Every team wants a championship at the beginning of the year, but Penn State proved it wanted the trophy to sit in the Bryce Jordan Center for the next year a little bit more than the rest.

As each player took turns climbing the ladder to cut her piece of the net down, the team's hard work and determination this season materialized into a championship.

The No. 15 Penn State women's basketball team (23-7, 13-3 Big Ten) closed off conference play with a 76-55 win over Wisconsin (7-20, 5-11) yesterday at the Jordan Center to capture the outright Big Ten regular season conference title.

The Lady Lions came out firing to the tune of a 10-0 start and cruised through the remainder of the game.

"We have worked very, very hard to be in this position and there is a mentality in being a champion and protecting yourself and making sure it's all about you," Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland said. "Balance is really, really important and I'd rather be No. 1 than No. 2."

The victory allowed the Lady Lions sole possession of the conference championship and the No. 1 seed in this week's Big Ten tournament.

"We're pleased and proud of our players for winning a Big Ten championship, it's not an easy thing to do," Portland said.

This year's Big Ten title is Penn State's 4th regular season conference championship since joining the conference in 1992. The win yesterday also meant the Lions went undefeated at home this season for the 8th time in the program's history. Portland credited much of the team's success to the support of the fans throughout the season.

"It's been really neat the past couple of days to walk in a supermarket and have people say 'good luck coach' or 'tomorrow is going to be a great game,' " she said.

Leading Penn State yesterday afternoon was junior guard Kelly Mazzante, whose performance made a final statement as to why she should be named the Big Ten's Player of the Year. She scored 35 points to complement her seven assists and five steals. The performance also marked Mazzante's 9th 30-point game in this season.

"Guarding Kelly, you have to try to contain her," Wisconsin women's basketball coach Jane Albright said. "You'll never shut her down."

Penn State forced the Badgers into 27 turnovers, which more than doubled its assist total of 13. This helped make up for the fact that Wisconsin outshot the Lions from both the field and beyond the arc. The difference was that Mazzante had more points off of three-pointers than any of the Badger players scored individually.

"Wisconsin could have chosen to lay down and play dead but they didn't," Portland said. "A lot of people have taken good shots at us this year and we've done a good job of protecting ourselves."

One player, however, was missing from the celebration. Junior transfer Melanie Croser was suspended for a week after violating team rules.

Despite the distraction and short bench, Penn State looks to continue its momentum in the Big Ten tournament, which begins Thursday. The team hopes to sure up a top seed in the NCAA tournament, which is only three weeks away.