This was a statement.

The No. 22 women's basketball team dominated West Virginia on Saturday night, 96-64, in a rough and tumble affair at Rec Hall.

With that victory, Coach Rene Portland earned her 300th career win, a feat only 20 other active coaches have equaled. The Lady Lions raised their record to 16-3 overall and 9-0 in the Atlantic 10 while West Virginia fell to 12-7 and 6-4.

"I think we sent a message to ourselves that we are very capable of all the things that we dream about," Portland said. "Three wins this week is exactly what we were looking for."

"The key was that Penn State came to play and played a fantastic ball game," West Virginia coach Scott Harrelson said. "They hit the shots they needed to hit. They played like a Top 10 team tonight."

Susan Robinson led the Lady Lions with 27 points, 21 in the second half, and eight rebounds. Point guard Dana Eikenberg scored 15 points and had five steals.

Penn State started strong, scoring the first seven points and building a 16-4 lead after guard Tanya Garner nailed a 3-pointer.

"We have to look at the first 15 minutes of the game and be very excited how we came out and played the first 15 minutes," Portland said. "They only scored 14 points."

The Lady Lions continued their strong play, increasing their lead to 20 after Eikenberg stole the ball and hit a breakaway layup. She followed that up with a five-footer from a Terri Williams steal.

All this with Robinson only hitting 2-of-6 in the first half.

The game began to get physical near the end of the first half after guard Jo Zari fouled Garner and added a little shove. Zari had to be restrained by the officials.

"We knew it was going to be physical but maybe not quite this physical," Robinson said.

But with Penn State leading, 43-19, the Lady Mountaineers began a 17-3 run behind Donna Abbott, who scored six during the run and finished with 22 for the night, and Jo Zari, who knocked down an NBA-length trey.

At halftime the Lady Mountaineers had cut the lead to 45-36.

"The concern was at halftime we were only up nine points -- were we going to be afraid to lose or go to win," Portland said. "And the kids certainly came out playing this game to win."

This was evident when Eikenberg stole the ball from Rosemary Kosiorek and took it in for an uncontested layup. This began a 6-0 run that built the lead back up to 15.

"The steal was a very good sign that we were going to come out and attack," Portland said.

The Lady Lions continued adding to the lead on the shoulders of Robinson, who was 6-of-7 in the second half. Robinson was 11-of-11 from the free-throw line, adding to her string of 21 straight.

"I was getting open on the picks -- I ran a few what we call counters," Robinson said. "I was reading the defense better."

With the game well in hand it began to get more physical. First, after a loose ball, Eikenberg grabbed the foot of Abbott and caught an elbow in return for it.

Garner was again involved, this time with Anna Tillman. As Tillman set an intentional pick, she bowled over Garner. Garner then responded with a single-leg takedown. Tillman had to be restrained by the officials.

The Lady Lions held star guard Kosiorek to only 14 points on 4-of-12 shooting. Kosiorek was playing with a sprained ankle that Harrelson said certainly hampered her performance.