The end of December was not a fun time to be a Lady Lion.

Not only had the Penn State women's basketball team fallen 73-60 at then-No. 14 North Carolina on Dec. 30, but its 24-game home winning-streak had also been snapped on Dec. 21 with a heartbreaking 87-84 loss to then-No. 12 Louisiana Tech.

"I know it's, 'Oh, two or three losses, it isn't a big deal,' " Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland said. "But it is a big deal to us."

Add to that a very uncomfortable Portland, who had a plate and seven screws put in her ankle after fracturing her lower left leg slipping on ice, and the result was a basketball team not in a position to wish anyone a Happy New Year.

The Louisiana Tech loss was the game that kicked off the break and put the air of disappointment in the team's temperament. For the first time this season, the players entered the post-game press conference at home without their wooden Bryce Jordan Center statues in hand, a sign that they had not defended their house.

It wasn't just the loss that hurt, however; it was the way in which the women lost. With the score always within a basket or two in the final 10 minutes of the game, a three-pointer by junior point guard Jess Strom tied the game at 82 with three seconds left. From there, Louisiana Tech drove down court and when guard Amber Obaze stopped nearly 30 feet out to heave the ball to the basket, it fell through the rim in front of a shocked Jordan Center crowd.

As the Techsters rushed the court, a second still remained on the clock, prompting a debate with the officials over the purported foul. The Lions were given another possession, during which junior guard Tanisha Wright was fouled and sent to the free throw line where she made both shots, despite all efforts to miss the second. Senior guard Kelly Mazzante then fouled Tech guard Tasha Crain. She made both foul shots to seal the score at 87-84.

After the game, the players couldn't seem to find the words to explain the loss. When asked about her reaction to Obaze's three-point gamble, Wright just shook her head and raised her hands in question.

"That's my reaction," she said. "I don't know. I really don't."

Despite a three-point halftime advantage nine days later at North Carolina, the Lions found themselves unable to put the ball in the basket or to stop Carolina from doing so through much of the second half. A 14-0 run by the Tar Heels late in the second half sealed the deal and handed the women their second straight loss and their third for the season.

"We couldn't have checked out of a grocery store [against Carolina]," Portland said. "The last three minutes, when you're going down the tube, you don't flush the toilet, you fight, and I thought we just flushed the toilet."

With a road game against then-No. 7 Purdue next on the agenda to open up the Big Ten season and to present the possibility of a third straight loss, Portland had a simple response to the situation.

"There's no life beyond the Jordan Center," Portland said. "I think if your business was going bankrupt or your marriage was falling apart ... you'd work your face off. To me, that's what it feels like. There's no sleeping right now. Get in the damn gym, shoot the ball, watch an extra film as a coach."

Whether or not the team took that to heart is uncertain. But what is certain is that, in some way, the team found its motivation and found its way to win again -- first, at Purdue with a 47-42 victory. Next, at home against Michigan State, 64-62, in a game the team willed out in the final seconds. Then, at home against Iowa with a 92-64 blowout.

"We've learned a lot so far from our failures," Mazzante said. "The way we've responded to our failures, the way we've really come together and looked at ourselves in the mirror, I think that's been a big part of it."

With the Big Ten season underway, the team has been anxious to put the end of the non-conference season behind them, hoping they have already learned from the losses without a need to revisit them.

"We've already had a chance to reflect on those [losses] and gotten better from it," Mazzante said. "We've just got to keep going with it."