It wasn't supposed to end this way.

On Saturday, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the No. 1 women's basketball team lost to James Madison, 73-71, in front of 6,087 fans -- ending what could have been a dream season.

The Lady Lions finished the season at 29-2 and had their 28-game home winning streak and 18-straight win streak broken. James Madison improves to 26-4 and will play this Thursday against fourth-seeded Clemson in the East Regionals at the Palestra in Philadelphia.

But the only word the can really describe the loss is shocking.

The defeat is even more unbelievable knowing that the Lady Lions scored the first 11 points of the game and led by 12 at halftime. But in the tournament anything can happen and the Dukes proved that on Saturday in front of a mystified crowd.

"I feel bad for the kids. I feel bad for our two assistant coaches and I feel very, very bad for the seniors," Coach Rene Portland said. "I am stunned and very, very disappointed."

"I have never been involved in a better comeback than the one we put on today. I am so proud of the effort of our kids and the courage it took," James Madison coach Sheila Moorman said.

Slowly in the second half, the Dukes began to cut the lead mainly on their 55.6 shooting percentage. This was also helped by the Lady Lions shooting only 32.4 percent. Another stat that led to the victory was that Penn State was outrebounded, 37-36, by a team that had no one taller than 6'0".

"If you point out the things that cost us the game -- rebounding was a big key," Portland said.

The James Madison attack was keyed by Vicki Harris, who scored 18 points (12 in the second half). But the win was very much a team effort. Brandy Cruthird scored 11 points and defensively limited Susan Robinson to 10 points. Paula Schuler had 13 points while Jeanine Michealsen added 11.

The James Madison comeback seemed harmless when Harris canned a 12-footer at the beginning of the second half. After Cruthird hit a 6-foot jumper, however, the lead was cut to four points, 41-37, at the 16:47 mark. One of the big reasons that Penn State dipped offensively in the second half was because Robinson picked up her third foul at 19:31 and didn't return until the 12:14 mark.

Penn State called a timeout and there was no real sense of urgency as the Lady Lions realized that they had to crank their play up a notch.

Penn State appeared to be doing that when it increased the lead to 45-38 after guard Dana Eikenberg sank a 8-foot runner. But James Madison scored the next five points and the Penn State lead was cut to 45-43.

Then Lady Lion guard Tanya Garner stepped to the forefront. Whenever Penn State needed a basket in the second half, Garner answered. This time she scored a layup and Penn State was back up by four points. Garner finished with 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting.

But Penn State could not stop the Dukes' tide and at 12:14 mark the unthinkable happened. Cruthird hit two free throws and James Madison led for the first time in the game, 49-47. The Dukes wouldn't trail the rest of the game.

The throng of Lady Lions fans tried to exhort the team on with thunderous chants of "Let's go Lions" but it was to no avail. James Madison was in complete control of the game when Michealson scored on a layup and led 62-54 with 7:05 left. But Garner nailed a 3-pointer and the crowd erupted.

The Lady Lions were making a run and they appeared to find their old form.

Two more Garner points with 3:39 left tied the game at 67. This all led to a bizarre ending.

Trailing 73-71, after Garner had scored on another layup, Penn State had one final chance. With 18 seconds left, the Lady Lions got the rebound and made their way up court as all the fans were now standing.

Garner attempted to penetrate then brought the ball back out beyond the 3-point line and shot it. However, Michealsen was right in Garner's face and blocked the shot.

"It was just a matter of putting my hand in her face and keeping my feet moving," Michealsen said.

As the ball fell to the floor and the final second ticked off the clock, there was silence except for the cheers of the James Madison fans and players.

"The girls knew what play to run. I don't feel as if they knew there were 19 seconds on the game clock, which was a mental mistake. They had the play and they panicked. The timeout was something we could have used but they had the play," Portland said.

They jumped and danced on the same floor that the Penn State players had just stood on in disbelief.

"I looked up at the clock and I should have went right to the play but I tried penetrating and I pulled it back out and when I looked up again there was four seconds left," Garner said.

"I didn't know who to guard. You were standing there and you are like,'They're either going to Garner, she is going to take it or Robinson is going to take it,' or something and it never happened," Harris said. "I was shocked, shocked when the buzzer went off."