When a basketball team wins a game by 41 points usually the postgame reaction is quite favorable. However, after the No. 21 women's basketball team slaughtered Rhode Island, 92-51, Monday night, coach and players agreed the game was a lackluster performance.

"It was a total lack of intensity," Coach Rene Portland said after the game.

But no matter what anyone thinks of that game or no matter how ugly it was, the Lady Lions (11-2) still won by 41 points. And with four days of rest Penn State will be looking to come out strong against Atlantic 10 foe St. Bonaventure at 7:30 tomorrow night at Rec Hall.

The Lady Bonnies will not have the luxury of a rest coming off last night's 69-62 victory over Rhode Island. With the win, St. Bonaventure is 8-6 overall and 3-4 in the A-10. However, the Lady Bonnies have already lost to Penn State, 106-86, on Dec. 9. In that 20-point victory, Guard Tanya Garner led the Lady Lions with 26 points.

Penn State will look to stop spectacular sophomore Sue Shay. The 5'10" forward leads the Lady Bonnies with a 21 point-per-game average on 51.7 field goal percentage. She also averages 9.4 rebounds per game, a team-high.

"We have a team goal and that is to keep an opponent under 20 points per game," co-captain Adrie DeVries said. "(Shay) is definitely the main thrust of the team."

But the Lady Lions will also have to deal with junior guard Roni Hergenroeder and Beth Gromlowicz. Hergenroeder, who scored 24 points in the first game against Penn State, is second on the team in scoring, averaging 13.2 ppg, and leads the team in assists with 85. Gromlowicz, a sophomore guard, is averaging 12.9 ppg, third on the team, and leads the team in steals with 37.

St. Bonaventure coach Mary Jane Telford said the Lady Bonnies will have their work cut out for them tomorrow night on and off the court.

"We know Penn State is so strong in so many areas," Telford said. "They can run like deer, drive, pull up from 15 feet or jam it down your throats with (Susan) Robinson or (Kathy) Phillips.

"(Plus) we're aware of the difficulty of playing at Penn State. Their home court and fan support in addition to the great team Coach Portland has (will make it tough)."

In order to be successful, Telford said her team will have to get back quickly on defense and be effective on almost every offensive possession to try to stop the potent Lady Lions offense (91 ppg) from dominating.

"We're going to add to the list of people trying to keep (their) score down," she said.

Also, with Penn State fielding a considerably taller lineup, Telford added that St. Bonaventure will do a lot of boxing-out on rebounds to win the ball.

Another concern will not occur on the court. Regularly the Lady Bonnies draw crowds that average 339 people. In Rec Hall, more than 2,000 fans are expected. Telford said her young lineup (no seniors on the team) will have to drown out the action on the side.

"It probably will be some factor," she said, "but primarily for the freshmen and sophomores. It's a first-time experience for the new players. I just hope the young people respond to (Shay and Gromlowicz's) experience."

Notes: A win tomorrow would be the team's 11th in a row, one short of the record set in 1978 and 1985 . . . The Lady Lions are a perfect 7-0 against St. Bonaventure in the lifetime series . . . After losing their first game, the Lady Bonnies won four straight, then lost four straight and have now won four out of their last five games.