Jay-Z was right all along.

You really can't knock the hustle.

And the No. 5 Penn State Lady Lions proved that this season, beating teams not only with raw talent, but also with intangibles that can't be found on any stat sheet.

Hitting the floor for loose balls, boxing out when trying to grab a rebound, and getting back quickly on defense are all actions that fall under the "intangible" category, but are not the only ones. Diving out of bounds, moving without the ball, and setting solid screens also fall under this officially undefined term.

But however anyone wants to classify this word, it is certain that the majority of players on this Big Ten-champion Penn State team do it and do it well at that.

While everyone knows that Kelly Mazzante does the majority of the scoring, and most people know that Tanisha Wright is her partner in crime, it's players like Jess Brungo and Jess Strom who do the little things that help teams like this run.

The first example came early in the first half of Sunday's game against Purdue.

Penn State deflected a pass that went over the head of Purdue's point guard Erika Valek, and it seemed that the ball would roll out of bounds. But instead of taking the play off and accepting the fact that Purdue would keep possession, Strom sprinted past Valek and did a Superman-esque dive in an attempt to keep the ball in play.

It's plays like that that excite the team, the crowd and especially the coach.

"I'm not surprised at her," Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland said. "If you knew half the stories that I know about Jess, you wouldn't be surprised."

But the best example of how hustle separated Penn State from Purdue on Sunday came late in the game -- with 30 seconds left to be exact.

The Lady Lions were shooting free throws to put the game out of reach, but Jen Harris' second shot hit the iron and bounced off the side of the hoop.

Several players tipped the ball, and it looked as though a Lady Lions player had touched it last as it was bouncing out of bounds. Out of nowhere, Brungo pushed her way around All-American Shereka Wright, leapt towards the ball, grabbed it and threw it off Wright's leg to keep possession.

Brungo went to the foul line and calmly hit both free throws, which put the final nail in Purdue's championship coffin.

"We knew we needed some hustle plays at the end," Brungo said. "It was going to come down to us taking care of the ball and coming up with a lot of loose balls."

But this style of play is nothing new for the Lady Lions. In fact, it's the type of ball that they are slowly becoming known for around the Big Ten.

Purdue women's basketball coach Kristy Curry acknowledged after the game that her team was outplayed in the second half, especially in reference to the aforementioned intangibles.

She mentioned both Strom and Brungo and how both did "the little things" that ended up making the big difference in her team's loss.