Maybe Pitt should take a five-year hiatus from the Nittany Lions in every sport.

The No. 12 women's basketball team handed its fellow cat friends, the Lady Panthers, another impressive loss, 82-69, last night.

This game was nip and tuck throughout the first half, with the Lady Lions leading the game by four at the half.

But there was a scary moment midway through the first stanza when Jackie Donovan went down hard. She suffered a concussion and sat out the rest of the game. The injury makes her questionable for tomorrow night's contest against Syracuse.

Junior Helen Holloway chalked up two fouls in the first four minutes of the game and rode the pine for the rest of the first half. But she more than made up for it by scoring 16 second-half points, giving her a career-high 18 points.

"Helen played a great second half," Coach Rene Portland said. "She got two quick fouls, but she calmed down and did a better job. She got the rebounds and played in the post like she did when she won Atlantic 10 Freshman of the Year. That is what we like to see."

The Lady Lions were able to tire the Lady Panthers inside, and that caused Pitt to get into some foul trouble down the stretch. Guard Jill McElhinny picked up her third and fourth fouls in the first two minutes of the second half, and it was all downhill from there as Penn State continued to pad its lead for the remainder of the contest.

Katina Mack had a team-high 19 points and Tina Nicholson scored a career-high 14 while playing much of the second half in place of Jenny Kretchmar.

"Tina is coming along," Portland said. "I'm pleased with her and how she's coming along. But she needs to know that she has things to work with, and isn't the offense like she was in high school."

But there were some significant downsides in addition to Donovan's concussions.

"We were awful playing the baseline," Portland said. "I think we gave up the baseline more (last night) than we did all of last season. Shelby Thayer came in and did a much better job there. The defense has to be sharpened off."

Pitt forward Jona Huemrich led all scorers with 25, and also pulled down 10 rebounds. Kim Lazor came in off the bench to score seven first-half points and Missy Masley had another solid performance on both ends for the Lady Lions.

This story was written from the radio play-by-play account of the game.