Penn State Coach Rene Portland was asked of the difference between the Tina Nicholson of last year and this year. Is control the right word?

"Yeah. Ugly is the other word, I believe," Portland said. "Last year, the way she played, she was out of control. She didn't really have a jump shot, she didn't really have a three-pointer, she was tunnel-visioned in her game . . .

"Last year was a wash, though she did amuse me sometimes with some of the things she tried."

What a difference a year makes.

Nicholson has helped guide the No. 2 Lady Lion basketball team (26-2) to a Big Ten co-championship and a victory in the first round of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament. The first-team All-Big Ten point guard has played a spectacular role in the action-packed, fast-paced adventure called Lady Lion basketball.

After a frustrating freshman campaign that did not meet Portland's expectations, Nicholson has taken control.

"I'm the point guard," she says, giving her standard, seemingly rehearsed, response. "Yeah, that's my job. That's my main job. That's what I'm supposed to do."

That's what she's supposed to do? Excuse me, but 5-foot-3 point guards aren't supposed to do anything. Maybe sit on the bench and hand out the water bottle and fetch a towel for her teammates.

Not Tina Nicholson. She's Mugsy Bogues with braids, a flashy penetrator on offense who causes headaches on defense with her tenacious pressure. Nicholson infuriates opponents with her relentless hustle.

Offensively, she dares her larger opponents to guard her tight. Come on out and play me, she says. Then she blows by the defender and drives in for a wide-open layup. Give her some room -- give her just an inch -- and she'll bury the trey.

"A lot of people think I'm just for the drive," Nicholson said earlier this season. "But I have an outside shot. I just have to show it a little more."

And she can pass as well. If Nicholson isn't tossing a one-handed, one-bounce pass half the court's length to a cutting Katina Mack, she's threading a no-looker between the trees in the paint to Kim Calhoun for a bucket. Or giving that last-second drop pass to Carla Coleman on the fastbreak, leaving a defender dead in her tracks.

"Tina's a trip," Mack said. "Tina's the smartest point guard I've ever played with. She'll kick it up to you in a minute and she's always running, so that makes me want to run."

It hasn't always been a season of highs, though. After the nation's top-ranked Lady Lions rode an undefeated 18-game win streak to Purdue's Mackey Arena on Feb. 4, Nicholson had her worst performance of the season. She shot 3-for-14 from field goal range. With 16 seconds remaining, Nicholson forced a 25-foot three-point attempt as Penn State trailed, 57-54. She then missed consecutive three-point tries in the final seconds. She finished with six points.

"(She) did some things on her own in the late-game plan," Portland said. "We didn't need to go for the home run."

It's a sign of her inexperience, but also an indication of her drive to win. The Lady Lions want a national championship badly, and Nicholson could be the key. Along with Helen Holloway, she is an emotional leader and Penn State's fate may be determined by what happens when the ball is in her hands.

"I've always been a big fan of point guards," Portland said. "I've had some of the finest here at Penn State."

In Nicholson, Portland has another fine one. And she's only a sophomore.