Penn State, still unbeaten at home.

Despite trailing 7-2 early, the Gophers played the Lions nearly even through the first half, getting points in the paint, where Minnesota prefers them; Kelly Roysland put back a missed three-ball at the buzzer to end the half at Gophers 27, PSU 28. Tanisha Wright had already scored 14; Shannon Bolden, who usually contains leading scorers, couldn't do much about it.

For most of the second half the Gophers lost focus, and couldn't recover from mistakes; stolen balls got stolen back, perimeter shooters couldn't get anything off, and the Gopher defense encountered whistle after whistle, partly on silly grabs and lousy decisions, and partly because Wright and Strom are just that good at drawing contact. The second half was a foul festival-- Lions made 27 of 29 second-half free-throws, Gophers 18 of 19; when Bolden, and then Schonrock, got whistled for a fourth foul, the game looked and felt mostly over. (Schonrock later scored the Gophs' only trey.) Final score: 81-68, the last of several PSU 13-point leads.

Tanisha Wright "had an All-American night," said coach Portland. She "basically could do anything she wanted," Gopher coach Borton agreed. Wright finished with 32, tying a career high. McCarville scored 21, with 11 boards, but the Lions actually outrebounded Minnesota, 32-26, going hard to the offensive glass.