With her team plodding through poor shooting early in the first half against Iowa, Lady Lions junior guard Tanisha Wright let her frustrations vent.

She followed up an extensive and uncharacteristic argument with a referee by committing a senseless foul six seconds later.

The outburst seemed like the last thing the squad needed.

But instead, it might have been exactly what the team and Wright had to have. From there, the No. 7 Penn State women's basketball team (21-4, 13-1 Big Ten) controlled the rest of the game with Wright's 24 points as the catalyst in a 70-58 Penn State victory against Iowa (15-10, 9-5).

Yesterday's game was a continuation of Wright's play in the last few games, which has been much more aggressive and consistent on the offensive end.

After struggling in games against Northwestern and Indiana earlier in the month -- games in which Wright felt her play had been very "un-Tanisha-like" -- Wright caught fire in the following three games, turning in scoring efforts of 20, 14 (on 7-for-10 shooting) and 17 points.

And with the conference's second-leading scorer Kelly Mazzante having the worst performance of her storied career, it's a good thing for the Lions that Wright had another very "Tanisha-like" game yesterday.

"I was really pleased," Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland said on the Penn State Sports Network. "As much as we love what Kelly [Mazzante] does for us, we get 70 points and she struggled. It was one of those things, it was really neat to see the other kids stand up."

Stand up they did because stand up they had to. Wright showed up. So did the supporting cast, with several player turning in strong performances. It was only Mazzante that didn't.

The senior captain, on whom the team normally bases the majority of its offense, vanished from the team's offensive output and eventually the game entirely as she fouled out with 2:43 left in the second half with four points on 2-for-12 shooting

For the two-time All-American, who holds both the Penn State and Big Ten conference scoring records, the four-point total is a career low. It is two points fewer than her previous low -- a six point effort against shot-clock exploiting Villanova on Nov. 16, 2001.

As Mazzante totaled 17 points below her 21.1 per game average, the Lions needed someone to supply the scoring. And Wright, along with Penn State's transition game, provided just that.

"We had some easy fast break points which really got the game going," Wright said. "Some" fast break points might be quite an understatement. Penn State scored 24 points on fast breaks -- 20 of which came off turnovers. Wright's final statline was certainly one of the beneficiaries of all those easy buckets.

Overcoming a game on the road in which Mazzante struggled as much as she did yesterday is something Penn State has been waiting to see all season. In addition to that, this game was important to the Lions for a couple other reasons.

With the win, Penn State clinched its Feb. 29 game with No. 5 Purdue as the deciding game for the Big Ten regular-season title. Even if the Lions lose to No. 20 Michigan State on Thursday, they would still only have only two losses, allowing them to at least tie for the crown with a win at home against the Boilermakers, who beat Michigan State yesterday.

The Iowa game might also have been one of the Lions' more impressive rebounding efforts of the season. They out-boarded a Hawkeye team that ranks forth in the conference in rebounds per game, pulling down 46 rebounds to Iowa's 39.

This game has positives that Penn State will take much solace in. But with Wisconsin and Iowa on the schedule, this week's game was a lull before one of the most important weeks of the season for the Lions. Even with some listless play, the Penn State women were able take both game against over matched opponents.

Penn State will need all the elements in place to sweep next weeks games -- a very "Tanisha-like" Wright, a solid supporting cast and especially Mazzante.