The Lady Lions have sailed off to a 3-0 start for the first time since 2002-03 -- a season in which they won the Big Ten title and reached the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16 -- so, naturally, there are lots of smiles to go around.
Thus far, the team has reached emotional peaks and, at the end of Tuesday night's game, appeared to meld in terms of team unity. But on Tuesday, it appeared that there have been points of Penn State's game that have yet to come to form.
Embattled in a physical game against South Carolina, the Lady Lions fell back into old habits and turned the ball over a season-high 22 times.
"It was frustrating because the turnovers were very stupid," junior guard Kam Gissendanner.
Right from the opening buzzer, though, Penn State came out and looked crisp.
Less than a minute into the game, senior forward Amanda Brown, standing on the right wing, held the ball and eyed cutting sophomore guard Brianne O'Rourke. O'Rourke wheeled around behind Brown, who stuck out her backside to provide a well executed pick for the streaking guard.
Brown bounced the ball to the post, and O'Rourke finished high off the glass for the team's first points of the night.
And later, especially after the insertion of scintillating freshman guard Tyra Grant, the Lady Lions enjoy some offensive success and deftly executed the pick-and-roll, almost to perfection.
But there were too many times, coaches and players said, that Penn State was unsettled and forced offensive opportunities.
"We were just throwing the ball to get rid of it sometimes and throwing the ball in court passes to go for a home run," Gissendanner said. "We just needed to settle down and run our stuff."
When flustered by a jam-packed lane or trying to start the fast break, the Lady Lions often threw errant passes or had the ball stripped by overbearing defenders.
O'Rourke came into the South Carolina game with five turnovers and walked away with a season-total of 12 -- she turned the ball over seven times against the Gamecocks.
Senior forwards Brown and Charity Renfro had five and four turnovers, respectively. On the young season, Brown has 11 turnovers and Renfro has five.
What's worse: 18 South Carolina points came off of turnovers.
The 22-turnover effort was the worst since Michigan on Feb. 2, 2006.
Last season, Penn State turned the ball over more than 20 times in seven games, the highest of which was on Jan. 19 on the road against Purdue (28).
But there will be no time to dwell on some of Tuesday night's sloppiness.
"Yes that's an awful lot," Penn State head coach Rene Portland said. "That's bad shots, bad shots, bad shots. It's difficult to watch the film, only the coaches will get to watch the film but the kids won't get to watch the film, because we're just getting ready for the next game."
