Defense was the name of the game on Saturday as the women's basketball team suffocated Duquesne, 82-52, the team's third consecutive victory. The win raised the Lady Lions's record to 9-10 overall and, more importantly, lifted the team's Atlantic 10 record to 7-4.

Penn State forced 31 Duquesne turnovers and came up with 20 steals, using a full court press that stuffed the Duchesses all game long. Duquesne was only able to shoot 38 percent from the field, including a 29.2 percent clip in the first half.

Saturday was also Parents' Day, and there was fun for the whole Lady Lion family as all nine players scored in the game. Susan Robinson returned to form after struggling a bit in Penn State's last three games. Robinson led the Lady Lions with 19 points and pulled down seven rebounds to go with four steals in 22 minutes of play.

Kathy Phillips continued her outstanding play on both ends of the floor, finishing with 17 points and seven rebounds. Tanya Garner scored 12 points and grabbed five rebounds from her shooting guard position, and Dana Eikenberg handed out six assists to go with her six points. Adrie DeVries, recovering from a foot injury, managed to play 18 minutes and chipped in 11 points.

Although the Lady Lions won by 30, the Duchesses managed to stick with Penn State through much of the first half. The game was tied 14-14 as late as the 11:30 mark, and it wasn't until the final five minutes of the half that the Lady Lions were able to put some distance between themselves and Duquesne.

Lynn Dougherty started a 12-4 run with a jumper from the top of the key with 5:01 left to give Penn State a 28-18 lead. Phillips, Robinson and Tiffany Chill took turns hitting 14-foot jump shots and Eikenberg hit two free throws to give Penn State a 38-22 lead going into halftime.

Penn State maintained a 16-point lead through the first four minutes of the second half before salting the game away with a 9-0 run that gave the Lady Lions a 55-30 lead. Penn State cruised after that point, adding to its lead and forcing turnover after turnover from the outmanned Duchesses.

The Lady Lions now own a three-game win streak, the team's longest of the season. Three games may not sound like much, but after struggling for much of the season the Lady Lions finally see some light at the end of the tunnel.

"This is the first time we've had three wins in a row, and that's important to us," Portland said. "Certainly we'd like to think that we're on a roll, that we're heading in the right direction at the right time of year.

"I remember the period where we lost three in a row, and how we felt, and now we're on the other side of the coin," Eikenberg said. "All of us are contributing, everybody is playing well, and three wins has got to feel good."

To keep that winning streak alive Penn State will have to play its best basketball of the season, starting tonight. The Lady Lions have an opportunity to knock off one of the Top 25 teams in the nation when they host James Madison at 6 p.m. in Rec Hall.

A win would raise Penn State's record to the .500 mark for the first time this season and give the team a big lift going into the final seven A-10 games of the season. The first of those games will be a tough contest against defending A-10 champion Rutgers at Rec Hall on Saturday.

"James Madison is going to be a tough one," Portland said. "This is a must win for us. Other than our conference games, this is the only non-conference team that's ranked in the Top 25 left. Hopefully the mystique of Rec Hall will carry us through, and we'll play them better.

"We're going to have to be very prepared," she continued. "They're a great basketball club or they wouldn't be in the position they are right now. They're a team we lost to last year, in what we felt was controversy to be very honest. We lost to them in overtime."

"Right now we're going for five-for-five at home, that's our goal," Robinson said. "We need to get that going into the road (games)."