All season long, the women's basketball team depended on -- and almost always received -- support from its reserves. But in Saturday's stunning 73-71 loss to James Madison, that staple of the team's success wasn't there.

In the game, a Jenny Kretchmar jump shot and two Terri Williams free throws were the only offense provided by what many considered to be the No. 1 Lady Lions' strongest suit throughout the year. Prior to Saturday, the reserves had averaged 30 points per game.

"There wasn't any," Coach Rene Portland said after the game in regard to play from the reserves. "I don't think I used them much because in the first half we didn't get much off the bench . . . You really have to go with your gut feeling. Several of them got the opportunity in the first half to do something, and I didn't think any of us felt real comfortable in the second half going to them, except for Jenny Kretchmar. Other than that, it just wasn't there."

-- With its fast start, Penn State looked -- for most of the first half anyway -- that it had Saturday's contest well in hand. In the game's first five minutes, Penn State's pressure defense and hot field-goal shooting enabled the team to jump out to an 11-0 lead. At the 12:01 mark, following guard Tanya Garner's 3-pointer, the lead was 15, 24-9.

"I think that's the way you should come out every game," forward Susan Robinson said. "We hit just about every shot we took and were playing real aggressively on the defensive end."

However, slowly but surely, JMU's quickness and intelligent play keyed its comeback.

The Dukes cut the margin to six points, 26-20, at the 7:03 mark after senior guard Paula Shuler hit a 3-pointer. But PSU built the lead back up to 14 points and settled for a 12-point bulge at the half.

In the second half, James Madison continued to keep up the pressure, taking the lead it wouldn't surrender at 12:14 following junior forward Brandy Cruthird's two free throws.

"We just wanted to continue our strong performance that we had and wanted to continue (playing) good, solid basketball because it was the second round of NCAAs and a stepping stone for us (to go to the Final Four)," center Kathy Phillips said. "It seems that we didn't keep our minds in the game and in the second half we just didn't come out the same way we came out in the first."

"We got off to a good start and just didn't take care of business," Portland added. "James Madison came out at 125 percent, if you can have that kind of percentage."

-- Saturday's crowd turnout of 6,087 smashed the previous all-time Lady Lions' attendance mark of 5,398 set on Feb. 5 against Rutgers. The all-time high to see a women's basketball game in Rec Hall was 6,200 for the Delta State-Immaculata AIAW championship game in 1976.

-- PSU's loss signaled the first time a No. 1 seed had lost in its first game of the NCAA Tournament.

-- It was not a good weekend for either Big Ten or Atlantic 10 teams. No. 2 seed in the Mideast, Purdue, lost at home to Vanderbilt, 69-63. In the Midwest Region, Nothwestern got routed by Arkansas, 105-68, and Michigan State was nipped by Oklahoma State, 96-93, in overtime.

Out West, Iowa fell, 70-53, to Washington and in the East bracket, the A-10's George Washington, making its first appearance in the tournament, dropped a decision to the No. 2 seed, North Carolina State, 94-83, in Raleigh, N.C.