After starting out slowly the past two games, the Penn State women's basketball team was looking to infuse its offense with some emotion right from the opening buzzer.

That's exactly what the Lady Lions (4-0) did last night, as they beat visiting Notre Dame (2-1) in dominating fashion, 75-49.

The Lady Lions started the game on fire, going on a 15-2 run in the first four minutes of the game, forcing Notre Dame to take two timeouts to regroup. Penn State's run featured perfect shooting, as Penn State hit all five of their field goals and all four of their foul shots.

The run propelled the Lady Lions to a commanding lead, and they never looked back.

"That was kind of devastating for us," Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw said. "When you have a young team like this, you really need things to go well early. That was a little hard for us to overcome."

The win keeps Penn State undefeated, starting 4-0 for the first time since 2002-03. The Lady Lions also remain undefeated against the Fighting Irish all-time, winning all five matchups.

"[The run] was very important," sophomore guard Brianne O'Rourke. "Knowing that Notre Dame with the great tradition they hold and what a great team they are and to show them that we were ready and just get them all on their toes from the start."

Junior guard Kam Gissendanner saw a familiar face across the court last night. Gissendanner, a native of Clairton, faced Notre Dame's leading scorer, Charel Allen, of Monessen, in high school. The two even guarded each other at times on the court last night, but Gissendanner had the better night of the two, scoring 13 points, while Allen had 12. Even though rivals, Allen, a former Penn State recruit, and Gissendanner, were happy to see each other again.

"She's such a good girl," Gissendanner said. "We talk at least once or twice a week so it was like playing in the old days in high school. It was good to see her."

Notre Dame started the second half in a full-court press, which seemed to frustrate the Lady Lions at first. But sitting on the confidence of a 15-point halftime lead, their offense didn't have any trouble. Notre Dame again had to take a timeout to regroup after freshman guard Tyra Grant hit a fast-break lay-up, bringing Penn State's lead to 18 early in the second half. From there, the lead kept climbing.

Entering the game, Penn State was concerned with Notre Dame's zone defense. However, it was Penn State's defense that vexed the Irish. The Lady Lions held Notre Dame to only a 27 field goal percentage, while finding plenty of open looks on the offensive end, shooting just under 50 percent from the field. Penn State dominated not only the scoreboard, but also the rebounds, collecting 39 rebounds to Notre Dame's 27.

"We had some goals coming into this season and were heading down the right track," Penn State head coach Rene Portland said. "Tonight, we came out gangbusters in the first five minutes and established the game on our side."