This time around things turned out the other way.

With Rutgers self-destructing down the stretch last night in the women's basketball team's 78-72 win, the Lady Knights could only look back and think what might have been.

As in what might have been if guard LaDon Echols hadn't had a stretch in the second half when she missed a breakaway layup. Or just seconds later when she dribbled the ball off her feet. Or when she was called for traveling. All this in the span of five consecutive Rutgers possessions in the second half -- all when the Lady Knights were down by less than 10 points and making a valiant comeback run.

As in the team shooting a paltry 58 percent from the free throw line.

As in forward Tanya Hansen scoring only five points and center LaTonya Hansen pitching in four. Penn State's defense completely took away the usually powerful RU inside threat.

Add all that together, plus Penn State's foul shooting at the end and spurred-on play from the 5,398 record-breaking attendance, and the results are dramatically different from the the No. 9 Lady Knights 84-70 win at home on Jan. 12 against the No. 2 Lady Lions.

One of the main differences had to be Penn State's shutting down of Hansen and Johnson in the paint. Forward Vicki Picott scored the majority of her 26 points away from the basket.

"We didn't do a good job of getting her the ball (Hansen) at all," Rutgers coach Theresa Grentz said. "We obviously have to go inside to be successful." "We did a good job of changing things up," Coach Rene Portland said. "I think the kids did a good job of helping out -- they didn't allow the ball inside. We were able to take Hansen outside to 15 feet. When she's inside, she's deadly."

In the team's first meeting of the season, Hansen poured in 15 points, including 11 in the second half -- all from inside. Johnson also went way over her season average in that January contest -- she had 14, when she's only averaging 7.6 points per game.

Another possible factor could have been the loss of guard Lynn Ust in the first half, after she went down with an injury to her left knee. On Jan. 12, on Lynn Ust Day at Rutgers, the 5'10" senior from South Amboy, N.J. scored 14 points. Before she was hurt, she had four.

For a while, however, Rutgers' mistakes, injuries and mental lapses didn't look like they would make any difference whatsoever. Despite committing 10 turnovers themselves, the Lady Lions scored at will and once again used their press to clamp down hard on the visitors and open up a 41-28 halftime advantage.

It wasn't until the second half, when three of Penn State's starters -- forward Susan Robinson and guards Garner and Dana Eikenberg -- picked up their third personal foul. Each player spent time on the bench and with Rutgers reserve Makeda Green hitting five second half 3-pointers for 23 total points, an 18-point Penn State lead began to slip.

At one point, if Echols had made one of her breakaway layups, the Lady Knights could have cut the deficit to three points, 62-59.

"Down the stretch we tried to give it away and they didn't take it so I guess it was meant to be ours," Portland said. "Toward the end, maybe (our players) just don't know the word delay. At Maryland (a 75-70 win last Tuesday), they didn't do it (playing the delay game). Maybe they just like exciting basketball."