For a moment, the Penn State women's basketball team appeared to have conquered its road ailments, and had finally put together a strong road game performance.

However, that moment was fleeting.

The Lady Lions (9-11, 2-5 Big Ten) dropped another away game yesterday, this one a 75-62 loss at Minnesota (12-8, 4-3). Penn State is still winless in the Big Ten on the road.

The Lady Lions started strong from the opening whistle taking a 6-2 lead, but two turnovers and two lane violations later, they were suddenly down 13-9. Although they pulled within eight with less than two minutes to go in the game, they couldn't mount a comeback strong enough to take back the lead.

"It's a mental game," assistant coach Susan Robinson-Fruchtl said on the Penn State Sports Radio Network. "Our kids have to be confident, and they have to be sure of themselves, and they have to play together. We shot better in the first half than we have been shooting on the road. [It was] not so much our effort tonight, but it was our defensive mistakes that hurt us."

Although the team couldn't turn around its performance away from Happy Valley, freshman guard Tyra Grant and sophomore point guard Brianne O'Rourke both had impressive showings. O'Rourke, who is averaging just 4.9 points per game, scored 14 points against the Golden Gophers. Coming off the bench, Grant led the team with 22 points, and also contributed four rebounds and three steals.

"[Tyra] came out and looked to attack real early in the game when she came off the bench," Robinson-Fruchtl said to the Penn State Sports Radio Network. "It really helped her to get some momentum. She was playing well in the first half, and that's what gave her confidence going into the second half. We need that production off the bench, and we expect that from her."

Guard Kam Gissendanner was the third Lady Lion in double figures with 20 points, continuing her recent dominant play in the Big Ten.

After Penn State found success early on the offensive end, Minnesota switched from a man defense to zone, a formation that particularly crippled Penn State's offense for the rest of the game, according to Robinson-Fruchtl. Only five players on the Penn State roster managed to score, and totaled only three shots from behind the arc. As the offense struggled to find open looks, sloppy play ultimately led to the loss.

The Lady Lions had 20 turnovers, including five from O'Rourke.

Sloppy play on the defensive end also hurt the Lady Lions, as many players found themselves in foul trouble, including O'Rourke who fouled out. Minnesota shot 82 percent from the foul line, scoring 31 points from the stripe. Penn State had only 16 free throw attempts in the entire game.

Even though the Lady Lions continued their old ways, there are signs of improvement.

After playing the physical teams of Ohio State and Michigan last week, today's physical contest against Minnesota wasn't anything new.

"I don't think [the physical play] really bothered us," Robinson-Fruchtl told the Penn State Sports Radio Network. "They're usually a real physical team. Our kids responded well. The two games last week helped us. That wasn't much of a problem today."