Dana Eikenberg was faced with quite an assignment -- Virginia's guard tandem of Dawn Staley and Tammi Reiss.

Just last spring in an NCAA second-round loss to the Lady Cavaliers, Eikenberg and the rest of the women's basketball team's guards had all they could ever ask for -- unfortunately -- from that very same UVa backcourt duo.

Between the two, they scored 57 points, forced eight steals and caused havoc all afternoon for the Lady Lions.

So when the two teams met again on Jan. 3, it was up to Eikenberg, Penn State's starting point guard, to orchestrate a much different outcome.

A 73-71 win over No. 1 Virginia says it all.

"She did not choke under the presssure of the infamous Virginia guards," Coach Rene Portland said. "Everyone was saying, ''Oh man, the pressure; how are you going to stand up against Staley and Reiss?' Our point guards were doing so well in that game.

"I keep saying to Dana, you went up against 'the best' and blew them away. If she had not been able to get past them, we wouldn't have ever done anything. She was our first line of attack and was very, very successful."

With Eikenberg bringing the ball up the court and setting the offense, Penn State opened up a 16-point lead. Even though the team faltered down the stretch and eventually fell behind by a point, it was Eikenberg's 18-foot shot late in the game that would put the Lady Lions in position to win on Shelly Caplinger's 3-pointer at the end.

In her 30 minutes, Eikenberg registered four steals and helped hold Reiss and Staley to just 21 points. A far cry from Virginia's 85-64 blowout last March 18.

For the 5'8" junior from Greenwich, Conn., it was redemption from last season's game, recognition of her abilities and proof of an evolution that has made Eikenberg a definite leader on the 16-1, No. 2 Lady Lions' squad.

"When we can go out and beat them (Virginia) and can handle their pressure and the turnovers aren't that great, it's a job well done," Eikenberg said. "I didn't really score all that much in the game, but I go back and look how we handled the pressure and controlled the ball when we had to. I thought that I had lost it for a little bit (in the second half), but I got it back and it was a first time that I really felt a strong sense of maturing and being able to snap right back in there. I guess it's a process of being able to regain the focus."

To Eikenberg, that admission illustrates the composure and leadership that she has acquired after two-and-a-half years as a starter.

With her aggresiveness and fiery on-court behavior, Eikenberg has, on occasion, been apt to show much emotion on the court. Last season, she was involved in a "tussle" with West Virginia's Donna Abbott in a contest at Rec Hall. She's also apt to pump a fist after hitting a key shot or showing intense disbelief if she disagrees with an official's call.

"(Detroit Piston) Dennis Rodman always points his finger up so I don't know what it is," Eikenberg said. "I always express myself in every sense of the way. I'm a real sensitive-type person so emotions are always coming out of me.

"I have to control that. This year I really have it all intact. It's more control for myself -- not to get anybody else fired up. It's just within myself -- my own personal thing."

Added Portland, "I think that's real important, that's she's confident but not cocky."

So far this season, Eikenberg has channeled her energy into her play and is well-below her turnover ratio of last season. That improvement has made her an even more effective ballhandler and on-court leader, an achievement that Portland has classified as worthy of being the "team's most improved player" each of the three years she has played in college.

Most of that can be attributed to Eikenberg's summer workout schedule -- attending basketball camps, watching films, running, lifting and competing against seasoned opponents in the offseason.

"Dana not only comes back with her own skills (each fall), but with the skills to run this team even better," Portland said.

"The point guard is the quarterback," forward Susan Robinson said. "She's always communicating with Rene. She has to see stuff before we see it coming down (the court)."

Even though Eikenberg's average point tally has never reached double figures, she has shown in the past an uncanny knack for coming up with a big shot or important play when needed.

She sank a 3-point shot last spring with less than 15 seconds remaining to defeat West Virginia, 73-71, in Morgantown. And in 1990's first-round NCAA game at Florida State, her 25 points propelled the Lady Lions to a 83-73 triumph.

Afterward, FSU coach Marynell Meadors proclaimed, "We never figured Eikenberg to be that kind of threat."

Of the 11 games she scored over 10 points last year, six came against NCAA-bound teams.

Although some of her statistics are down from last year, including scoring, assists and steals, Eikenberg -- and the Lady Lions -- know that her setting up a play is as, if not more, important to the team's success.

"Susan and Tanya don't score unless we can get the ball to them," Eikenberg said. "I feel if they have an off night, it has to do with our passing."

And her leadership.

"They know that in the huddle I'm the first one to talk; at halftime, I'm the first one to talk and from there it just goes," she added. "I'm usually the one who gets the orders or the first one who takes the gruff if something goes wrong. They respect that and allow me do my job."