Apparently Penn State does have some fight left in it. Penn Stake used its superior strength to knock off the Hawkeyes 72-61 on '80s night in the Bryce Jordan Center, resurrecting postseason hopes after consecutive easy wins within the Big Ten.

Penn State's (9-10, 3-5 Big Ten) physicality disrupted the rhythm of the speed-based Iowa (12-8, 5-4), particularly guard Crystal Smith, who spent much of the evening picking herself up from floor rather than knocking down shots.

"It's frustrating not getting a great shooting night," Smith said after registering just four first-half points, en route to 5-of-14 shooting on the evening, while being knocked down at least ten times.

While her 16 points were not far below her season average coming into the night (18.9), freshman Brianne O'Rourke capitalized on the rare opportunity of playing somebody smaller than her. When O'Rourke was enjoying a breather, fellow freshman Mashea Williams picked up where she left off.

When Smith, the Big Ten's second leading scorer, was given space, she could not adjust, as she tripped twice in the waning minutes of the contest.

"Brianne did a really nice job. Mashea did too," Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland said. "Anybody who was on her was able to stay right on top of her."

Even if O'Rourke's nine-point, three assist evening did not epitomize a one-sided affair between the two, it did represent the first time in her career that she had not been taken advantage of by a premiere guard.

Pitted against Lindsey Harding of then-No.1 Duke in her first collegiate game, O'Rourke committed nine turnovers. Eight days ago, against defensive specialist Katie Gearlds of Purdue, she registered another seven. Last night she had just three giveaways.

"I'm not sure if she outplayed [Smith]. She got frustrated a little bit at Purdue," Portland said. "Right before we went out there to sing the school song that's what we told her. That's pressure. Crystal Smith is pressure. And she's going to see a lot of pressure on Sunday."

The scrappy play by the Lady Lions was a lesser version of what Minnesota brought into Iowa City last Sunday, when the Gold Gophers bumped their way to an 80-68 road win.

And No. 14Minnesota is next for Penn State, a Sunday afternoon matinee in Minneapolis, Minn., meaning O'Rourke and the Ladies are about to get a mouthful of what they just dished out.

Although Minnesota is only seventh in the conference in scoring defense, they are known throughout the conference to play one of the most bruising defenses in a conference known for that style of play. Iowa women's basketball coach Lisa Bluder, just coming off a loss in Williams Arena attested to that.

"That wasn't anything compared to what we saw against Minnesota," she said. "Minnesota is a much more physical team."

Before they fly to the Land of a Thousand Lakes, Penn State entertained postseason thoughts, now that its head is approaching sea-level at one-game under .500 overall.

All year coaches have told Portland that they would not want to face her young squad in February once they began to develop. With two straight conference wins before the calendar even flipped to the new month, Portland now sees that coaches were not just being polite.

"I'd like to see their predictions come true," Portland said. "We can't sit back after these two games and say 'great' because we're not great yet but if we stay together as a team, a lot of good things can happen."