The women's lacrosse defense looked like two different teams yesterday. The second half boost from the Penn State defense wasn't enough to overcome its poor first half.

The second half saw Penn State give up only one goal. But in the first half, it gave up five, losing to Temple, 6-5.

Penn State didn't seem to have any urgency on defense, as Temple was able to control the pace of game and setup its offense.

The Owls often went right by Penn State defenders on the way to the goal and scoring.

"It wasn't anything we haven't seen before," defenseman Kate Townsend said. "It was just a lack of focus."

In the second half, the Lions pressured Temple more and allowed the team only one goal.

The shots on goal also decreased for the Owls. They had 13 in the first half compared to seven in the latter half.

Penn State goaltender Lee Tortorelli only had to make four saves off of those seven shots in the second half. Giving up too many shots was also a factor in the loss to William & Mary.

"In the first half [yesterday], our defense wasn't coming through," Penn State coach Suzanne Isidor said. "In the second half, our defense did a great job of getting the ball back for us."

They, in fact, caused 10 turnovers in the second half after only turning out eight in the first.

In the five wins the Lions have racked up this season, the defense has been lauded for not letting players and shots getting through to Tortorelli.

In the losses, it has been one of the few reasons it has lost, with execution being the other.

In the Lions upset of then No. 1 Princeton, they only allowed one shot in the first three-minute overtime period.

"If I thought we we're going to give up only six goals, I would have thought we would have won," Isidor said. "Our attack can score a heck of a lot more than six goals."