Susan Robinson was on the bench with foul trouble. Lynn Dougherty was shooting airballs. Kathy Phillips was having her shots blocked by a 6-foot-8-inch sophomore.

To make matters worse, by halftime a couple of "hams" -- Heidi Gillingham and Mara Cunningham -- had 11 points each for Vanderbilt, and the No. 10 Commodores had a 30-26 lead.

Things did not look promising for the women's basketball team.

But the 11th-ranked Lady Lions (18-6) found out there is something to be said for halftime pep talks, and Penn State came back to defeat No. 10 Vanderbilt (17-6) 72-60 last night in Nashville, Tenn.

For Penn State, this game marked the end of a streak of five road losses to quality teams, and gave the Lady Lions a much-needed shot in the arm as the postseason nears.

"I told them (at the half) that there were only 20 minutes left, and we're tired of going on the road and losing," Coach Rene Portland said.

But in the first 10 minutes of the game, it didn't seem that way as there were three ties and two lead changes. As the 6-foot-8-inch Gillingham scored on a layup with 10:10 left, Vanderbilt started to take control of a game that looked like it would be yet another defeat for the Lady Lions.

Even though both Penn State and Vanderbilt had problems shooting, the Commodores had leads that ranged from one point to as high as eight in that first half,, with both teams around the 35 percent mark. Most notably, Carla Coleman went 1-for-5 for the Lady Lions, and Tina Henry, whom Portland was counting on because of her 6-foot-5-inch frame, only hit one of her four shots.

However, the Lady Lions began to fight back in the last two minutes of that half, going on a 6-2 run which started an exciting comeback. After being fouled by Cunningham, Missy Masley, who finished with six points in the game, converted on both free throws. With 43 seconds remaining in the half, Masley sank a short jumper to bring the score to 30-24.

With a mere seven ticks left on the clock, Coleman scored an easy layup off a loose ball created by a Kim Lazor block.

That last-ditch effort obviously provided some spark in the Lady Lions becuase they started the second half right where they left off -- scoring.

Penn State came out of the locker room and went on an 8-2 tear, a tear which quickly changed the momentum and the outlook of the Lady Lion bench.

Dougherty, who scored no points in the first half, started Penn State off with a baseline jumper at 19:24, followed by two baskets from Phillips that gave Penn State the lead, 32-30. Phillips, Masley and Henry were the Lady Lions most plagued by foul trouble, racking up four apeice by game's end.

After a short jumper by the Commodores' Shelly Jarrard, Dougherty came back with a 19-footer to return the lead to the Lady Lions. But the next few minutes were worrisome for Penn State.

Vanderbilt was relentless in its pressure defense. Though Cunningham was effectively shut down for the second half, the rest of her Commodore teammates would not let Penn State alone.

Gillingham, who finished with 18 points and numerous blocks, provided possibly the biggest obstacle to the Lady Lions. She forced both Phillips and Robinson to make swerving, athletic moves to get the ball beyondher lengthy reach and into the bucket.

But the Lady Lions slowly kept adding to their lead, which hovered around five or six the majority of the half. That lead was only lengthened when the Lady Lions, in particular point guard Dana Eikenberg, made some clutch free throws down the stretch.

"It feels like something has been taken off our backs," Robinson said of the win, "and maybe we wanted to prove it to ourselves more than anyone else."

Robinson finished the game with 22 points for Penn State. Phillips chipped in a dozen, Dougherty nine.