There are many cases to be made for the turning point of the Lady Lions' 85-68 victory over Kansas in the second round of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament.

It could've been when sophomore Tina Nicholson juked a Kansas defender, drove baseline and was fouled by Kansas' Ericka Muncy two minutes into the second half. The 5-foot-3 point guard continued her penetration and made an astonishing layup as she was falling. After Nicholson hit the free throw and completed a three-point play, the score was tied at 42.

Or perhaps junior guard Shelby Thayer's three-pointer was the most important. Six minutes, 23 seconds into the second half, Thayer made her only field-goal attempt, giving the Lady Lions a 51-49 lead they would keep for the remainder of the game.

The game was not won on an isolated play, though, but rather on the Lady Lions' frequent trips to the free throw line in the second half. The Lady Lions shot 34-for-42 from the charity stripe in the game, 24-for-28 in the second half alone. Kansas Coach Marian Washington said the free-throw shooting was the difference for Penn State.

"One thing Penn State does very well is get to the line -- they went to the line early in both halves," Washington said. "Anybody that plays Penn State will have to do a real good job to stop their penetration. It's hard to match up with them."

Kansas freshman Jennifer Trapp was one victim of the mismatch. Forced to guard forward Helen Holloway, Trapp picked up her fifth foul at the 8:25 mark. Kansas had closed Penn State's margin to 58-54 when her personal foul registered the Jayhawks seventh team foul.

It sent the Lady Lions into bonus and cleared the way for Penn State to outscore Kansas, 27-14, down the stretch.

"In the first half, we missed too many free throws and we didn't shoot that well," Penn State Coach Rene Portland said.

In the last 10:35 of the second half, however, the Lady Lions converted 20-of-22 free throws, including 16 straight. Holloway scored 10 of her career-high 27 points from the line, sophomore point guard Tina Nicholson nine of her 20 and junior guard Katina Mack was perfect in eight attempts. She finished with 18.