A driving lay-up by Tanya Garner with 43 seconds remaining capped a late second-half comeback as the women's basketball team hung on for a 76-74 victory over Atlantic 10 foe George Washington Saturday in Washington.

The game went down to the final shot. After Garner's basket gave the Lady Lions a 76-72 lead, George Washington's Tracey Earley made a lay-up off an offensive rebound with 24 seconds to left to narrow Penn State's lead to two points at 76-74.

Garner turned the ball over on the following possession, giving GW a final chance to tie or win the game in the final 13 seconds. George Washington called a time out, but the Lady Lions played tough defense and denied the Lady Colonials a good shot. George Washington's Karin Vadelund's off-balance, 20-foot shot with three seconds on the clock bounced off the rim, sealing the big win for Penn State.

The Lady Lions (6-9) were put in position to win by the 3-point shooting of Garner and Dawn Chambers. Garner hit five of 11 3-pointers, and Chambers hit two 3-pointers in the last four minutes of the game to pull the Lady Lions within striking distance.

A tip-in by Lisa Lambert off a missed shot by Chambers gave Penn State a 72-70 lead it never relinquished. Lambert's basket culminated a long rally after GW (5-9), who led 33-32 at the intermission, opened the second half with a 17-7 run in the first 5:30 to take a 50-39 lead.

"Lambert's tip-in was the motivation for the win," Coach Rene Portland said. "The bench did a fine job. The key to the comeback was Lambert's tip-in and the 3-pointers."

Penn State and George Washington both shot well from the field, as each team shot 58 percent. Garner scored a career-high 25 points on 10 of 16 shooting to lead the Lady Lions. Susan Robinson added 19 and Lynn Dougherty finished with 10 points.

Earley and Ginny Doyle paced the Lady Colonials with 23 points each. Doyle made a remarkable 11 of 13 field goals for GW, including one 3-pointer. Vadelund finished with 16 points and was two of three from 3-point range.

Dougherty and Chambers played more often than usual because Tiffany Chill and Dana Eikenberg both suffered from the flu. Chill spent two days in Ritenour Health Center and played only 11 minutes, and Eikenberg only 15.

That meant Garner and Chambers had to provide the outside scoring punch, and they did just that.

"Dawn and Tanya really came through at a difficult time," Portland said. "We knew people were talking about Robinson, and they did a good job choking down on her. But Tanya picked up the slack."

After a tough loss to St. Joseph's on Wednesday and close defeats at the hands of Pitt and West Virginia, winning a tight game was a welcome change for the Lady Lions, especially with a tough A-10 game against Temple coming on Thursday.

"GW away and Temple away are two big games for us," Dougherty said. "They're two games we have to win, and it's great to get the first one down."

"Any win on the road is exciting," Portland said. "They're growing up. Everyone is saying that Penn State is getting better. When I tell them to be more aggressive, they are more aggressive. We have the confidence to win."

That confidence may have been a bit lacking after the team's loss to St. Joseph's, but Dougherty said every team goes through tough spells.

"You have to take the ups and the downs and keep going," Dougherty said. "We're working as a team and we're sticking together."