It was the biggest game of the year, but the Penn State women's basketball team failed to answer the call.

The Lady Lions (18-10, 10-5 Big Ten) dropped a 64-58 thriller to No. 9 Purdue last night at the Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind. With the victory, the Boilermakers (21-4, 13-3) clinched the 2002 Big Ten title for the second year in a row. Penn State missed an opportunity to gain a No. 1 seed in the upcoming conference tournament and their own share of the Big Ten Championship.

It was a back-and-forth contest throughout the night, and the Lions were down 60-58 with under a minute remaining. After a steal and missed layup by Lions' sophomore Kelly Mazzante, Purdue's Shereka Wright was fouled after grabbing the rebound and regained the four point advantage by hitting both free throws with the game on the line.

The Lions had one last chance, but failed to execute an offensive play with 16 seconds left, as sophomore Jess Brungo threw the ball out of bounds. Two subsequent free throws by Boilermakers senior Kelly Komara sealed the deal for Purdue.

"We made too many mental mistakes," Lions' head coach Rene Portland said on WMAJ-Radio after the game. "Going down the stretch, we just didn't do the job."

Much of the game was a battle of the Wrights, as Lions' freshman guard Tanisha Wright was matched up against sophomore forward and Naismith Player of the Year candidate Shereka Wright. Tanisha held her own, finishing the game with 15 points to tie with Mazzante for the team lead, while Shereka sank a game-high 21.

The Lions out-rebounded Purdue 42-35 thanks to a strong performance in the paint by sophomore center Jacquelynn Shook, who grabbed a career-high 10 boards. The 6-foot-5 Shook saw extended playing time as the Lions were without sophomore Courtney Upshaw, whose grandmother passed away earlier in the week.

"It is frustrating because we had some nice play from some people," Portland said. "Jackie stepped up and played a nice game, but the turnovers and mental mistakes really hurt us."

The more experienced Boilermakers were helped by strong showings from their two senior starters. Komara contributed 15 points, and with the victory became the all-time winningest player in Big Ten history. Forward Laura Meadows also came up big, hitting a key three-pointer with 1:33 remaining to give her team a five-point advantage.

Portland said that her team will have to regroup for their final regular-season game at Michigan on Sunday, and the subsequent Big Ten Tournament next weekend.

"This is the road you want to avoid, you want to end on a good, positive note," Portland said.

"We're going into Michigan on senior night, so you know its going to be emotional for them. We've got to come out of this game knowing that it was ours to take."