There was an entirely different type of crowd in an entirely different type of arena. And the Penn State women's basketball team was facing a squad it could not seem to get off its back last season, holding just a five point lead at halftime in that matchup. But last night, it was simply a No. 5 team facing an unranked Atlantic 10 conference team, and Penn State's 80-44 win at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia made that undeniably clear.

"I was really pleased with the way that we started tonight," Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland said on the Penn State Sports Network. "St. Joe's hung around and we had to work for a five point lead, but we were up by 12 at the half and then we played great defense."

Vital to Penn State shaking early tied scores and starting to assert itself on the opposing court were three early steals by junior point guard Jess Strom in the first four minutes.

"I just read the pass lanes and knew where they would throw the ball," Strom said.

Late in the first half, St. Joseph's attempted to make a run while last season's Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, Tanisha Wright, was on the bench with two fouls. But the women entered the locker room with a 38-26 advantage, and, in the second half, with Wright back in, Penn State's defense was relentless, holding the Hawks to just 18 second-half points versus 42 of their own.

As the game was well in hand with a significant portion of the second half remaining, nine Lions saw action, with all nine scoring four points or more. Wright led all scorers with 14 points and Strom found her way in the offense again, adding 11. Senior guard Kelly Mazzante recorded 13, most coming in the first half, despite St. Joseph's defenders being especially physical with her. At one point in the game, Mazzante delivered a bit of a shock to fans as she grabbed her thigh as if she was hurt, but then continued play, apparently uninjured.

With Penn State fans making up a large part of the crowd in the gym, the women hardly felt as if they were using their Big Ten bye game to travel to a foreign court.

"It felt like a home game here," Strom said. "I could hear everyone [in the crowd]."

For freshman Amanda Brown, who hails from Kennett Square, just outside Philadelphia, the crowd felt even more like home as plenty came to see the post player record nine points and nine rebounds. The Lions will return to the Bryce Jordan Center to take on Northwestern Sunday afternoon at 2.