After three consecutive road losses, the women's basketball team will look to pull a major upset when it faces fifth-ranked Maryland at 7:30 tonight in Rec Hall.

The 3-7 Lady Lions haven't won since their come-from-behind, 81-75 victory against Illinois on Dec. 30, but Coach Rene Portland said the team can't be disheartened by the losing streak.

"They're hungry, I hope," Portland said. "They have to be hungry, and the attitude that we are taking from top to bottom is not sitting back and evaluating but pressing on and getting the job done."

Getting the job done won't be easy against the Lady Terps (8-2), who feature one of the premier players in the nation in forward Vicky Bullett. A preseason All-America pick, the 6-3 Bullett averages 19.2 points and 8.6 rebounds per game and has also 20 blocked shots on the season.

"She's an excellent player," center Adrie DeVries said. "I've seen her on films, and I played against her the last two years, and she's great."

Bullett scored 32 points against the Lady Lions in last year's 97-94 Maryland victory and poured in 36 in her last appearance at Rec Hall, a 73-72 Lady Lion victory.

But Maryland is much more than a one-player team. Guard Deanna Tate averages 15.8 points and 7.4 assists per game, and also grabs 5.1 rebounds and 3.6 steals per contest. Center Christy Winters chips in with 15.0 points and 5.1 points per game, and guard Carla Holmes adds 10.9 points and 4.4 assists.

Maryland has attempted only 15 3-point shots this season, but the team shoots so well from inside the circle that it doesn't need long-range shooting. Maryland boasts an impressive 53.5 field-goal percentage, while holding its opponents to only 39.7 percent from the floor. Maryland's tough defense is a concern to Portland, since turnovers have killed the Lady Lions this season.

"(Maryland has) great athletes, and that is the premise to their defense," Portland said. "They like to pressure you full court man-to-man, and since they're great athletes they're going to get a piece of a lot of things."

The Lady Terps lost their last game, a 69-67 decision at Clemson, but own road victories against Long Beach State and Southern California. Portland said she has no doubts Maryland deserves its No. 5 ranking.

"They're winning away, and that's very difficult to do," Portland said. "They play a good schedule, they're in a tough conference and (Maryland Coach) Chris Weller is one of the few people in the ACC to go out and play some other people."

Several times this season the Lady Lions looked as though all the pieces were falling into place, but in each loss the team has suffered through turnovers, missed free throws and missed opportunities. Those things can't happen against Maryland.

"We have to play some good defense, we have to control the tempo of the game," Portland said. "We need to challenge those big kids, whether we double-team them or choke down, and we have to keep control of the boards.

And everyone has to shoot a little bit better. If everyone picks up two points that'll make up for the 10-point differences we've been running into."

The Lady Lions cannot afford to keep coming up just short in close games. They host Atlantic 10 Conference rivals Massachusetts, Rhode Island and St. Joseph's in the next eight days, and need to win those games to boost their 1-2 league mark.

"Like I said after the Virginia game, there's no such thing as a moral victory," Portland said. "If we beat Maryland at this stage of the game, it would certainly be a shot in the arm. We have to go after (tonight's) game like last week didn't even happen. The kids have to keep working and they have to keep their spirits up"

"We have a lot to work on, but we'll have to be patient," DeVries added. "That was a goal of ours in the beginning of the season; to be patient with ourselves. We're a good team, even though some people have given up on us. We have our bright spots, and we're going to get better. It's a challenge, but we're capable of beating Maryland."

FAST BREAKS: -- Penn State leads the series between the two schools, 5-4, and owns a 10-9 record against teams from the ACC . . . Susan Robinson and Tanya Garner share the team scoring lead, averaging 15.7 points per game. Robinson is the team's leading rebounder with 9.3 per contest.