Minus its leading scorer and coming off a dismal offensive performance, the women's basketball team pummeled two Big Ten opponents by a combined 41 points this weekend.

Last Sunday, the No. 13 Lady Lions sputtered, scoring only 43 points in their loss at Purdue.

To make matters worse, their leading scorer, forward Angie Potthoff, was hospitalized for two days early last week because of exhaustion. She didn't travel with the team to Michigan on Friday or Northwestern yesterday.

Without Potthoff's 20 point-per-game average, several teammates stepped up to pace Penn State (18-4, 9-3 Big Ten) to an 82-65 win over Michigan (8-14, 3-9) and an 86-62 victory over Northwestern (10-13, 6-7).

In Penn State's last meeting with the Wildcats, Potthoff scored 28 points and led the team with 14 rebounds.

But this weekend, Potthoff was at home in Erie trying to recuperate. Her practicing and playing status will remain undecided until Wednesday, Coach Rene Portland said.

In Potthoff's absence, roommate Shelby Thayer found inspiration. The senior guard came off the bench to score a season-high 15 points and pull down seven rebounds yesterday.

"It was a roomie kind of thing," Portland said.

Thayer's performance helped Penn State mount a comeback 12 minutes into the game after the Lady Lions fell behind 23-16. Nine of Thayer's points, including a three-pointer, came during that comeback stretch.

Portland said she was thrilled for Thayer, who more than doubled her average on-court time with 20 minutes.

"She hasn't really had the playing time," Portland said. "Today she was a bit of a hero."

In the double-figure scoring column, Thayer was joined by guard Carla Coleman (16), Tiffany Longworth (15) and Kim Calhoun (10).

Midway through the second half, Northwestern abandoned its 3-1-1 zone defense. Penn State reacted by going on a 20-8 scoring run that wore down the Wildcats.

"I was surprised when they did that," Portland said. "I would have stayed in that zone because when they switched to man-to-man, we were able to break away."

At the half, Penn State held a slim, 36-31 lead. But Coleman turned on the offensive jets in the second half to score 14 of her 16 points.

After being called for an offensive foul midway through that half, Coleman responded with an attacking defense, stripping the ball and going full court for the layup.

"That got me more aggressive," Coleman said in a radio interview after the game. She credited her success to the philosophy of Assistant Coach Annie Troyan. "Annie told me that defense gets the offense going, and that's just what happened."

Friday at Michigan, the Lady Lions also found plenty of offensive success as they shot 53.2 percent overall and 69.2 percent in the first half.

Longworth led the way with 21 points, including three treys. She finished the weekend with 36 points.

In the Michigan game, Portland was able to tap her reserves for some much needed minutes and points.

Portland needed to rest guard Tina Nicholson, who usually averages more than 30 minutes, because the co-captain had been diagnosed with strep throat earlier last week.

Freshman guard Jamie Parsons came off the bench to score nine points in 21 minutes of play.

The Lady Lions, still a half-game behind Purdue, which is in first-place in the Big Ten, head home to take on Iowa on Friday.