They were giggling in the locker room afterwards, calling one another's names as they fielded the media's questions.

For once, the reporters weren't exclusively huddled around the nations' leading scorer, Kelly Mazzante, even though she dropped 32 points.

Instead it was Mazzante spinning answers about her teammates, who fueled the Lady Lions 96-79 victory against Florida International in the second round of the NCAA tournament last night at The Bryce Jordan Center.

"This whole game I felt we all played up to our potential," Mazzante said. "I feel like our whole team stayed together and played like we're capable of playing."

Among the contributors were guard Tanisha Wright who finished with a career high 26 points, many of which were dealt from the hands of Jess Strom, the point guard that tallied a career high 14 assists to go along with nine points.

For Wright it was a culminating moment after a series of excellent performances dating back to the Big Ten tournament. As impressive as Wright's numbers were, they came in only 27 minutes, with the freshman having to spend most of the first half mired on the bench with two early fouls.

"When she sits on that bench when she's in foul trouble you don't want to even look at her," Penn State coach Rene Portland said. "She's just a miserable person and you don't want to say anything to her, but she can talk herself out of it."

Wright turned that frustration around in the second half slashing her way to 17 points to provide an alternate attack to Mazzante's outside bombs.

Blending into the background was Strom, controlling the game while allowing Penn State to maintain its lead, giving a performance that Port-

land said displayed Strom's intelligence.

"Jess really gives us a good balance, she can score, she can hit the three, which I think she really does a good job," Portland said.

The backcourt didn't relish the glory alone however, as forwards Jessica Brungo and Courtney Upshaw both provided quality minutes in the paint. For Brungo, who scored 11 points in 19 minutes, it was a return to early season form, after a year spent being shuttled back and forth between the forward and guard positions.

"She rebounded. . .she had one or two offensive conversions, it was big time," Portland said. "So I was really pleased with her contribution tonight. She gives us so much flexibility."

Upshaw, who said the coaches had spent all week describing the importance of post play in case of a matchup with the Golden Panthers, accumulated seven of her nine points in the first half while forward Rashana Barnes rode the pine with foul trouble.

"I think it's great because she came in just when we needed an offensive boost and was able to score," Lions center Jackie Shook said.

While last night's game might have shown the strides this young Penn State team has made this season, Portland said the role players still have some lessons to learn.

"Half the time I'm really not sure if they know what they've done," Portland said. "I had to turn around with 30 seconds to go and tell them they really have to celebrate this one. . .They know where they're going — they're certainly excited."