Altoona, Pa., March 8, 2002 -- For Seneca Valley it was a case of deju vu.

For State College it was a repeat of last year's PIAA 1st round victory over the Raiders and a chance to make school history next Tuesday.

The Lady Little Lions defeated Seneca Valley 57-38 in a first round game of the PIAA Championships played at Altoona.

State College also had eliminated Seneca Valley last year 55-47 in the opening round.

The victory moves the Lions into the second round where they will face Upper St. Clair. The WPIAL runners-up got by Montour 39-22 in their first round game at Robert Morris University.

Tuesday's second round contest will be played at a site and time to be announced at a later date. A State College victory would propel the Lions into the state's "Elite Eight" for the first time in school history.

Senior scoring leader Katie Glusko led all scorers with 20 points in the Seneca Valley game. Glusko had 12 of her team's first 22 points.

State College led 18-9 after the first quarter outscoring the Raiders 9-1 over the period's last two and a half minutes. Junior Suzy Carlson got that spurt started with a trey which Glusko duplicated on the next possession. The rest of the Lion points came on free throws by Glusko.

State College enjoyed a 30-16 advantage at intermission but Seneca Valley fought back to outscore State College 13-9 in the third period. Eight of those points came from Katie Gress who led the Raiders with 13 points.

The Lions had a 10-4 run to open the fourth period followed by a deuce and three-point play by Nicole Scipione to put the game out of reach (52-33) with 3:46 remaining.

"I think our defense did an outstanding job," State College coach Bethany Irwin said. "That's what we're always trying to work on. We had a little letdown in the third quarter. We couldn't play as aggressively because of all the fouls.

Irwin said she has a solid group of players who help make her team successful. "I've had a tendency to only play seven kids. This year I can go with nine or 10 and they get their job done. They have certain roles. We know who the scorers are, we know who the defensive specialists are and they all go out and do their job."