Wisconsin had jumped to a 15-4 lead over No. 2 Penn State 10 minutes into the first half and the Badgers were on a roll.

Not surprisingly, the Lady Lions used traditional Penn State tactics for such situations, applying full-court pressure and a soft touch from the outside to turn the game around.

Just how much of a turnaround those tactics brought about was the shocker.

Penn State's swarming defense caused a 42-point reversal and forced an eye-popping 42 turnovers, including 26 steals by Lady Lion defenders. Senior forward Helen Holloway led the way with 14 points and seven steals, guiding the Lady Lions (21-1, 12-1 Big Ten) to an 88-59 blowout over Wisconsin (12-11, 5-9 Big Ten) at the UW Field House in Madison.

"Even when we weren't scoring, we were playing good defense. We just weren't putting the ball in the basket and weren't finishing," Penn State Coach Rene Portland said. "So I wasn't really concerned. After one timeout, we went to a press. That really made them fall apart."

An understatement if there ever was one. Penn State trailed 19-14 nine and a half minutes into the first half when senior forward Jackie Donovan (11 points) hit a three-point shot to close the gap to one. Thirty seconds later, a Tina Nicholson steal and pass to Donovan brought another trey.

The Lady Lions then attacked the Badgers with a full-court press, and Wisconsin panicked. A five second violation was called on the Badgers and Donovan drove the baseline on the change of possession for the 22-17 lead. Holloway hit an eight-footer from the left baseline, then sank two free throws to cap the 12-0 run on six turnovers before Wisconsin Coach Mary Murphy called a time out with seven minutes, 31 seconds remaining.

"To me, that was the turning point of the game -- not only on the court, but morale-wise," Portland said. "They knew that we were capable of pressing and they just didn't want to take care of the ball."

Wisconsin's Tracy Winkler scored the first basket of the second half, closing the margin to 43-32. But the Lady Lions smelled blood and roared to 16 unanswered points. Their largest margin -- 30 points -- came with less than 30 seconds remaining and the score at 88-58.

Freshman guard Katie Voigt of Wisconsin led all scorers with 22 points. Sophomore forward Barb Franke was held to 12 points -- six below her season average -- and went scoreless in the second half. Although Franke was able to snare seven boards, she committed 10 turnovers.