WORCESTER, Mass. -- Something that has been missing form the Penn State offense this season came out to play last night in the Lady Lions' 71-59 win over Holy Cross.

Guard Dana Eikenberg scored 17 points on 6-for-8 shooting from the field and a 4-for-4 evening at the foul line.

Since early in the year, Eikenberg has had to deal with sore Achilles tendons that Coach Rene Portland describes as "ready to explode." This injury has made it difficult for Eikenberg to capitalize on her outside shooting abilities and has forced her scoring average down to just 6.5 points per game this season.

But Eikenberg has also suffered from double jeopardy because her confidence in hitting the 17-footer has dropped as well as her shooting attempts.

However, this changed last night as Eikenberg held a clinic from the top of the key.

"I'm playing with a little more confidence in my shot now," Eikenberg said. "I took two days off from practice after Vanderbilt, and on Friday and Saturday I took off time so now I can really push myself."

Portland was happy that her floor leader was finally able to showcase her shooting skills and believed that Eikenberg's improved confidence will only make her game more valuable to the Lady Lions.

"She's very confident, very confident," Portland said. "She's confident in her shot and in her ability to call the floor game. It's a point guard's job to control the tempo of the game and to keep things under control and she did that."

Eikenberg had a plethora of scoring opportunities last night because Holy Cross spent much of its defensive effort focusing on Susan Robinson, who was held to only four points. This plan frequently left Eikenberg all alone on the outside and let her fire away at will.

For most of the game, this left Eikenberg with a wide grin on an otherwise serious face

"I love it," she said. "I love it when they key on Susan and they leave me all alone."

Meghan Sullivan, who guarded Eikenberg during the first half, said that their original game plan against Eikenberg didn't work and her shooting caught them by suprise.

"When (Eikenberg) was on offense, we knew that she would take the shot only if she was wide open," Sullivan said. "But she stuck it every time and it was tough to watch her when you're trying to watch Susan Robinson."

The play that could best describe Eikenberg's night might be a 17-footer that she hit with 5:21 left in the second half to give Penn State a six-point lead 59-53.

With Assistant Coach Dan Durkin yelling for her to bring the ball out, Eikenberg pulled up and swished a shot from the top of the key. As she ran back on defense, Eikenberg could be seen mouthing "sorry" to her beleaguered coach.

But if Eikenberg can keep up her offensive success for the rest of the season, it seems doubtful that she will have anything to apologize for.