COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Unlike last month's tangle between No. 7 Ohio State and No. 6 Penn State in Rec Hall, last night's contest before 6,232 at St. John Arena lived up to its billing.

In the end, however, the outcome was different as the Buckeyes gutted out a 73-71 win over the Lady Lions.

Ohio State Coach Nancy Darsch praised her team's seniors, Nikki Keyton, Averrill Roberts and Audrey Burcy.

"They showed a lot of senior determination tonight," Darsch said. "They hung in there and gutted it out."

Keyton and Roberts led all scorers with 17 points apiece, and Burcy added 14 points. Katina Mack led Penn State with 16 points.

It was Keyton who dictated the course of the game. She scored 13 first-half points and had the Penn State post players eating out of her hand. Lady Lions Kim Calhoun, Missy Masley and Tina Henry had a combined five fouls, leading a contingent of Lady Lions who had two fouls.

This game seemed destined to be over before it ever started. The Buckeyes roared out to a 15-3 lead in the first six minutes.

But it was Tina Nicholson who again lit the fire under Penn State, leading the team on a 10-0 run to get the game back within three points.

"We started out digging ourselves in a hole but I'm proud of the way they came back," Coach Rene Portland said. "We shouwed them we came to play. Everything they dished at us, we came back from."

For the rest of the half, the game was nip and tuck with many fouls called. Penn State was called for 13 of 22 fouls in the first half.

Penn State briefly held a 31-30 with just under three minutes remaining in the first half, but the Buckeyes closed the half with a 5-2 run to take the lead at halftime.

Even though the Lady Lions shot 56 percent for the half, they were plagued by 14 turnovers and an inability to keep Ohio State off the offensive boards.

In the second half, the game tightened up, with the Buckeyes' lead never surpassing seven points.

Penn State put together a late 9-2 run to tie the game at 71 with 10.4 seconds left.

On the inbounds, Calhoun was between a rock and a hard place, fouling Keyton with 2.2 seconds left. The foul gave Calhoun five in just 14 minutes of action.

Keyton hit them both, and a last-ditch 3-point attempt by Jackie Donovan closed out a very emotional game for both squads. At the end, the Buckeyes piled on top of one another and celebrated.

In the late Penn State run, it was Helen Holloway who keyed the comeback with a number of big free throws. She kept the team close by scoring the Lady Lions' final nine points.

It was a bit of redemption for Holloway, who picked up two fouls in the first seven minutes of the contest and picked up her third in the first minute of the second half. She did a lot of thinking while riding the bench in foul trouble.

"I felt because of the fouls I picked up early on that I had to score down the stretch," Holloway, who had 11 points, said.

Despite outshooting Ohio State from the field, 52 percent to 39 percent, Portland felt the job wasn't done from the line, saying "if you don't make the free throws in the big games, you won't win."

The Lady Lions shot 65 percent from the line versus Ohio State's 74 percent.

Possibly the most important statistic of the night was 3-point shooting. The Buckeyes hit 4-of-7 from behind the arc in the second half, including two from Roberts and one from Burcy late in the game. Those treys gave Ohio State a 69-62 lead with four minutes left.

For the game, the Buckeyes nailed 6-of-17 3-pointers, while the Lady Lions connected on just 2-of-9.