There were 19 seconds remaining in the second overtime as junior forward Charity Renfro joined starting point guard Brianne O'Rourke, team co-captain Amanda Brown and shooting guard Adrienne Squire on the bench.

Renfro had been the latest casualty, failing to hang in for the final moments. Sophomore forward Kamela Gissendanner, who had moved to the point, was leading the Penn State women's basketball team that had been beaten down to almost nothing.

"I never thought that would happen," Gissendanner said.

As she looked around at her team, she saw two freshmen, Rashida Mark and Courtney Molinaro, a walk-on, Brittany Remmey and forward Romana Vynuchalova in her second career start.

Luckily Gissendanner, who had four fouls, never got her fifth, and was able to lead the Lady Lions to a 78-72 double-overtime victory over No. 24 Texas Tech at the Bryce Jordan Center yesterday. Her 34 points outdid Lady Raider, a preseason Player of the Year candidate, Erin Grant's 28.

"We were one second, one foul, away from having four players in," Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland said.

In the first half, the offenses seemed a few players short. The beginning of the game was like "watching paint dry," as Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland pointed out. After the first half, the score was 23-16, a score that would be more familiar to former Penn State football great Franco Harris, who was dubbed an honorary assistant for the day.

When Texas Tech women's basketball coach Marsha Sharp saw that lineup for Penn State (3-3) in the waning moments of the game, she thought her team still had a chance. The Lady Raiders (2-5) had already fought back from a deficit in the first half, when Grant hit a jump shot with three seconds left to force the game into overtime.

"Both teams were tired, so when you start to getting tired it's kind of like a couple of heavyweight boxers trying to knock each other out," Sharp said.

Grant not only got in that jab, but also knotted the game up in the first overtime with a buzzer-beating three. With three seconds on the clock once again, Grant drove the ball down the court against O'Rourke, launching up the shot before the red engulfed the backboards and the horn sounded.

Gissendanner had made one of two free throws before Grant got the ball, a mistake that Portland knew would make the game exciting. For the game, Gissendanner shot well from the charity stripe, going 12-of-15. O'Rourke, who stood out for her lack of turnovers and seven assists, went 3-of-7 from the free-throw line.

"We could have won it [earlier] if we hit our foul shots," Portland said. "Going down the stretch they could have made some foul shots, they just wanted the game to go longer."

Gissendanner threw the last punch in the media room after the game, when she slammed down her Jordan Center model on the table. The statues were taken away from the players after they had lost two straight contests at home to No. 1 Duke and Villanova.

"This is our house, and we pride ourselves off of the Jordan Center," Gissendanner said. "It was just good to get a win in the Jordan Center. Simple as that."

The Jordan Center and its 5,966 fans were got loud during various parts of the game, including when O'Rourke stood on the sideline for the final 2:04 of the game, jumping up and down with her hands motioning for more noise.

After a layup by Gissendanner made the score 71-69 with 1:23 left in the second overtime, Molinaro took to the line with an opportunity to make it a two-possession game. On the first shot, the ball hit off the rim, looking as if it was about to come out of the bucket. Molinaro leaned back and seemingly jerked the ball in with her mind. On the second shot, Molinaro swooshed the twine to make the score 73-69.

"I had confidence in my team," O'Rourke said. "Courtney got to the free throw line, and I was just saying, 'You can make 'em, you can make 'em.' We had to stick with them. If we sat back and they didn't see us out there showing that we care, knowing they could do it, I don't think they would have had as much confidence."

The Texas Tech side of the bench was mindful of the Lady Lions' effort. Squire, who fouled out with 3:44 left in the second overtime, recorded her first career double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds, sinking all six of her foul shots down the stretch.

"You have to give those kids credit. They hung in there, they defended us and put us in a situation where it was kind of like a chess match," Sharp said. "We let them hang around long enough where they got their second wind and confidence."

Portland agreed.

"This win was needed to keep the faith going."