Early on yesterday afternoon, things looked dire for the Penn State women's basketball team.

The Iowa Hawkeyes were running a sleek offense and splashing three-pointers at will. The Lady Lions were without offensive direction because sophomore point guard Brianne O'Rourke picked up two quick fouls less than three minutes into the game and was subbed out.

"You can't print the things that were going through my mind," Penn State head coach Rene Portland said. "We were very fortunate that when we went back to Brianne at the end of the first half that she was smarter."

After playing catch-up the entire opening half, Penn State made a furious late charge before intermission and maintained the lead to edge out a, 78-71, victory against Iowa at the Bryce Jordan Center.

In the absence of O'Rourke and sophomore guard Mashea Williams, who is out with a viral infection, the Lady Lions (11-11, 4-5 Big Ten) leaned on inexperienced freshman guard Meggan Quinn to lead for much of the first half. Portland said that Quinn, who is not a true point guard, could only run one of Penn State's offensive sets.

"It's just one of those things where I have to be ready for any position I'm put in, whether it's Bri or [Tyra Grant]," Quinn said. "Once I relaxed and calmed down, I was fine."

Quinn and O'Rourke, who was reinserted later, shared the court and helped orchestrate an electric five-minute, 15-0 run to close the half before 5,757 fans.

The Lady Lions seized a 36-34-halftime lead -- their first of the game -- with three seconds remaining in the opening half on a Kam Gissendanner jumper. Gissendanner led Penn State with 18 points but four other Lady Lions scored in double figures, including Amanda Brown, who had 14 points and 12 rebounds, her ninth double-double this season.

Iowa (11-11, 3-6) had four scorers in double figures and was led by junior forward Krista VandeVenter, who had 20 points.

But it was the first-half shooting performance of Wendy Ausdemore that propelled the Hawkeyes to the fast start. Ausdemore, a 6-foot-2 sophomore forward, hit 4-of-5 three-point attempts and had 12 points at the half. As a team, Iowa shot 62.5 percent from behind the three-point line in the first half. In the second half, however, the Hawkeyes shot only 10 percent from deep.

"We just came out in the second half and made an adjustment," O'Rourke said. "I feel that we just made a huge adjustment at halftime and knowing who was shooting and who was scoring ... We just had to have two feet over the three-point line, going over on screens, just defending differently."

But, at that point, Penn State already took over the lead.

"It just shows that we have heart and we can fight back, down 15," Gissendanner said. "I just really thought we fought through it, fought through all the adversity."