The No. 9 Lady Lions dealt No. 16 Texas A&M its first non-conference home loss since 2003 in a close 63-58 victory Wednesday in College Station.
Though the Lady Lions committed 21 personal fouls and turned the ball over 19 times, they held the Lady Aggies to two points in the final 6:23 of the game to improve to 2-0.
Early on, Penn State did not appear disciplined as head coach Coquese Washington preached after its win against Howard on Sunday.
One example of the team's lack of discipline fell upon senior guard Alex Bentley, who certainly appeared to be a "home run hitter" as Washington said her team was in its season opener against Howard.
Before the ten-minute mark in the first half, Bentley picked up three fouls, which cut her minutes to 26 and allowed redshirt junior guard Dara Taylor to see more action.
Yet when Bentley returned to action in the second half, she went off.
She scored 14 points in the second half to go onto total 21 for the game. Bentley complemented that with four steals and four assists in the game.
Bentley helped fuel an ailing Penn State team in the second half after the Lions fell behind 33-28 at the break.
Penn State clawed its way back into the game in the second half and eventually took the lead with 3:51 left on the clock, in part because of the Lady Aggies' turnover woes.
While the Aggies entered halftime with nine turnovers, they ended with 23, hampering their team's efforts to pull off the upset.
That gave way to not only Bentley to find her stroke, but also junior guard Maggie Lucas, who struggled early on in the game, but finished with 18 points on 7-for-16 shooting.
The guards were aided by an impressive effort by the Lions' forwards.
Penn State's forwards hung with Texas A&M's talented front court, featuring senior forward Kristi Bellock, who scored six points with ten rebounds, and junior forward Kelsey Bone, who scored 16 points with 15 boards.
While Penn State was outrebounded 49-42, senior center Nikki Greene had a standout performance in front of her friends and family, who made the two-plus hour drive from Diboll to College Station.
Greene had eight points on six shots from the field, she did not tally a single shot against Howard. Seven rebounds complemented her eight points.
Redshirt senior forward Mia Nickson led the team in boards, with 11, while sophomore Tori Waldner picked up three in six minutes of play.
