All-America second-team yesterday.

The Penn State women's basketball team was one of six Big Ten teams selected to the 2002 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Tournament. Portland's Lady Lions (21-11, 11-5 Big Ten) earned a No. 4 seed and the possibility of two home games at The Bryce Jordan Center.

The loss to Indiana ended what appeared to be a Penn State romp to the title. Earlier in the weekend the Lions stomped on seventh-seeded Ohio State 70-55 and sixth-seeded Wisconsin 76-62.

With the Big Ten women's basketball regular season now over there is still one last chance for teams to impress the NCAA selection committee. That chance will start tomorrow when the Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament begins in Indianapolis.

It was the biggest game of the year, but the Penn State women's basketball team failed to answer the call.

Purdue will host champion hopeful Penn State tonight at 7 p.m. in Mackey Arena. The game will be televised locally on WPSX.

Winning a championship is no easy task. Winning two in a row may be even tougher.

The Spartans (15-9, 5-8 Big Ten) are coming to town to take on the Lady Lions (16-9, 8-4) in what figures to be a tough Valentine's Day showdown tonight at 7 at The Bryce Jordan Center.

Penn State women's basketball standout Kelly Mazzante has been named one of 20 finalists to win the Naismith College Basketball Player of the Year Award.

The last time the Penn State women's basketball team played Indiana it had to come from behind to pull off a five-point win. Much has changed for both squads since that game.

The afternoon following Girls and Women in Sports Day, Lady Lions coach Rene Portland talked about how far women's athletics have come during the nearly 22 years she has amassed her 500 career victories.

The Lady Lions (13-8, 5-3 Big Ten) are coming off a convincing 63-49 win over Wisconsin on Sunday in which they knocked the Badgers from atop the Big Ten standings.

If the young Penn State women's basketball team is to climb back to the top spot in the Big Ten, it will do so on the shoulders of its' senior leader, forward Rashana Barnes.

With an 11-8 overall record and a 3-3 Big Ten record and 10 games remaining, the team has to start thinking about qualifying for the NCAA tournament.

Penn State head coach Rene Portland felt a few members of the women's basketball team seemed to fall into a derelict pattern as well before Sunday's loss at Michigan State.

The Lions made Portland's predictions come true yesterday as they fell to Michigan State (12-6, 2-5 Big Ten), 66-62, in East Lansing. Penn State (11-8, 3-3 Big Ten) squandered a one-point lead with 1:14 left in the game and gave the Spartans their second straight conference victory.

Records in sports tend to be associated with amazing athletic feats. This weekend a record will be broken with the help of a refreshing and unusual exploit.

The Lady Lions played their best game of the season thus far, defeating Big Ten preseason favorite Michigan 78-65 at The Bryce Jordan Center. It was the way the team came together as a unit that enabled it to pull away from the Wolverines.

With a player of Kelly Mazzante's caliber on the Penn State women's basketball team's roster, it was only a matter of time before some major records began falling.

Kathi Bennett thought her team played well enough to win last night. She also felt that the reason her team did not come away with the win was the play of Penn State sophomore guard Kelly Mazzante.

A young team always needs a little confidence and nothing breeds confidence like winning.

Last night, Jackie Shook became the third player this year to start at center for Penn State in its 81-75 loss to Illinois at Assembly Hall, the third Lion loss in the last four games.

Replacing NCAA women's scoring record holder Jackie Stiles was no easy task but then again, neither were the other things she has accomplished in the last month.

The Penn State women's basketball team had their second shot at taking down a ranked opponent last night. They came extremely close, but let a big win slip through their fingers.

While most Penn State students are looking forward to a relaxing winter break, the Penn State women's basketball team knows that the weeks ahead will not be easy.

The Penn State women's basketball team will get another chance to beat a ranked team tonight.

During the age of the American frontier, young people would head west to prove themselves in a rugged environment.

The Villanova Wildcats upset the Lady Lions 74-58 at The Bryce Jordan Center in the team's regular season opener on Friday. The Wildcats sank 13 three pointers en route to their first victory over Penn State since 1984.

Head coach Rene Portland knew all week that if her team did not defend against the three it would be in trouble. She was absolutely right.

A certain mystique comes from being the first freshman to ever lead the Big Ten in scoring. Being named the National Freshman of the Year and the 2001-02 Big Ten Co-Preseason Player of the Year are a few more accolades that will get you noticed around Division I women's basketball.

The Penn State women's basketball team talked a lot about how much it learned from the Philadelphia 76ers visit to Happy Valley before the season began.

Penn State dominated in a win over the Dutch Perik Jumpers.

The Lady Lions come into the 2001-2002 season knowing they are a talented team but uncertain about certain areas. One of those areas is their frontcourt.

There's no secret about the strength of the Penn State women's basketball team this upcoming season. It's clearly the guard position, and one guard in particular — sophomore Kelly Mazzante.

At her preseason press conference Oct. 16, Penn State women's basketball head coach Rene Portland announced that she had picked Michigan as her preseason favorite.

They are the Penn State women's basketball team's equivalent of 'N Sync, with one exception -- talent. Five young women with five distinct personalities, each ready to step onto the glittering stage of NCAA Div. I basketball.

The theory behind college is to learn from those that are wiser than you (supposedly). For the Penn State women's basketball team, that meant observing the Philadelphia 76ers when the team was using the Bryce Jordan Center for its preseason training camp earlier this month.

When a coach chooses her captains, sophomores usually do not figure into the decision process. With only a year of experience, a sophomore player most likely will still have some growing to do before they can take on a leadership role.