With guard Dana Eikenberg having a career night, the women's basketball team found a way to hold off Florida State, 83-73, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last night in Tallahassee.

Eikenberg tallied a personal-best of 25 points and tied her high of four 3-pointers. At the start of the second half, the sophomore point guard scored 10 points in a span of about three minutes to help build the Penn State lead. She also played 40 minutes, pulled in six rebounds, had five assists and made two steals.

The Lady Lions (25-6), No. 7 in the East Region, will now travel to Charlottesville, Va., for Sunday's matchup with No. 2 seed Virginia (26-5). On Jan. 6, Penn State stunned the then 10th-ranked Lady Cavaliers, 90-77. Florida State, the No. 10 seed, finished its season at 21-9."

But even late in the game, the Penn State victory wasn't locked. With 5:10 remaining, the Lady Lions led by 20, 78-58, after a Tanya Garner length-of-the-floor layup. But Florida State wouldn't give. Penn State turnovers and missed free throws allowed the deficit to be cut to seven, 80-73.

At that point, Florida State guard Danielle Ryan broke open for a wide-open layup. She missed and Chantelle Dishman fouled Kathy Phillips intentionally. She made only one free throw, but seconds later Eikenberg calmly sank two and Penn State was on its way to the second round. The team is now 5-1 in first-round NCAA games.

"We missed too many easy shots and layups," Florida State coach Marynell Meadors said. "Penn State is well-coached, disciplined and has some good shooters, and you must have that."

Backup center Adrie DeVries was another key to victory. She came in for a foul-ridden Phillips and produced her best game of the season. With Penn State's size advantage, it was important to establish the inside game early. DeVries notched 14 points, 10 in the first half, all from within 10 feet. With the inside play open, Eikenberg was able to drill from the outside.

Coming into the contest, every time the Lady Seminoles outrebounded an opponent, they won. They did win the rebound battle, 36-35, but dropped to 18-1 in this category on the season.

Susan Robinson and Garner added 12 points each for the Lady Lions. For Florida State, Dishman and regular-season scoring leader Wanda Burns both had 18. Forward Tia Pascal scored 12 points.

After leading only 42-39 at halftime, the Lady Lions came out strong to start the last 20 minutes. Just as it had in the Atlantic 10 championship game against St. Joseph's, the team used a bang-bang beginning and pulled away.

Eikenberg's shooting spree was coupled with a Robinson 10-foot jumper and a layup off the glass. After a Pascal basket, Robinson struck again with her own three-point play. It was 64-49 with a little over 12 minutes to go. The lead was enough for the Lady Lions to maintain the win.

"Our two runs in the second half were the keys for us," Coach Rene Portland said. "We also handled a great run by Florida State."

Before the game, the Lady Lions received hundreds of fax messages and telegrams at their hotel from well-wishers.

Notes: The Lady Seminoles usually average 300-400 people per home game in the Tully Gymnasium. Last night's game had advance sales of up to 2,000 . . . Robinson's run at an NCAA consecutive free throw record ended with a miss in the first half.