Santa Barbara, Calif., November 20, 2001 ¡ª Sophomore Kelly Mazzante (Montoursville, Pa.) led all players with 32 points as the Penn State women¡¯s basketball team won its first game of the season 76-73 at UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday night.

Penn State (1-1) had to fend off a late push by UC Santa Barbara to seal the win as the Gouchos rallied to get within 75-73 after trailing 46-31 with 12:56 left in the contest. Santa Barbara¡¯s Kayte Christensen made the first of two free throw attempts with two seconds left in the game to make the score 76-73 before missing the second intentionally. Lady Lion point guard Jess Strom (Munhall, Pa.) managed to pull in the rebound before she was immediately fouled. After Strom made 1-of-2 free throw attempts, a desperation three-point attempt by Santa Barbara¡¯s Mia Fisher hit the rim but fell out to secure the win for the Lady Lions.

The teams overcame a sluggish first half of offense with a combined 100 points in the second period of play. The Lady Lions posted a .708 field goal in the second half, while limiting the Gouchos to a .444 clip. For the game Penn State finished with a .475 field goal percentage, while UC Santa Barbara registered a mark of .333.

"I think this was a great lesson for us," Penn State head coach Rene Portland said. "We lost to Villanova last week and had to regroup as a team before we head to Hawaii. Our players proved they could stick to the goals they set for themselves."

Mazzante paced Penn State in the win with a game-high 32 points, including 20 in the second half. The sophomore guard shot 11-of-18 overall and 8-of-11 from the free throw line. Jessica Brungo (Allison Park, Pa.) finished with 13 points and a team-best 12 rebounds to notch her first double-double of the season, while Strom dished out nine assists to go with 14 points.

"Kelly (Mazzante) gave us a total game tonight and continued to do the things she has been doing since high school," Portland said. "She was definitely our player of the game."

Christensen paced UC Santa Barbara (1-2) in the loss with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Kristen Mann added 16 points and made 8-of-11 free throw attempts to round out the Gouchos¡¯ offensive leaders.

Penn State will return to action on Friday, Nov. 23 at 5:30 p.m. (ET) when it faces Florida Atlantic in its first-round game at Hawaii¡¯s Rainbow Wahine Classic in Honolulu. All of the Lady Lions¡¯ games at the Rainbow Wahine Classic will be broadcast live on the Penn State Sports Network, including State College¡¯s 1390 AM WRSC. The games can also be heard via the internet at www.GoPSUsports.com.