Rebuilding Penn St. gets confidence boost after beating Duke

12/3/2007 11:56 AM

By GENARO C. ARMAS
AP Sports Writer

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -Tyra Grant flashed a mischievous smile and leaned down to the microphone.

``Don't doubt us,'' the Penn State guard whispered before stepping away from the podium to rejoin her happy teammates following a thrilling 86-84 upset Sunday night of then-No. 11 Duke.

It didn't take long for rookie head coach Coquese Washington to get a resume-building win as she tries to rebuild once-mighty Penn State.

Such victories used to be commonplace in Happy Valley, but became rare in the last two years of longtime former coach Rene Portland's tenure, when Penn State slipped to sub-.500 records.

It only seemed fitting that this big win come against a premier program. The Lady Lions (6-2) snapped Duke's 76-game winning streak against unranked opponents.

``I think it's probably the biggest win any of these players have experienced since they've been here,'' Washington said.

``Our team hasn't experienced a lot of this type of success, beating a team like this. Certainly the program has over the decades, but for this group of players, this is a big confidence booster for them.''

And a nice bounce-back game after the squad's worst outing of the season, a 77-49 loss last week to Old Dominion in which Penn State committed 30 turnovers.

For all the chatter about the new direction of the program under Washington, there's at least one constant between the current and former regime: point-guard play sets the tone.

When Brianne O'Rourke struggles like she did against Old Dominion (seven points, seven turnovers), Penn State can struggle.

But O'Rourke is more than a handful when she's on her game. A key first-half stretch against Duke found O'Rourke fearlessly driving into the lane and leading the break.

She went 15-of-15 from the foul line, including some clutch free throws in the game's closing minutes. O'Rourke capped her night with a frantic full-court drive and pass to Janessa Wolff for the game-winning layup with less than 1 second on the clock.

Washington, a former point guard herself, liked what she saw.

``Brianne did what we talked about doing: attack, attack, attack. That's our mind-set. We're going to attack,'' Washington said. ``She made a great play, which is what great point guards do.''

The controversy that swirled around the program the last two years following allegations of discrimination by Portland has disappeared. In its place is an infectious enthusiasm that appears to be seeping down from Washington to her players.

Duke coach Joanne McCallie, who had coached against the Lady Lions the previous seven seasons while at Michigan State, said Penn State is on the right track.

``They have exposed themselves to what they can do, and that is a good thing,'' McCallie said. ``But that is also a challenging thing for Coquese and her team.''