The storyline:

Penn State senior guard Kelly Mazzante, closing in on another record-breaking milestone, sinks the basket that puts her over the top. The Mazzante Meter hanging on the upper deck of the Bryce Jordan Center reads '0', thousands of fans cheer for Happy Valley's honey and a timeout is called for a brief on-court celebration.

Though the same events have unfolded three times this season, in the final time, during last Thursday's home game against Minnesota, the circumstances were slightly different. Mazzante had already broken the Lady Lions' and the Big Ten women's career scoring records, leaving just the Big Ten all-time career scoring record, held by former Indiana forward Calbert Cheaney, on her list. And that night, with her 2,614th point, Mazzante became recognized by the Big Ten conference as the most prolific scorer, man or woman, in Big Ten history.

For Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland, having the Big Ten recognize Mazzante as its all-time leading scorer was not only pleasing, it was not even up for debate.

"For me to go into the press conference and hear the Big Ten just flat out say, 'This is the Big Ten women's record and guess what, after that, she's going to get the men's record,' I just think it's a recognition," Portland said the Sunday before the Minnesota game. "It's like anything else in gender equity: give it up. We all play the game, and let's just give credit where credit's due."

While Portland's opinion is simple enough, it is not quite as simple to find universal agreement.

Cheaney, who now plays for the Golden State Warriors, was unaware that Mazzante had been crowned the Big Ten all-time leading scorer and did not feel that she should be recognized as such.

"I think they should keep the two records separate from one another," Cheaney said. "The men's and women's games are very different, two distinctly different styles of play."

Current Texas Tech men's basketball coach Bobby Knight, who coached Cheaney from 1990-93 during his tenure as Indiana men's basketball coach, shared the sentiments of his former player.

"I would imagine that the competition that Calbert Cheaney played against was a lot better than the competition [Mazzante] played against, and I don't think there is any reason to compare men's and women's basketball," Knight said. "They are two separate games, and the records should be separate."

As these opposing opinions demonstrate, crowning Mazzante as the all-time leading scorer has sparked quite the debate.

Supporters of naming an all-time leading scorer, regardless of gender, argue that the record should simply go to the player who puts the most balls in the basket during his or her career in the Big Ten conference.

Advocates of separate men's and women's records point to the differences in the men's and women's games, namely the size and physical ability of the players.

Mazzante herself remained relatively mum on the issue, showing no different emotion than she had for any of the other records.

"Just like the other records, it will happen eventually, and we'll move on with it," Mazzante said during the Tuesday press conference prior to the Minnesota game.

Despite his qualms in acknowledging Mazzante as the all-time leading scorer, Knight did not take anything away from the guard's title as the Big Ten women's leading career scorer.

"I am tickled to death for her in that standpoint, and for her coach Rene [incorrectly pronounced as Renée] Portland, who is one of my all-time favorite people," Knight said.

And Cheaney, knowing the rigors of the Big Ten conference, was nonetheless impressed by Mazzante's scoring run.

"She deserves to be congratulated," Cheaney said. "[It's a] different gender, but certainly a tremendous accomplishment for anyone to achieve."

But on the 40-year anniversary of women's sports at Penn State, it is clear that Portland expects more and that she believes there is still quite a gap to close.

"I always say, 'In your house, you don't give your son a steak and your daughter a hot dog,' " Portland said. "I think it's where we are right now, it's 13,000 people [coming to a women's basketball game]."

"I do think that we're knocking on the door of a lot of great things, and Kelly has been a wonderful part of that. But I think there are some times [when] you just have to give it up and realize that it's in your own house, so walk out the front door and understand it's other places, too."

Where "we" are right now may still be unclear.

And for some, just accepting the recognition of Mazzante as the Big Ten all-time leading scorer may never be an option.

But what is for certain is that a female guard from Montoursville has 2,642 career points and counting, and, no matter how you slice it, that is good enough to rewrite the record books right now.