Lady cagers lose more than games

Someone must have given Rene Portland a bad Valentine's Day gift. She wasn't her usual smiling, happy self this weekend.

First, two members of the Lady Lions defected for "personal reasons." Then after a Valentine's Day massacre at Michigan, coupled with a 66-63 defeat to Iowa at the Bryce Jordan Center yesterday, left Portland with some hard words.

"Our defense down the stretch was suspect," Portland said. "We had a nice lead that we should have been able to hold on to."

The Lady Lions had a chance to take the lead late in the second half, trailing 64-63, when a 3-point attempt from senior Tiffany Longworth bounced short of the rim and into the hands of Iowa forward Tiffany Gooden, who was fouled. Her two free throws clinched the game for the Hawkeyes.

"It was a great team win for us. We got contributions in a very significant way from quite a few people," Iowa coach Angie Lee said, talking about the team's 58 percent shooting for the game. "Our offense was very efficient today."

Guard Angela Hamblin led a charge with 5:06 left in the game, scoring six of her eight points to tie the game at 61. The two teams traded baskets until Gooden put the Hawkeyes up for good with 1:17 left in the game.

"I knew I wanted to make those free throws because I didn't want to lose on a three-point shot like last time," Gooden said, recollecting the memory of Penn State's last-second win at Iowa earlier in the season.

The same flashbacks Michigan had against Penn State weren't as close as Iowa's. But the Wolverines dished out one to the Lady Lions at Crisler Arena. After losing all eight games against Penn State in the team's history, Michigan destroyed the Lady Lions 98-59, giving Penn State its worst defeat in its Big Ten history.

"It's just one of those nights I hope to never see again," Portland said.

The Wolverines came out and set the tone from the opening tip-off. Meanwhile, the Lady Lions converted only 10 of the 35 shots in the first half. The only good aspect of the first half was that Penn State was only trailing 34-24 at halftime. But the Wolverines came out of the locker room on fire, going on a 24-4 run in the first 6:53 of the second half, and shot 82 percent for the half. All the Lady Lions could do was sit and watch the carnage.

"You saw a Michigan team on all cylinders," Michigan coach Sue Guevara said.

Now Penn State is in eighth place in the Big Ten, facing No. 20 Michigan State and Wisconsin at home next weekend, and in serious trouble of not making the NCAA tournament since 1989.