In many ways, it was a typical Rene Portland win.

Strong guard play and a relentlessly vocal home crowd catapulted the Lady Lions to a victory, as they lived Portland's maxim of "protect the Bryce Jordan Center."

But games like Sunday's win against Michigan show that the Jordan Center -- at least the floor underneath the Lady Lion bench -- may need to be protected from Portland herself.

With her signature foot stomp nearly drilling holes in the court, Portland chased after officials and caught her 600th win as Penn State head coach with the Lady Lions' 14-point victory. Thanks to strong efforts from Kam Gissendanner, Tyra Grant and Amanda Brown, the weight of the looming milestone has been lifted, and Portland will be snacking for a while.

"[The team] gave me 600 cheeseballs, that was their gift to me," Portland said. "When they handed me this big container of cheeseballs, it looked like they had eaten some of them. I said, 'You gave me a half-empty container of cheeseballs?' They said, 'No, we counted them.' So now, I get to eat them all after they touched them."

In addition to counting snacks, The Lady Lions used their hands to combat a tenacious Michigan team. After a loss to Michigan in Ann Arbor last week, Portland noted that the Wolverines were one of the most aggressive squads she had ever seen. Trailing at halftime on Sunday, Michigan went back to what worked in the last contest: physical basketball. An irritated Portland and the Lady Lions fought back, leading to 29 fouls being called in the second half alone, Portland taking issue with many of them.

"I saw everyone getting frustrated, and then I found myself ready to take a [technical foul]," she said.

After Penn State's first meeting with Michigan, Portland sent tape clips of questionable calls to the Big Ten's head of officials, hoping to change the Lady Lions' fortunes.

"On Thursday, when Wisconsin played at Michigan, Wisconsin shot 36 foul shots to Michigan's 11, and so obviously I helped Wisconsin," Portland joked. "And I wasn't sure there were times today when I helped myself."

Michigan head coach Cheryl Burnett was able to jest with Portland after the contest, putting differences in opinion concerning the Wolverines' style to rest.

"To get 600 wins means a couple of things," Burnett said. "One, that you're old. Two, that you've done a great job from being very young. And JoePa is always bragging about how he saw this coach and how he knew it was the one he wanted to hire."

Portland joins an elite list -- headed by Tennessee's legendary Pat Summitt -- of nine women's basketball coaches who have managed 600 victories at one school.

"I've watched a revolving door in the other 10 programs [in the Big Ten]," Portland said. "It's a credit to our university and what we're committed to. We're not just a basketball team. We're high in community service, and we do well in the classroom. We still get a lot of people to come to our games in a down year. I think we go beyond a lot of things.

"I know what I have here at Penn State is unique."