Hanging on the wall of Coach Rene Portland's office in Rec Hall is a poem,"The Prayer of Serenity":

God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change,

Courage to change the things I can

and the wisdom to know the difference.

Throughout the turmoil of last year's 14-14 season, the women's basketball team repeated this poem before every game. Portland said it preserved everyone's sanity and kept them motivated.

Sophomore Susan Robinson said the poem represented both the potential of that group and the frustration of not winning right away.

"Last year was a growing experience," Robinson said. "We had to take the criticism (but) we knew we'd get better."

A .500 record is not bad for some teams, but for a program that traditionally breeds national recognition and Atlantic 10 Conference respect, it was a disappointment.

But last season the team gained a year of experience playing together, something that has shown this year with a No. 18 ranking and a 12-3 record. Also, Portland has said this group of players will take her farther than any team she has coached. That's almost scary considering four of the starters will be here for two more years.

"This is a great group of kids," Portland said. "They never packed it in and they've worked harder than any team I've ever had."

Last year was also the first year the team did not qualify for the NCAAs, a string that only six other teams had matched since the tournament's inception in 1982. It also marked the first time in eight years of existence that the Lady Lions did not compete in the conference semifinals of the A-10.

It was a long winter.

"A lot of circumstances happened," Portland said. "You can take it back to graduating an All-American in Suzie McConnell, you graduate your starting center Bethany Collins; Shelly Caplinger leaves, there's my third starter, Stefeni Thomas leaves, my fourth starter, and my fifth starter is Tiffany Chill, who's no longer with the program. There's my five starters from a year before. I had nothing."

Portland also noted the effects of several staff changes over the last few years which hurt in the recruiting. Assistant coach Dan Durkin arrived in September 1985, only one week before the recruiting period began.

With all of the problems, suddenly a new, inexperienced lineup was thrust into action. With only one senior, Lisa Lambert, and three juniors, Adrie DeVries, Caplinger and Chill, some rocky moments were expected.

Robinson said one of the main reasons for last year's problems was that lack of experience. Freshmen Robinson, Dana Eikenberg, Lynn Dougherty and Kathy Phillips were forced into starting roles. Sophomore Tanya Garner played more minutes than any other player. All five are starters this season.

One year ago at this time, the Lady Lions' record stood at 6-9 and the team had just come off a string of losses to nationally-ranked Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and St. Joseph's.

Toward the end of February, the team collected five straight conference wins, but a loss at Rutgers and at home to West Virginia in the A-10 tournament ended the season.

"We all hated it," Robinson said. "Rene had gone to the NCAAs seven years and this was the first year she hadn't, so we thought we let her down. We all took that over the summer and into preseason; we don't want that to ever happen again."

With talk of the future, the current group of Lady Lions are making noises of their own now. Before Tuesday's loss to Maryland, the team averaged 93 points per game, second in Division I. The loss ended the Lady Lions' 10-game win streak, the fifth-longest in the country. Only the 1978 and 1985 Penn State teams won more consecutive games (12).

Yet the players think that this year they can make a major impact in the postseason tournaments. After the Rhode Island game Jan. 15, Robinson didn't feel the team played particularly well. It still won by 41. The confidence continues to grow.

"We want to be the team of a new era," Garner said. "We want to have 20-plus wins this season and possibly not lose again, make it to the Final Four and have a shot at the championship. We want to be the team to beat."