BOULDER, Colo. - It was a only fitting that the Lady Lions would end their season in this manner.

Close games and nailbiters have been a tradition for the women's basketball team all season, and last night's 75-72 loss to Mississippi in the NCAA Midwest Regionals was played the same way.

With the Lady Lions holding a 62-54 lead with 5:46 remaining in the second half, the Lady Rebels slowly started to end Penn State's dream of a trip to the Final Four.

When Lady Rebel forward Charlotte Banks hit a 3-pointer, her second in the final three minutes, Penn State saw its lead dwindle to 72-70. In total, Banks had 16 points -- eight in the final three-and-a-half minutes.

But the final nail in the coffin came as Kim Gilchrist, the nation's second-leading 3-point shooter, sank a trey with 31 seconds left to give the Lady Rebels their second lead of the game at 73-72. And the lead was theirs for good.

Penn State had one last chance as Susan Robinson, who led all scorers with 23 points, put up a 3-pointer with about five seconds left. But the bomb fell short -- along with the Lady Lions.

"It was just a lack of player personnel knowledge," Coach Rene Portland said. "We told the kids that Banks can shoot the 3-pointer and the whole country knows that Gilchrist can hit it. We just let it slip away -- we mentally relaxed."

Mississippi hit five 3-pointers in the game, all of them coming in the second half. The Lady Rebels went 0-6 for treys in the first stanza. Banks and Jackie Martin accounted for two apiece with one, the killer, coming from Gilchrist.

Another reason for the Lady Rebel comeback was early foul trouble for the Lady Lions and a large number of trips to the line for Mississippi.

With Mississippi being in the bonus for the last 10 minutes of the game, the Lady Rebels were able to convert on 12-of-16 trips to the charity stripe in the second half.

"We did have quite a few leads," Portland said. "But the amount of times they went to the foul line made it difficult for us."

This game proved to be a very emotional one for Penn State, and especially for its four seniors Robinson, Lynn Dougherty, Dana Eikenberg and Kathy Phillips. All season they had dreamed of winning the national championship after last season's early-tournament exit at the hands of James Madison.

Those four players had their careers come to a saddening end as the game slipped away.

"It was a very disappointing half," said a teary-eyed Eikenberg. "I'm angry, but when we get back to Penn State you have to remember everything we went through together. There were a lot of positives. And the positives outweighed the negatives."