STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- As usual, Andrea Garner put up big numbers for No. 5 Penn State. Coach Rene Portland felt happier about what happened with her star center on the bench with four fouls.

Garner finished with 18 points, but Rashana Barnes came off the bench to score eight of her 12 points during a key 13-3 run as the Lady Lions held off a second-half rally for a 76-66 win over Illinois (No. 13 ESPN/USA Today, No. 12 AP) Thursday night and took sole possession of first place in the Big Ten.

"Dre was in foul trouble," Barnes said of Garner. "I knew I had to come out and take her place and do what we had to do. I just had to go all out."

Lisa Shepherd had 17 points and seven rebounds for the Lions (14-2, 5-0), who won their 10th straight since losing to No. 1 Connecticut on Dec. 5, and their next big test should not come until Feb. 13 against No. 18 Purdue.

Tauja Catchings had 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Illini (14-5, 4-1), who rallied from 11 points down before seeing their five-game winning streak end.

The Lions had lost six of seven against Illinois, including a 77-75 heartbreaker in the semifinals of last year's Big Ten tournament.

"That's important to get that off your back," Portland said. "Our seniors were 1-6 against them, and they need to teach our younger kids about winning."

Both teams' starters struggled with foul trouble. Garner sat with four fouls with 17:51 remaining, while Illinois' Allison Curtin sat with four fouls with 15:39 left.

Then Susan Blauser, one of Illinois' 6-foot-2 forwards, left with four fouls midway through the second half, and Barnes helped Penn State shook off the Illini. Barnes had two three-point plays and two free throws to spark the run that put the Lions ahead for good, 61-51 with 6:51 left.

"The rest of the kids had to step up, and Rashana came in and really help her own," Portland said. "It was major."

Catchings' three-point play and jumper pulled the Illini to 64-61, but she fouled out and the Lions held on.

"We had to be able to execute offensively. We're still struggling with that. I think we showed our youth," said Illinois coach Theresa Grentz, whose team has four freshmen, including starting point guard Shavonna Hunter. "Did you ever run an offense with a freshman? Try it sometime. It'll make your hair gray real quick."

But with her team trailing 42-31 at halftime, Hunter led a 17-6 rally that tied the game 48-48 with 14:22 to play. Hunter dished the ball to teammates for two fast-break baskets, faked out two defenders on a driving score, then scored the tying basket on a fast break.

"They didn't fold," Grentz said.

Penn State went without a basket for more than six minutes during the comeback.

"When they decided in the second half, the first five minutes they were going to do it, they showed the thing we were most leery of: their quickness," Portland said.

Even with floor general Helen Darling and No. 2 scorer Maren Walseth on the bench with two fouls each for much of the first half, Penn State opened an 11-point lead behind Shepherd's 13 points.

Curtin, Illinois' top scorer at 18 points per game, didn't score until three minutes to play in the half and finished with 10 points.