Sometimes you have to look for the good in a seemingly bad situation.

It was easy for the women's rugby team as it gave younger players invaluable game time experience in their lopsided loss. It was a tale of two halves as the Penn State Lady Ruggers fell to the Keystone women's club team 33-7 on Saturday at the East Rose Garden Fields.

"We started out with what was pretty close to our strongest team," Penn State women's rugby coach Peter Steinberg said. "I was really pleased about our first-period performance. We have a little challenge on this team, we don't always start with intensity, but we did in this game, so that really bodes well."

The Lady Ruggers got on the board first to the surprise of the star-studded Keystone lineup when Sally Gimbert put down a successful try halfway through the first period. A difficult extra-point attempt into the harsh wind would put the Lady Ruggers up 7-0.

"They definitely were prepared for a fight and we weren't," Keystone assistant coach Chris Ryan said. "They knew what was coming, and I think we thought we knew what was coming, but we took them too easy."

The Lady Ruggers held that early lead for the rest of the first period.

Younger players were subbed in for the last two-thirds of the game, as well as the resulting 33-0 Keystone run. But not all was lost, according to Steinberg.

"We wanted to get people some opportunities to play different positions," he said. "We moved people in and out, and we were still able to keep some semblance of pattern and teamwork."

One of those moments came late in the second period with the Lady Ruggers only down one try. Keystone was driving and had possession just a few meters out. Penn State tightened up its defense and cleared the ball away.

It's easy to say that the Lady Ruggers minds weren't necessarily on Saturday's game with Sweet 16s just one week away, but the team still got the most out of the top-notch competition.

"It was more of an exhibition," Steinberg said. "It was a chance for us to try some different things. They have some of the nation's best players, and it was a tough test. It will definitely pay off next week."

Recently it has been a recurring trend for the Lady Ruggers strongest players to spend most of the game on the sideline.

"That's part of two things," Steinberg said. "We want to build depth [for Sweet 16s]. The only way to do that is to give other people a chance on the 'A' side. Having depth will be important because we play back to back games. So having the ability to give people rest is huge, that's what we want to do."

Penn State will focus on its scrums and lineouts this week in practice, as well as make sure it maintains a good offensive pace, Steinberg said.

It will take on Stanford in the first round of the Sweet 16s on Saturday.