For almost an entire minute, the Rec Hall crowd was unrelenting as the women's basketball team took an 11-point lead near the end of the first half on Saturday.

The Penn State fans were on their feet, the crowd noise soaring into the rafters, until the buzzer sounded 50 seconds later and the two teams went into the locker rooms.

Two days earlier, Coach Rene Portland had criticized the University's sports information office for what she perceived as a lack of game promotion.

That promotion resulted in the sixth-largest crowd to watch the Lady Lions (5,433) but fell short of its intention to "pack the track" and break the attendance record of 7,264.

Still, Portland said she was thankful to the fans who came and did not worry about the number in attendance.

"That was a concern of mine earlier in the week, obviously. I had to make sure I was not distracted." Portland said Saturday, adding that she didn't remember looking up at the crowd during the game. "I really had to clamp down on myself in the last 24 hours to make sure I was doing the right thing for my players."

Earlier in the week, Portland said she would be upset if Rec Hall was not packed for Saturday's game. Her main concern was that low attendance would keep CBS -- which televised the game nationally -- from returning.

Even without a sellout, the crowd was a definite a factor from the onset in Penn State's 78-64 win.

When Penn State fell behind 9-0 to open the game, the crowd began chanting "defense." Eight minutes later, the Lady Lions rallied to take a 16-15 lead that they would never relinquish.

Boilermaker Jennifer Jacoby compared Penn State's crowd support to that at Stanford earlier this season. Purdue dropped that contest also, 62-52.

"Stanford was probably the worst crowd that we've ever played in front of," Jacoby said. "Today was about the same."

Teammate Leslie Johnson interjected: "Probably even a little bit worse . . . Not too many teams have their fans right out there on the basketball court."

Johnson added that the crowd gave Penn State a 10-to-15 point advantage. But the same applies on the other end.

But as Jacoby said, "Penn State still has to come to Mackey (Arena)."