With only two days to prepare for Saturday night's game against No. 10 Virginia, the women's basketball team was given its first homework assignment of the new semester. For the first time, the players were given the scouting reports of the other team to study on their own.

The ploy obviously worked as the Lady Lions (8-2) confused the Lady Cavaliers (11-2), hit their outside shots and coasted to a 90-77 triumph.

"They came very prepared for this game," Coach Rene Portland said. "We had less than 48 hours from our last game (against Duquesne Thursday night). It really rattled Virginia when they made their hand signals and our team knew what they were going to do. (Assistant coach) Dan (Durkin) had done an excellent job in scouting them."

Susan Robinson's game-high 25 points led Penn State's balanced scoring attack. Tanya Garner added 21, Lynn Dougherty connected on five three- pointers for 17 and Dana Eikenberg contributed 15 points and nine assists.

Portland said before the game she was concerned with her team's energy and outside shooting. Jumping out to a quick 15-point lead eight minutes into the game and connecting on eight three-pointers quelled all doubts.

Yet the Lady Cavaliers didn't give up. With Virginia trying to cut the deficit to two with 13 minutes remaining, Lady Lion center Kathy Phillips rejected a Heather Burge shot and Eikenberg scored an unopposed layup to increase the lead to six. All game long, whenever the Lady Cavaliers got within striking distance, Penn State would go on a six or seven-point run to open it up again.

Dougherty's back-to-back three-pointers with just under 10 minutes left upped the lead to 69-55. The team never looked back from there.

"I felt we were making a run and they hit a three-pointer and then they came back down again and hit another three-pointer after we turned the ball over," Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. "I think it was a six or eight-point swing at that point. We had it down there and were really making a run."

Last season in Charlottesville, the Lady Lions opened up a 20-4 lead early in the game but lost, 85-76. This season, indicative of its six- game winning streak, the team stuck with its game plan and held off the challenge.

"Last year we went down there," Robinson said, "we were up by 22 and they started coming back. Our heads started going down, thinking 'could we really do this?' This year is totally different. We don't think, 'can we do this, can we protect the lead?' We play to win and we don't play not to lose."

Robinson, who played the entire 40 minutes, mixed 18-foot jump shots with inside drives to score in double figures for the 38th straight game. If she continues at her 20 points per game average, she will be the first player in Penn State history to score 1,000 points after two seasons.

Even with Virginia's 6'4" twins Heidi and Heather Burge in her face, Robinson was able to maneuver enough to get an open shot.

Ryan said, "She's as close to being a player somewhat like Larry Bird as I've ever seen in the game. She really played well tonight."

The Lady Cavaliers were paced by Heidi Burge's 23 points. Tammi Reiss had 15 and Dena Evans finished with 13. Dawn Staley, who was averaging 21 points per game, tallied only seven as she played sparingly while coming off arthroscopic knee surgery.

When Virginia went inside to its twins, it seemed to produce more offensively than at any other time in the game. The only problem was that the team would go to them three or four times consecutively, but suddenly change the game plan. This point has frustrated Ryan all year.

"We're just not old enough to realize how to play the game. It takes a little bit of time to get them to figure out their strengths and weaknesses. We have the potential to be a great team, but we're just not intelligent enough yet," she said.

The victory should propel the Lady Lions into the upcoming AP Top 25. Last week the team was just two notches away.

At 7:30 tonight at Rec Hall, Temple brings a 3-6 record into an important Atlantic 10 contest. The Lady Owls have lost five of their six games by margins of six points or less. Both teams are undefeated in the conference (Penn State at 2-0 and Temple at 1-0).