RUSTON, La. — With time running out and trailing by two, the Penn State Lady Lions' season came down to one last shot by Lisa Shepherd.

Texas Christian led with 4.9 seconds on the clock when Shepherd received a pass off a missed free throw, drove and threw up a prayer. The ball arched high towards the basket but clanked off the front of the rim as time expired.

In the first round of the women's NCAA Tournament, the Lions (19-10) fell 77-75 to the Horned Frogs (25-7) in a game marked by intense basketball on the court and key mental mistakes down the stretch. The win for TCU was its first NCAA Tournament victory for the program.

"A lot of credit should be given to TCU, but obviously this is a very disappointing loss for us," said Penn State coach Rene Portland. "Down the stretch we didn't have a go-to person and that has hurt us all season long."

The Lions responded towards the end of the game with the inside presence of forward Maren Walseth. When the ball reached her hands, Walseth would spin around defenders for an easy lay-up or a hard foul. She tied the game at 72-72 with one of two free throws.

With less than two minutes remaining, Horned Frogs' guard Tricia Payne was fouled by Shepherd and made two free throws. Needing a clutch shot, Shepherd spotted up in the corner of the court and drilled a three-point shot to give Penn State a 75-74 lead. TCU drove to the other end of the court and with 46 seconds remaining center Kati Safaritova got an easy lay-up inside making the score 76-75.

With seven seconds left, Walseth attempted to take a shot but was stripped of the ball by Safaritova. TCU hit one of two free throws, giving Shepherd the opportunity to hit the game-winning shot.

"Shepherd was not the person I wanted to see with the ball in her hands at the end of the game," TCU coach Jeff Mittie said. "I definitely thought it had a chance to go in."

The shot barely missed going in, an aspect of the game that haunted the Lions as they struggled to find a shooting groove.

Shepherd and Walseth finished with 20 and 21 points respectively in their final game as Lady Lions. Walseth added 13 rebounds to her total.

"I just wanted to have a game that I could look back on and not be disappointed about," Walseth said.

However, the rest of the Penn State team could do very little to get around the TCU defense. Kelly Mazzante scored a season-tying low with nine points on 4-13 shooting and was benched towards the end of the game.

Penn State guard Ashley Luke was the only other player with nine points for the team. Safaritova paced TCU with a season-high 23 points. She was especially key for the Horned Frogs down the stretch, hitting the game-winning shot and coming up with a key rebound and steal.

"This game was definitely one of the high points of my career," Safaritova said.

The first half was predominantly marked by the Lions' poor defense, as well as outstanding and significant scoring runs by both squads.

TCU shot 58 percent in the first half, many of the scores coming from interior dribbling by the guards.

"We did a lousy job denying any dribble penetration," Portland said. "A lot of their 50 percent shooting came off lay-ups and we missed our lay-ups."