It was just two and a half weeks ago that Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland took a medical leave of absence, one day after her team dropped to 0-3 for the first time in her 25 years of coaching here.

A lot has changed since then, however, as the Lady Lions (4-3) have now won their fourth consecutive game and the biggest, brightest smile in Happy Valley was back courtside.

After receiving clearance from physicians, Portland got her first win last night at Pittsburgh 84-79 in overtime. It was a little more than expected from the Panthers in Portland's first game back since Nov. 21.

"There were moments, but it feels good to be back with the group of kids that you really, really love," Portland said on the Penn State Radio Network. "Everybody has been tremendously supportive... It was just nice to be back and it was nice to get a win. I finally got a win. I haven't had a win all season."

Penn State led by as much as eight points in the first half, but after going into halftime tied 37-37, the Lady Lions trailed most of the second half. Pitt led by seven with under five minutes remaining, and Penn State had to hold on to force overtime, 72-72, after Amanda Brown made one of two from the free throw line with 17 seconds left.

Brown had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, and after garnering two early fouls she, unlike Jess Strom, Jen Harris and Ashli Schwab, did not foul out.

Strom started overtime with a steal and a lay-up, and Harris followed with a jumper the next possession. Senior Tanisha Wright scored the final eight points in overtime to seal the win in her hometown. Wright finished with a career-high 32 points, along with six assists, while playing 44 minutes.

Strom, also a Pittsburgh native, assisted on nine baskets and scored 10 points. Schwab was the fourth Lady Lion in double-digits with 11.

The physical play that Pitt threw at the Lady Lions made any chance of looking ahead to No. 6 Baylor tomorrow nonexistent, but it was their first win on the road, and that's all that mattered.

"It's ok, because we won the extra five minutes," Portland said. "We were in foul trouble and we had odd combinations in there, but people got some playing time in adverse conditions. That's what it is going on the road."

The Lady Lions won't have much time to celebrate this win, which caps what has been a difficult, yet recently successful, start to the season, before the next high tide of their schedule sweeps in.

Come the end of 2004, Penn State will have played five of the top-10 teams in the current AP Poll. The Lady Lions (1-2 against such opponents) start phase two tomorrow at Baylor (6-1) at 7 p.m.

Last year the unranked Bears gave all Penn State it could handle, before the Lady Lions finally prevailed 74-63. Four Baylor starters from last year's team are back, led by junior Sophia Young.

From there, Penn State gets a week off until Old Dominion visits the Bryce Jordan Center on Dec. 19. Two days later the Lady Lions will visit No. 13 Texas Tech (2-1).

And then the fun part of the schedule starts -Ã~ the commencement of defending the back-to-back Big Ten championships.

All along, the reasoning for playing the second hardest non-conference schedule was to Big Ten-ready themselves. Portland said before the season that the schedule's difficulty was a testament to the faith she has in her team's talent.

On Dec. 30, the defending champs take on the preseason pick to win the conference, No. 10 Ohio State (7-1). It's the 365th day of the year, but the first true barometer to what effect the taxing non-conference schedule had on Penn State.

The Lady Lions finish out the winter break on the road against Marquette (Jan. 2), Iowa (Jan. 6) and Wisconsin (Jan. 8).