Penn State Penn State/Indiana Indiana Women's College Basketball recap on ESPN

Lisa Shepherd returned to her home state and scored 20 points, while Maren Walseth added 17 points and 14 rebounds as the 15th-ranked Nittany Lions ended a three-game road losing streak with a 79-70 victory at Indiana on Thursday night.

"The road woes that people have in this conference and every conference, we've had," Portland said. "So we're thrilled. We haven't been playing good basketball."

The Nittany Lions (13-6, 5-3 Big Ten) altered the course Thursday -- at least for a half.

Penn State shot 55.2 percent from the floor in the second half, made 11 of 13 free throws in the final 2:31 and held off a late Indiana charge that whittled a 14-point lead to three.

The difference, Portland said, was the Nittany Lions' mindset.

"We have a goal in the first five minutes of each half," Portland said. "But if you saw our losses, you'd see that we have no Xs on our board in those games."

It was more of the same in the first half when the Hoosiers (13-6, 4-4) charged to a 14-8 lead in the first 8:56.

Penn State, which managed just one basket in that span, tied the score at 17 and forced Indiana into early foul trouble.

With the Hoosiers' three tallest players on the bench for most of the final 4:40 of the half, the Nittany Lions closed the half with an 8-0 run that gave them a 34-28 halftime lead and control of the game.

"In the first half, we had a lot of good looks, but we didn't connect on them," said Indiana guard Heather Cassady, who scored 19 points. "We just didn't do a good enough job."

Penn State had a different look in the second half.

The Nittany Lions opened the half with a 10-2 run and took a 44-30 lead with 16:40 remaining.

But Indiana fought back, led by Cassady and Rainey Alting, who finished with 20 points. The pair forced turnovers and ignited an 11-4 spurt that got Indiana within 59-56 with 4:02 to go.

"I'm really proud of my team," Indiana coach Kathi Bennett said. "I felt we took a step in the right direction to play a good basketball game."

It just wasn't good enough to win against Penn State.

The Nittany Lions responded with a 3-pointer from Kelly Mazzante and then closed out the Hoosiers by making 11 of 13 free throws in the final 2:31.

"There was more of a focus tonight," Portland said. "We'd been acting like we were the only people who lose on the road, so this was good for us."

The Nittany Lions have won five straight and 14 of 15 against the Hoosiers, while Indiana has lost 16 straight against Top 25 opponents.

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