After Villanova women's basketball coach Harry Perretta saw the Lady Lions back in November, he said, "I wouldn't want to play them in February."

Yet with the calendar still hanging on to the end of January, the seconds ticked towards the Penn State women's basketball team's inevitable improvement. But a win against No. 14 Minnesota would have been a few days ahead of schedule.

Unfortunately for the Lady Lions (9-11, 3-6 Big Ten), Perretta's timetable held true, as the Golden Gophers (15-4, 7-1) pulled out a squeaker, 77-72 in Minneapolis.

"They were not ready to win a game like this, but we learned a whole lot from this" Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland said to the Penn State Sports Network after the game.

As the game wore on, Penn State seemed to be maturing before Portland's eyes. Minnesota's lead was as large as 13 points in the first half, but junior forward Amanda Brown tied the game at 54 with 11:03 left in the second half with two of her 18 points.

For the remaining ticks of the second half, there would be six lead changes. Minnesota junior forward Jamie Broback, who physically imposed her will on the Penn State front court with 25 points and 8 rebounds, gave the Gophers a 62-60 lead.

But sophomore guard Adrienne Squire supplied a response from far outside the paint, drilling a three to push the Lady Lions back on top 63-62 with five minutes remaining.

With the score 68-67 in favor of Penn State, the defense clamped down on Minnesota for all but three seconds of the shot clock. That's all Gopher sophomore forward Natasha Williams needed, as she hit a jumper falling down after an inbounds pass, giving Minnesota the lead for good, 69-68.

As Williams fell, and the ball exited the basket, so did the Lady Lions' hope of an early arrival into the Big Ten winners' category. The win would have put Penn State back at .500 for the season, but instead marked the third straight time that Portland has lost at Williams Arena.

"There are no moral victories," Portland said to the Penn State Sports Network. "We have some things down that stretch that we are going to work on."

The fear coming into the game was that the Gophers would completely out-muscle the young Lady Lions right off the bat. Portland stressed before the game that it was important for her team to "give the first hit." Minnesota is renowned for being one of the more physical teams in the Big Ten.

"It's amazing that everyone keeps saying it but that officials don't call it," Portland said before the game to the Penn State Sports Network. "How come one teams gets that claim to fame, when obviously there are the same rules for all of us."

In the end, it wasn't the repeated shots to the body that had Penn State sputtering towards the ground at the end of the game. The Lady Lions committed more personal fouls, 23, than Minnesota, 17. Instead, it was shooting in the first half where Penn State was only able to convert 36.1 percent of its shots.

While Penn State couldn't finish the game a winner, the emergence of a cohesive team could be days away. Going into the month of February, Perretta's hunch could prove true.

"They made a little bit of a statement to themselves today," Portland said to the Penn State Sports Network. "We need to pick up some momentum and go strong here."