If you blinked you might have missed it.

The women's basketball team held off a late charge by Atlantic 10 opponent Rutgers, winning 82-80 last night at Rec Hall.

The Lady Lions led most of the second half but Rutgers kept clawing back, cutting the lead to one point with 16 seconds left. After guard Tanya Garner missed the second free throw of a one-and-one, the Lady Knights had a chance. Rutgers' guard Suzanne Cooper drove the length of the court, stopped and put up a desperation 3-pointer at the end.

"I just turned my head and prayed," Lynn Dougherty, who was guarding Cooper, said.

"We had a shot and I thought she had it," Rutgers coach Theresa Grentz said.

The shot hit the backboard as the buzzer sounded and the Lady Lions survived.

With the tough victory, the Lady Lions raised their record to 18-5 overall and 13-2 in the A-10 as Rutgers fell to 16-7 and 13-2.

"It was a great game and a well played game," Grentz said. "The two teams played very, very hard, we just ran out of time."

"It was a typical game, both teams did a great job," Coach Rene Portland said. "Given more time maybe they might have pulled it out."

But for the Lady Knights it was not to be, although they did have their chances. With a 1:09 left in the game, the Lady Lions turned the ball over as a Dana Eikenberg pass went through the hands of Garner. However, Cooper put up an errant shot as she drove the baseline that didn't fall. Then at the end Cooper's prayers were not answered as her 3-point attempt fell aside.

Penn State seemed to keep the Lady Knights just far enough away all night to earn the victory.

In the first half, Penn State's biggest lead was only six points as forward Vicky Picott led the Lady Knights with 20 points before fouling out late in the second half. She paced Rutgers with 10 first-half points.

The Lady Knights actually had the lead at 25-23 when Cooper hit a layup before Susan Robinson took over late in the first half. Robinson scored 12 of Penn State's 14 points in the final 5:26 to give the Lady Lions a 39-36 halftime advantage. Robinson finished with 25 points and 14 rebounds.

Penn State also outrebounded the Lady Knights in the first half, 25-14, hardly giving them a second shot.

"Rebounding was the key in the first half," Portland said.

Another key for the Lady Lions in the first half was their bench play once again. With Garner and Eikenberg each picking up two fouls, Portland went to Terri Williams and Jen Kretchmar, giving the Lady Lions a much needed quality minutes off the bench.

In the second half Lynn Dougherty began to get hot. She just scored five points in the first half but hit for 15 in the second, including two treys back-to-back early on in the second half. Dougherty's 20 points were a career-high.

"Lynn did a great job," Portland said.

As the game began to tighten, the bench, as it did for Penn State in the first half, played an important role for the Lady Knights in the person of senior guard Glorisa Catala. Every time Penn State seemed to be pulling away, Catala hit a 3-pointer to keep it close. Catala finished with 13 points with three 3-pointers.

"People came off the bench and did a good job," Picott said.

It was a Catala trey that cut the Penn State lead to one point, at 73-72 with 3:29 left. The Lady Lions extended the lead back to five, with 2:34 left but again Catala hit a 3-point bomb to cut the lead to two, 77-75.

"Theresa knows when she has to play me," Catala said. "I knew I could make the shots."

After another trey, this time by Vicky Green, Penn State led just 81-80.

The Lady Knights fouled Garner, who made one but missed the second, to set up Cooper's valiant but futile mad dash to the hoop.

"When the shot went up everybody was staring at the rim," Portland said. "I just watched my kids (who were underneath the hoop) to see their reaction."

Lucky for Portland her kids cheered as the shot went wide.

The Lady Lions now have a few days to prepare for the Dale Hodges machine as they face No. 21 St. Joseph's at 7:30 p.m. Saturday night at Rec Hall.