State College, Pa., Jan. 19, 2002 -- A team that forces 28 turnovers has a mighty fine chance of beating a respected opponent.

That's what happened in State College's 74-32 win over visiting Franklin.

Coach Bethany Irwin's sixth-ranked Lady Little Lions captured an unofficial 24 steals in the contest frustrating a Scarlet Knight team that had won five straight.

Franklin's Brittany Law led her teammates with nine points. Law also was Franklin's top scorer in the JV game finishing with 13 points. Rachel Redick, who had been a double-figure scorer for the Knights, was held to eight points.

State College's full court pressure created numerous scoring opportunities for its guards and they responded. Senior Katie Glusko had a game-high 23 points and junior Liz Gabrielle tied her career high with 12 points, many from layups after turnovers. Suzy Carlson popped in 13 points as all 10 members of the varsity made the scoring column.

State College managed all of its points without converting a single 3-point field goal. The Lions were solid at the charity stripe though converting 22 of 27 free throws.

"Defensively I think we did a real nice job," coach Bethany Irwin said. "I think Susie Sieminski's presence on the floor is really amazing and we had a little letdown when she had her second foul in the second quarter but after that we played really well."

State College scored 13 straight points at the beginning of the game and led 20-4 after the opening eight minutes. Franklin put together an 8-2 run to open the second period and closed to 34-19 at halftime.

The Lions outscored the Knights 17-2 in the third period and 23-11 in the final quarter.

State College improved to 13-2 and has a key Mountain League game next Wednesday at Hollidaysburg. The Lions are 4-0 in the league. Franklin fell to 9-7 and has its next game with Cranberry.