For the second straight year, the Lady Lions have reached the Sweet 16.

Following a convincing 77-67 win over No. 5 South Carolina last night at the Bryce Jordan Center, the Penn State women's basketball team will now prepare to face top-seeded Tennessee in the Mideast regional semifinal on Saturday.

After falling behind 10-9 early, the Lions went on a quick 21-4 run to blow the game wide open.

"I am very, very pleased with my team," Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland said. "They stuck to the game plan, they had energy, played good defense and everybody contributed."

After trailing 37-23 at the half, the Gamecocks caught a second wind and came out firing in the second half, cutting the deficit to 10, but that was as close as they would get.

The Lions used the home crowd as motivation and went on a 12-2 run over a four-minute stretch to go up 58-37.

Twice in the second half, Tanisha Wright stole the inbounds pass after a made basket and got an easy bucket once for herself and once for Kelly Mazzante.

"Sometimes she gets such quick steals. ..." forward Jess Brungo said. "I turn around and she makes a lay-up."

The Gamecocks shot themselves in the foot, and finished with 22 turnovers to only 15 assists. "We didn't take care of the ball," South Carolina women's basketball coach Susan Walvius said. "I thought as a team they were as good as they could be. I have got to give Penn State a lot of credit."

Much of the credit goes to Mazzante, who came out firing. She hit her first five shots, which sparked the Lions to an early 7-0 run.

"The biggest part is that the team feeds off of it," Mazzante said. "Everyone had a couple of big shots."

Mazzante finished with 27, including going 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. Penn scored most of her 21 points when the game was already decided.

The win gives the Lions a perfect 16-0 home season and extended their winning streak at the Jordan Center to 20, the longest in the facility's history.

The Lions will now turn their attention to Tennessee on Saturday, as an upset will bring the Lions within one game of reaching the Final Four.