The Massachusetts women's basketball team knew it would be in for a long night.

But perhaps that was an underestimate on its part.

With the No. 3 Lady Lions (12-1) shooting the letters off the ball in the first half and adjusting confortably to having center Tina Henry and guard Shelly Caplinger in the starting lineup, the Minutewomen never had a prayer. Mercifully for them, the game ended after 40 minutes with Penn State romping, 95-27.

The victory margin was one point shy of the school record for largest victory margin, a 117-48 massacre of West Virginia in 1983.

"We felt changing the lineup was important," Coach Rene Portland said. "We also focused on team goals, like scoring the first basket in each half."

The team did more than that to improve its Atlantic 10 Conference record to 4-1. Massachusetts is winless in five conference games.

Penn State opened with a flurry of shots to race to an 8-0 advantage. After Lisa Ireland hit a shot to put UMass on the board three minutes in, the Lady Lions exploded.

Over the next six minutes, they scored 19 straight points to go up 27-2. And with the Minutewomen's past efforts of scoring 28, 30 and 32 points -- for a game -- it was essentially time for the reserves.

At halftime, it was 48-13 Penn State on 66.7 percent shooting. In the end, forward Susan Robinson led the team with 14 points and Tanya Garner chipped in 12. When it was over, every healthy player had played at least nine minutes in what could be described as a "total team effort."

Henry, the State College native who replaced Kathy Phillips, took to her starting role immediately. She finished the night 2-for-2 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free throw line for eight points. Henry also grabbed three rebounds, had three steals and had two of her now-customary blocked shots.

Henry admitted she was nervous before the game. "It was kind of a shock," she said. "I didn't expect (to start) and it still hasn't hit me. I really don't know (how long she'll hold the position), but Kathy and I are just going to push each other to make the team better."

"Tina altered every shot that went up," Portland added. "She is playing well in her position. She's not up there like a beanpole, she's very mobile."

In the other pre-game switch, Caplinger (four points) started ahead of Lynn Dougherty in what assistant coach Annie Troyan described before the game "split time" between the two. When the second half began, Dougherty was on the court first and ended up with 11 points.

UMass had yet another disappointing outing in a season already full with disaster. Its record is now an even more unlucky 0-13 and with four key players, including star Keyburn McCusker, injured, it could get worse.

Yet despite the winning margin, Portland complimented a team that was led in scoring by one of its reserves, Jenny Moran (six points.)

"I have to give it to them, they kept trying," she said. "They're not back in school yet and they have to sit in hotels thinking about being 0-13."