Maybe a lesser team would have let this game slip away. After all, the No. 2 women's basketball team just played a physically and emotionally-draining game against Rutgers on Tuesday. The Lady Lions had every right for a lapse against sneaky George Washington last night at Rec Hall.

But this was not the case as the Lady Lions gutted out a 80-69 victory over the Lady Colonials. Penn State will have to get ready now to take on another Atlantic 10 foe, St. Joseph's at 7:30 tomorrow night at Rec Hall.

"I think it was a very, very good game for us. It was a nice wake up call," Coach Rene Portland said. "We are very beat up after the game against Rutgers. It was very physical."

Portland added the team, "could play connect the dots with the black and blue marks."

Even though the Lady Lions were smarting after the Rutgers win, they used a run at the end of the first half last night to secure a comfortable lead.

After Lady Colonial Jennifer Shasky hit a 3-pointer, the Penn State lead was cut to 29-24 at the 4:33 mark. The Lady Lions went on a 13-4 run and began to take control of the half. Susan Robinson started the run with a five-foot jumper and Dana Eikenberg hit a trey to give the Lady Lions their biggest lead of the first half, 40-24.

A Tanya Garner layup put the lead back to 16, at 42-26, with 31 seconds left, but two Shasky free throws cut the Lady Lion lead to 42-28 at the half.

In the second half, Penn State had its biggest lead of the game at 59-39, but George Washington continued to chip away. However, the Lady Colonials couldn't cut the lead below 10 points.

"Defensively, when we had to make the plays we couldn't take advantage of it," Coach Joe McKeown said. "Until we can turn around and beat a Rutgers or a Penn State, there's not much I can say."

McKeown added he will, "not get a raise for playing close."

Like most coaches this season, McKeown said the Lady Lions' superior depth was the key to the game. Three of McKeown's players had to play more than 35 minutes, with Shasky playing the entire 40 minutes and Kristin McArdle (38) and Anne Riley (37) seeing a lot of the court. By contrast, only two Penn State players, Eikenberg (32) and Robinson (31), played over 30 minutes.

Portland said she feels the depth, "will always be the difference for Penn State."

Thirteen Lady Lions saw action in the game while McKeown could counter with just nine players.

After the physical Rutgers game, Portland said the team had a difficult time at practice Wednesday.

"We did not practice well yesterday just because it hurts," she said. "We got done what we had to do."

That's exactly what Penn State will have to do when it takes on the Lady Hawks of St. Joe's.

"They're going after their 25th win in Rec Hall; this is a rematch of the Atlantic 10 title game," Portland said. "There's enough motivation there to put their aches and pains in their back pockets."

"It's a little different game than Rutgers, St. Joe's isn't nearly as physical but I think their smarter," Robinson said.

St. Joseph's is off to a rough year, with a record of 12-8. Katie Curry is leading the team with 16.2 points per game and Wendy Brink is next at 15.6 ppg and 6.4 rebounds per contest.