Two bounces. Two squats low to the floor. Every time Kathy Phillips prepares to shoot a free throw she follows the same routine.

Last night in a close game with Temple, the routine worked as she calmly guided the ball into the basket to preserve a closely contested, 86-79, win over Temple at Rec Hall.

Twice in the last 30 seconds, Phillips was called upon to sink free throws. She was a perfect 4-for-4.

This action came after the Lady Owls had struck back with a 3-pointer to pull within one. During the ensuing timeout, Temple coach Linda MacDonald instructed her players to foul one player on the court in order to stop the clock -- Phillips.

"I think maybe we felt that Kathy Phillips was the player on the floor to put on the line statistically," MacDonald said, "so we basically were denying everybody else the ball. It turned out very well, except she iced four free points on the foul line."

On the season, Phillips was only connecting on 67 percent of her free throws and had missed three earlier in the evening. Yet just as she did in a critical situation in a high school regional game a couple of years ago, she came through when it mattered.

"I was confident because I've been in that situation before. I knew I was going to make them," she explained.

Before this and every game, Phillips gets ready to play basketball by wearing her socks inside out. Last night she applied this to a larger scale, continually turning Temple's defense inside out.

In the early going, with Susan Robinson struggling offensively, it was Phillips who picked up the point production. Time and time again, she took passes close to the basket and sank the shots. She even came through with a couple of outside shots.

For awhile it looked as if Phillips would not miss. Her 10 consecutive field goals equaled the school record set by Vicki Link twice (Mar. 7, 1986 against St. Joseph's and Jan. 14, 1987 against Maryland).

Phillips eventually finished with a career-high 27 points, three more than her effort last year versus West Virginia. She also grabbed seven rebounds.

"Tonight Kathy Phillips on the scouting report was quoted as the weak link and that was not the case," Penn State coach Rene Portland said. "She hit the foul shots down the stretch. We called plays for her and she rose to the occasion."

Heading into the contest, Temple could not have been expecting Phillips to come up with her big numbers. In last Saturday's matchup against then-No. 10 Virginia, Phillips had only six points.

MacDonald said she knew of Phillips' ability from watching her compete last summer. In July, the 6'3" center won a silver medal at the Olympic Sports Festival in Oklahoma. Yet she didn't believe her players realized it.

It was obvious.

"(With) Virginia my game was defense," Phillips said. "Getting the ball and shooting is good, but the stats show I was 2-for-4. I didn't get the ball to shoot, so I wasn't upset because I knew I'd make it up on defense with blocks and rebounds. Defense worked with Virginia and offense worked with Temple."

The inside scoring was created with what the players call the "21" play. This involves posting up to either side of the lane. The idea is to get the ball inside to Robinson or Phillips.

"It just so happened I had the hot hand, so I shot the ball," Phillips added.