It's been a month.

A month since the Penn State women's basketball team seemed to get the raw end of the deal in the NCAA seeding, but the injustice of the Lady Lions having to play two games in front of an opponent's home crowd still simmers inside Rene Portland.

The Penn State women's basketball coach spent more time talking about her team being slighted by the NCAA tournament selection committee than any other issue yesterday at her season-ending press conference. Portland said it was unfair that her team, a No. 1 seed, was forced to play No. 8-seed Virginia Tech on its home court and No. 2-seed Connecticut in Hartford, Conn.

Portland, never one to keep opinions to herself, told reporters she was very outspoken when the Women's Basketball Coaches Association met with selection committee chairwoman Cheryl Marra, who could not be reached for comment yesterday.

"As you can all imagine, I addressed what happened with the seeding of our team and the travel [the team had to do] in that time," Portland said. "It was amazing to see the head of the selection committee say, 'Rene your team was the number-three No. 1 seed. We had the choice of sending you to Connecticut or Seattle, because they were the two last sites open, and so we didn't send you to Seattle because there was a three-hour time change.' "

The explanation did not satisfy Portland, who pointed out to Marra that both Purdue and Georgia were sent to the West regional in Seattle. "Last time I looked, Georgia was in the same time zone as us," Portland said.

Portland was also miffed about the committee's choice for her team's first- and second-round games -- Blacksburg, Va., instead of Philadelphia.

The committee chose to give a home game to Temple -- an 11 seed that wouldn't have fit into Penn State's first- and second-round bracket -- rather than giving the closer site to the Lions. While the committee has traditionally tried to keep first- and second-round hosts at home, Portland said the committee has provisions intended to "protect the top 16 seeds."

"[Marra's] comment was that they protect the top 16 seeds," Portland said. "And I said, 'That's funny because you'll protect a 40 or 44. Temple was the 11 seed. Is there [a] guarantee they stay home?' And she said, 'No, there is no guarantee you stay home. We protect the top 16 seeds.' Then why was a No. 11 seed protected? Did you not have a map to see that Philadelphia is closer [to Penn State] than Virginia?"

"It was absurd," Portland said of the discussion.

"Her biggest comment was, 'Well, we're concerned about hotels and where we house a team so it's a pleasurable experience,' " Portland said. "And I said, 'I'd rather stay in a goddamn trailer park than where we stayed in those first four rounds.' "

Portland said she wasn't the only one who was upset about her team's first round site, as she mentioned Kansas State being one team particularly upset with its travel arrangements. Playing on more neutral sites in the early rounds may be more likely next year, as there will only be eight first- and second-round sites next season and only four will be on-campus locations, Portland said.

According to Portland, many coaches are unhappy with the status quo in the women's NCAA tournament, and the selection committee needs a major overhaul.

"The make up of that committee has to be the number one focus of our coaches association," Portland said.