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beyond the arc, and Penn State, which had been averaging 81 points per game, finished with a season-low scoring total. One of the big problems for the Nit- tany Lions early in the conference sea- son has been their penchant for committing fouls. Heading into the Wisconsin game, only one team in the Big Ten – Purdue – had committed more fouls than PSU. Against Iowa and Rut- gers, Stevens spent too much time on the bench. And while the Lions were able to escape with a victory over the Hawkeyes, they weren't so fortunate at Rutgers, as the Knights capitalized on Stevens' absence and their own trips to the free throw line, building a lead that Penn State couldn't overcome. "Our guys need to do a bet- ter job on the perimeter de- fending the ball one-on-one. It's really that simple," Chambers said. "Mike [Watkins] is picking up a foul because he's coming over to help, and he's pick- ing up some cheap ones. So we've just got to do a better job of guarding the basketball. And if we do that, if every- body does their job, I think you prevent that paint touch, and that lessens the load of fouls. "[In] Big Ten play, you're playing on the road. Not using that as an excuse, it is what it is, but we have to do a better job and we have to adjust to the officials. If the officials are calling ticky-tacks, we've got to know that." The Nittany Lions struggled to adjust to the way the referees called the game at Rutgers. They were in foul trouble from the start, posting five team fouls before reaching the first media timeout. As the game wore on, defensive mainstay Ja- mari Wheeler was forced to join Stevens on the bench, and the Nittany Lions' de- fensive intensity reflected their absence. "We gave up some major, major drives in that game," Chambers said. "We're afraid to foul, so now our hands are back and we're just letting guys go right by us. So it does really affect the mindset of how you want to compete, how you want to play. But if everybody does their job on the court, you should be able to pre- vent those blow-bys." On the offensive end, Penn State has had to rely on its younger guards – Dread, Myreon Jones and Izaiah Brock- ington – to produce points when Stevens and Watkins haven't been on the court. "Our sophomores are playing critical, critical minutes, and they're vital to everything we do," Chambers said. "So we really need... consistency. M.J. put on a show [against Rutgers] for five pos- sessions, but we need that for 40 min- utes. Brockington was great against Iowa, but you've got to be great against Rutgers on both ends of the floor. So our sophomore guards, we're asking them to do a heck of a lot, especially when Lamar and Mike are in foul trouble." Chambers said that one of the keys for Penn State going forward will be to take care of business at home. "The road is so brutal," he said. "I mean, the RAC was great the other night. I know our fans are going to come out. They came out at the Palestra, they came out at the Cornell game between Christmas and New Year's. If they come out and we have that home-court advantage, it's really going to help us." ■ Senior Siyeh Frazier and junior Ka- maria McDaniel scored 22 points apiece, but it wasn't enough to lift Penn State over Ohio State, as the Lady Lions dropped an 80-70 decision in Columbus on Jan. 12. The Buckeyes got 23 points and 12 rebounds from Dorka Juhasz and ex- tended their winning streak vs. Penn State to 10 games. The loss at Ohio State was the sec- ond consecutive game in which Frazier and McDaniel both topped 20 points, coming three days after an 86-73 vic- tory over Michigan State in which they combined for 48. The win over the Spartans on Jan. 9 at the Bryce Jordan Center gave first-year coach Carolyn Keiger her first Big Ten victory. "I'm extremely proud of our team's effort tonight," Keiger said. "We've been talking about max effort for the last three weeks and trying to get them to play with the sense of urgency that we need them to. We watched some film to fix our first three steps on offense, and I thought they did a great job." Penn State was 7-9 overall and 1-4 in Big Ten play heading into a home game against Rutgers on Jan. 16. McDaniel was second in the Big Ten in scoring with an average of 19.6 points per game. ■ WINNING WAYS PSU was able to overcome Stevens' foul trouble against Iowa. Photo by Nate Bauer W O M E N ' S B A S K E T B A L L Frazier, McDaniel shine, but Buckeyes hold off Penn State

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