When junior captain Amanda Brown stood at the foul line with a chance to send the game into overtime, there was no place she'd rather be.

She makes the shot, she prolongs the game against Villanova on Nov. 20.

Instead, clang -- nothing but iron.

Following the miss, she probably would've preferred to be anywhere but the middle of the Bryce Jordan Center, seemingly on an island, surrounded by thousands of fans.

After that game, with puffy red eyes, she insisted that's the position she wants to be in for the Lady Lions -- ball in her hand with a chance to win the game.

Brown hit rock bottom against Northwestern, getting in foul trouble early before finishing with just four points.

But since Jan. 22, Brown has managed to turn her season around, averaging 21 points in the last two games since that performance against the Wildcats.

"I hope that was her turning point" Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland said. "It's not like she goes out and tries to slug somebody; it's not like she's real physical."

Following the Villanova game, she had not given herself the opportunity for redemption, having fouled out six times.

The team's leading returning scorer from last year, with just 7.2 points per game, Brown knew she was going to assume a larger role on this year's team.

With no returning starting guards, the backcourt-based offense was going to need to change to a more conventional attack in the low post.

That meant Brown would have do to more than put back shots gown awry. Instead, to a degree, the team's success was going to depend on her becoming more of a scorer.

Brown started 28 of the team's 30 games last year, but averaged 3.38 shots per game compared to 9.25 this year.

"She's getting older, she understands," Portland said.

"How many times do you have to tell her to say, 'Amanda, we need you on the court?' It was more than glaring that we're in trouble when she's not out on the floor."

Perhaps it was over-aggressiveness earlier in the season, perhaps she was just a fish out of water, but Brown appears to have calmed down and settled into a comfort level she did not have earlier in the season.

Part of her emergence has been complemented by that of redshirt captain Kamela Gissendanner, who is sixth in the Big Ten in scoring, with 15.4 points per game.

The undeniable chemistry between the two was not allowed to flourish until Brown kept her foul troubles under control.

"We've noticed all season that we work well together," Brown said after putting up a career-high 24-point performance against Iowa on Thursday. "She looks for me, I look for her."

With Brown also averaging over 15 points per contest, the two captains have solidified that status.

Two top-10 teams are coming into the BJC this month, meaning the Lady Lions' postseason hopes lie in their ability to work together.

"We need them down the stretch to carry the team," Portland said. "No longer do they need to work on the little stuff, they can just enjoy basketball."

Those little things include foul shots. No longer are they Brown's downfall, as she is shooting 76 percent from the charity stripe, good for third on the team.

Whether she can hit them in the clutch remains to be seen, but her coach is confident that the Villanova scenario would unfold differently if it happened now.

"After that game, it was a great line, she sat in here and said, 'I hope I get that opportunity again,' " Portland said. "And I think she would handle it differently if she got it again."

Should she stay out of foul trouble, she just may get her chance.