One game away from making history.

The Penn State women's softball team wrapped up its storybook season with a 3-1 loss to Coastal Carolina in the semifinals of the Region 5 Championship. If the Lady Lions would have won that game, Penn State would have been one game from advancing to the 2000 Women's College World Series for the first time inn school history.

But the talk wasn't about what the Lions failed to do. Instead, it was about what they did accomplish. The team won 38 games for the first time in school history. Penn State had senior center fielder Karen Gulini named to the GTE All-Academic Team, and she was a third-team All-American.

She and teammate Gina Bianchini batted one and two in the lineup and seemed to play off one another, as they combined for 120 hits and 72 RBI. The talented tandem gained the recognition of coaches around the country as it was named to the Great Lakes All Region Team.

This year's squad will be remembered as the first team in Lions history to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

Some might say a good reason for Penn State's success could be based on coach Robin Petrini's efforts to have her squad play top teams throughout the season.

The Lions went 26-14 in non-conference games and finished third in the Big Ten with a 12-5 mark.

"If you want to be considered as one of the best teams, you have to play against them," Petrini said.

And that is exactly what the Lions did, making the trips to play West Coast teams such as New Mexico, Oklahoma and Arizona early in the season.

Penn State showed its poise, and went 5-2 against ranked teams throughout the year.

Despite Penn State losing its top leadoff hitter in Gulini and star pitching ace in Jaci Kalp the Lions have a lot of youth and experience returning to next year's squad. Among those are third baseman Jennifer Tripken, who led the team in hits and runs batted in.