After every women's basketball practice, center Kathy Phillips has to make 50 shots.

And not of the layup or short-jumper nature, either.

With assitant coach Annie Troyan snagging rebounds, Phillips shoots 3-pointers until she hits the half-century mark. After half-a-season of toning down her shot, the 6'4" junior's efforts finally paid off in a game.

On Saturday, her not one, but two 3-pointers, were the highlights of a 93-47 Atlantic 10 rout of Rhode Island in Kingston. For Phillips, it was a bright moment after being replaced in the starting lineup by Tina Henry prior to the team's two-game New England road trip.

"It was nice to have the first one drop and the second was icing on the cake," she said. "At the beginning of the season, (Coach) Rene (Portland) gave me the green light. She said, 'It's just like you're playing Pig. If you can make it (in the shooting game), you can make it (in the real thing.)' "

The two treys were the first two of her career and meant that every starter -- from the beginning of the season -- had notched a 3-point shot this year. Apart from her long-range expertise, Phillips came off the bench to score a game-high 18 points and bat away three shots for the No. 3 Lady Lions (13-1).

A starter since the beginning of her sophomore year, Phillips' relegation to a reserve role has been a difficult transition.

"I was angry," she said, "but not angry at Tina for what she did. She's been playing well. I was angry at myself for letting it get this far that she (Portland) wanted to make a change."

Phillips was replaced, along with guard Lynn Dougherty, prior to last Thursday's 95-27 blowout of UMass, due mainly to both players offensive inconsistency. Dougherty, however, returned to the starting lineup for the Rhode Island matchup.

Portland said that with the inconsistency in the shooting guard position, Dougherty and senior Shelly Caplinger will alternate starts until a final decision is made.

"We were happy with the change," Troyan said. "Everyone on the team has been working hard. They're are all geared toward our team goals and will do whatever it takes."

"It's adding more depth to the team," Phillips added.

Even with all the transitioning and personnel switches, the Lady Lions were able to adjust to the WRams (4-10) and whatever was thrown at them. The team used a solid shooting performance, a quick start and strong defense to hold the Rhode Island to its lowest scoring output of the season.

Just as it had against the Minutewomen last Thursday, Penn State started strong and outscored URI 20-4 to open the contest. At halftime, it was 45-19. By then, the reserves were playing more than the starters.

"Rhode Island came out very competitive," Portland said. "They were very scrappy. Even though it was a 25-point game, the look on our faces looked like it was a two-point game.

"(But our) team went right back at them. We didn't get caught in the chaos that Rhode Island was trying to provide to get us off track."

In a game that went back-and-forth, up-and-down the court, Penn State shot 50 percent to keep the game out of reach. Susan Robinson added 16 points, Tanya Garner scored 13 and Henry contributed 10. Rhode Island's Anne Kelsen led her squad with 15 points, tying her career high.

Notes: Penn State's bench, on the two-game trip, poured in 99 points . . . It was quite a milestone game for Garner. She moved into eighth place on the all-time career scoring list, her 10 assists tied a career high and her next 3-pointer will give her 100 for her career . . . Helen Holloway won her second A-10 Freshman-of-the-Week award by contributing 17 points and nine rebounds during the New England road swing. . . It was another weekend of shockers in the Associated Press poll. No. 2 Tennessee lost to No. 10 Auburn, No. 5 UNLV lost to Texas and Fullerton State and No. 6 Rutgers fell to Holy Cross, 68-57.