It's hard to talk to Helen Holloway for long without getting around to her knees.

The knees, blanketed with scar tissue, have had quite a run in their 21 years. Through two operations, through all the pounding up and down the court, they've carried their owner through one of the most dependable careers in Lady Lion hoops history.

And now the end is near. Holloway isn't asking the knees for much more. Just six more games.

"My knees are the things that are going to get me to the Final Four," Holloway said. Seems an awful lot to ask of knees that are more fitting to a 70-year-old. But Holloway is banking on them, and so are her teammates.

It's not as if Holloway, a 6-foot senior forward and co-captain, carries this team. You don't go as far as Penn State has -- and still might -- this season without some depth. But the woman who's been described as the mother figure of this Lady Lion team can rightly claim a lot of credit for the 25-2 record, the Big Ten title, and the No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed.

She could, but she won't.

"I don't feel like I have everyone on my shoulders," Holloway said. "I just go out there and do what I can."

There have been times. Times when the experience, the talent and the desire all came rushing to the top and said, "I won't let us lose."

"Helen went into some kind of a zone," Coach Rene Portland said after Holloway's 23 points and 11 boards carried Penn State past Vanderbilt in January. "We just took advantage and called her name for all the plays."

The Norfolk, Va., native averaged 13.5 points and 6.8 boards a game this season, earning second-team all-conference honors. But more important than the numbers is the leadership.

"Helen's the one who picks everyone up," junior guard Katina Mack said. "She keeps the enthusiasm going."

Holloway knows the responsibility well.

"I'm very vocal when I'm on the court, especially when I know it's something we really have to work on," Holloway said. "I know I can't slack off."

And now, it's tourney time. The Second Season, as the team has taken to calling it. For Holloway, it's the last season. And after three years of Lady Lion tournament stumbles, she doesn't plan on letting her last hurrah be one to regret.

"I know that if we were to lose a game right now, it would be the last one," Holloway said. "I don't want to think about that. I want to think about going in there to win, instead of thinking about what happened a long time ago."

So she's asking for six more games. From the knees, and from the left hand that was torn nearly in half against Purdue, and from the foot that was fractured during her freshman year. But mostly from the old, battered knees. If she forgets all about them, maybe they won't let her down.

"Some days are worse than others," Holloway said. "Some days it's hard for me to run. But this is my last year. I have other things to worry about, like getting to the Final Four. The thing I want the most hasn't happened yet."