It may be hard to believe, but there were times when Susan Robinson was sent away from a basketball court because no one wanted her to play.

To make matters worse, Robinson was most often sent away from her own backyard court.

"My sister was married by the time I was six years old, so I was always trying to tag along with my brothers," Robinson said.

The two Robinson boys didn't exactly warm up to their new blond shadow -- especially on the basketball court. When they decided to shoot a few jumpers, little Susan was allowed only to watch.

"She'd be out there playing and she'd get mad and she'd come to the house and cry and bawl," said Robinson's father, Bill. "But right back out she'd go again."

With a tear-stained face and a ball in hand, little Susan dashed off to play her own games of basketball. Thanks to an active imagination, Robinson usually played in some of the tightest, heart-wrenching contests ever.

At the same time, Robinson began to perfect her basketball fundamentals -- with a little help from her imagination, of course.

"I used to pretend I was Dr. J, Moses Malone, or whoever was playing," Robinson said.

Now, 16 years later, the Center Point, W.Va., native is as welcome on a basketball court as any of her childhood heroes. The tough-game situations she invented as a child have become real. She has scored an endless number of points with real players and real fans in attendance.

And she has enjoyed a Penn State basketball career that dreams are made of.

Robinson became the women's basketball team's all-time leading scorer on Feb. 2 against Wisconsin, when her 25 points gave her 2,038 for her career -- 13 better than Kahadeejah Herbert.

Robinson's name is etched next to 17 Lady Lion records, including all-time scoring leader as a freshman, sophomore and junior, all-time season free throw percentage, number of games in double figures, consecutive starting assignments and all-time field goals made.

But Robinson's name isn't confined to just Lady Lion records. On Feb. 28, she became Penn State's all-time leading scorer, surpassing former men's great Jesse Arnelle (2,138). After Saturday's 26-point effort in the Lady Lions' NCAA second-round win over DePaul, Robinson's career total stands at 2,230.

"She's improved ever since I met her," said small forward Lynn Dougherty, Robinson's roommate of four years. "I never really knew that Susan Robinson could be the Susan Robinson she is now."

Actually, few could envision that the amiable, small-town girl would become one of the premier players in women's basketball.

Despite scoring 2,433 career points at Doddridge County High School and earning the Gatorade Circle of Champions High School Basketball Player of the Year award in West Virginia her senior season, the big-time college coaches didn't make too many mad dashes for the Robinson household.

Coach Rene Portland admits, albeit reluctantly, that she found out about Robinson only by chance. What a chance it was.

Doug Hoselton, a former Penn State assistant coach, happened to be on the phone one night with the father of Mary Ostrowski, a player Hoselton coached while at a West Virginia high school. At the time of the phone call, Mary Ostrowski served as an assistant coach at Ohio State.

Through casual conversation, Ostrowski's father mentioned that his daughter had gone to West Virginia on a recruiting trip to check out a prospect named Susan Robinson.

"Doug just wrote it down, did his homework and found out that this kid was legit," Portland said. "When Doug talked to Mary's father, he inadvertantly gave us a recruiting tip. Doug went and checked her out and said, 'I think you should look at her.' "

Portland made the trip to Doddridge County for one of Robinson's games. When the final buzzer sounded, Portland knew she would offer the 6-foot-1-inch forward a scholarship.

"I went to the game and just stood there and laughed," Portland said. "I was almost embarassed that we didn't know who she was."

Portland and Hoselton visited Robinson at home the next day to pitch the Lady Lion program. Their recruit more than appreciated the sales job.

"I was just so impressed with Penn State," Robinson said, "as far as the (fan) support, the academic support center and how big the booster club is. I like going into places where you know people are going to keep coming. And I knew Rene was going to take care of me."

But when word got out that one of West Virginia's daughters was going to don a Penn State jersey rather than a Mountaineer uniform, the locals quickly voiced their displeasure.

Robinson couldn't go anywhere without hearing she had "snubbed" West Virginia. Even her parents approached the Mountaineer coaching staff after her commitment to see if there was anything that could be done to change her daughter's mind.

"That was the toughest part (of the recruiting process), to be real honest," Robinson said. "It took at least halfway through my freshman year before my parents realized why I came here."

Eventually, the hometown heat died down. In the meantime, Robinson's parents grew to love the idea of their daughter wearing Lady Lion No. 21.

"You see her grow up from a little girl up to now, and it's just marvelous," Bill Robinson said.

On the court, it seems as though Robinson has always been an adult. In her rookie campaign, Robinson already had all the fundamentals down pat. She started every game and averaged 18 points and nine rebounds.

Still, Robinson has managed to add a new and potent weapon to her arsenal every year. From her freshman to sophomore year, it was more range. From her sophomore to junior year, it was the left hand. This year, it was a consistent 3-point shot.

Now, there isn't an area on the court that Robinson isn't dangerous. She can play the part of the finesse guard just as easily as she can play the part of the brute forward.

Virginia Coach Debbie Ryan got a good glimpse of the all-around Robinson when the forward helped lead the Lady Lions to a 90-77 victory over the Lady Cavaliers during her sophomore year.

After the game, Ryan said, "She's as close a player like Larry Bird as I've ever seen in the game."

It's hard to argue with the analogy.

"That's accurate. I'm getting tired of it, but it's accurate," point guard Dana Eikenberg said, laughing. "She can do a lot, which is an asset to our program . . .

"It's a big joke with us. We always make fun of her, 'Ooh, here comes Miss Bird.' But there's not too may times you get a person like that."

Like Bird, Robinson leads more with actions than words. Robinson's teammates don't expect to hear much from her on the court. Yet they always know how she is feeling.

"Most of the time you can just look in her eyes and know what it's all about," Dougherty said.

For now, Robinson's eyes are fixed to the childhood dream she has yet to accomplish. She lived it many times in her imagination as a child during the hours she spent playing alone. Now she wants to live it in Los Angeles, along with the rest of the Lady Lions.

"I won't be satisfied until we make the Final Four, to be very honest," Robinson said.