As the Penn State women's basketball team exited the arena after pregame warm-ups, each member passed by Ohio State center Jessica Davenport, and none of them gave a passing glance to the 6-foot-5 giant.

All of the Lady Lions knew they had to stop her, it was just a question of how. Defending last year's national co-player of the year, the best player on the best team in the Big Ten, was no easy task.

When Davenport finished with 24 points and three blocks, Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland did not lament her team's effort.

"Well, you guys try to go out and play her," Portland said to the media. "She's a big kid, left-handed, who sits on the block."

Forward Charity Renfro was initially called to mark Davenport with the occasional help of a double team. Coincidentally, Renfro was able to match her opponent's dexterity, as she is also left-handed. That didn't result in any blocked shots, but Davenport failed to score a field goal, and so did the entire Buckeye squad, until 11:15 remained in the first half.

"Charity did a super job," Portland said. "She could certainly remember what was right-handed and what was left-handed."

The two battled inside, throwing forearms to the other's back from end to end, and then Davenport ven-

tured far away from the paint. She then lifted her arms skyward for a 3-pointer from the top of the key. Her feet barely left the ground as she lifted the basketball easy out of the reach of the smaller Penn State defender.

Frustrations that could have arose from the Lady Lion bench were tempered by 5-foot-6 freshman point guard Brianne O'Rourke. Her 3-for-3 first-half performance from behind the arc one-upped Davenport's 2-for-3 and overshadowed Davenport's success in the first half.

Most importantly, when the first half was in the books, Penn State had a 32-25 lead over the No. 6 Buckeyes. Davenport still had 17 points, but the rest of the Ohio State team shot 16.67 percent from the field.

That didn't satisfy the Ohio State big woman.

"It was pretty much embarrassing," Davenport said. "Luckily, we were able to not let the game get away from us."

In the second half, there were no more skyscraping threes. It was all inside where Davenport found only seven more points, but also victory. She remained in the paint and picked up a few personal fouls.

The large crowd in attendance gave its biggest cheer when Davenport picked up her fourth foul with more than seven minutes remaining. But it did not change the game plan for Ohio State women's basketball coach Jim Foster, who never took his star out afterward.

"I was forcing her to be disciplined ... and she knows exactly what I mean," Foster said.

While nobody else could be quite sure what Foster meant, it worked, as Davenport never picked up a fifth foul. She was able to keep her dominance in the paint in the waning seconds, nearly winning the game with a lay-up in the final seconds.

The Lady Lions were able to tame the beast for parts of the game, but nothing from beginning to end surprised Portland.

"No, I've watched every game the child has played," Portland said.

This one just hurt a little bit more because Davenport was staring down at Penn State.