When Nancy Darcsh, women's basketball coach at Ohio State, was asked to compare yesterday's game against Penn State to a 79-73 loss to the Lady Lions six weeks ago, she could only reply, "24 points," referring to the margin between the two defeats.

Actually, Darsch was off by one as the Lady Lions (14-4) beat the Buckeyes (7-8) yesterday at Rec Hall 92-63.

But the game wasn't as easy as the score might show. The score was tied at 30 after the first 15 minutes and it took an 11-2 run in the last five minutes of the first half to spur on the nonchalant Lady Lions.

Coach Rene Portland was happy about the win but not about the first half.

"I was concerned," Portland said. "I didn't think our kids came ready to play in the first half. Maybe we should have watched more of the game there, the game that we played out there really was closer than most people like to remember."

What kept the contest so close was the tight man-to-man defense of the Buckeyes. Ohio State's main concern was to put constant pressure on Penn State's point guards -- Dana Eikenberg, Katina Mack and Jenny Kretchmar.

The plan worked in the beginning, forcing the trio to commit 8 turnovers in the first half, including five by a still-ailing Eikenberg. But Mack and Kretchmar, who scored 10 points apiece in the game, were able to regroup in the second half, with only two turnovers.

"We could have done a better job protecting the ball but I think we handled their press pretty well," Mack said. "We got out of their traps, bringing it upcourt, got easy buckets, and I think we handled the game pretty good."

Kretchmar, whose 10 points were a career high, was more concerned that she broke out of a 2-for-16 shooting slump with her 4-of-7 performance yesterday. In yesterday's game she showed that she could consistently hit the baseline jumper.

"I'm just happy it was going in today," Kretchmar said. "I just think it was worth a shot, I don't really look for it."

Ketchmar's jumpshot was just one aspect of the Penn State run that started with 4:36 to go in the first half. Four different players scored during the 11-2 run to give the Lady Lions a 41-32 lead at the half. That run sparked Penn State and gave the team an emotional lift that Darsch said her Buckeyes could not beat come the second half.

"Penn State did a very nice job taking it to us in the second half and shooting extremely well the first ten minutes of the second half to kind of put it away," Darsch said. "In the second half I think we came out with less energy."

Penn State came out of the locker room with a 23-11 run to start the second half and subsequently put the game away with the score 64-43.

Another key to the game was the performance of center Kathy Phillips, who led Penn State with six rebounds and 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting. Phillips said that Penn State was able to beat Ohio State under the basket even though the Buckeyes started three six-footers.

"They're still strong inside -- they give you a good push and shove," Phillips said. "They're still a power inside but they don't use it as much as they should."

The Lady Lions held the Buckeyes to 16 rebounds in the first half and out-rebounded them in the game 47-37.

Robinson continued her quest to be the all-time leading scorer at Penn State by scoring 15 points, but Portland was more than pleased with another strong performance from the bench.

Besides Kretchmar and Mack, Kim Lazor had seven points and Missy Masley chipped in six. Jackie Donovan helped out on defense five rebounds and a block.

"I think we're very fortunate that people are seeing their roles and taking advantage of any playing time that they are getting," Portland said.