Fire up the buses and throw on something blue and white because the Lady Cagers' Booster Club is on its way to Charlottesville. After defeating Florida State on Wednesday, the women's basketball team will play No. 12 Virginia Sunday afternoon.

The club has two buses ready to make the six-hour trip to Virginia. While the game may be away, the club gives the team that extra cheer to help offset the intimidating home crowd.

Making long bus trips is a familiar sight for the club, which has traveled to St. Bonaventure, Rutgers, Rhode Island, West Virginia and St. Joseph's this year to support the Lady Lions.

Some 300 local residents make up this 10-year-old club, all of whom donate their membership fees to the non-profit organization. The membership fee, which starts at $5 for students, goes directly to funding the functions that support the women's basketball program.

The team's great play over the years has helped the club, but club president Ruth Ingram believes that it's the strong sense of family between the players and the members that has made the club such a success.

"It's like a family, we have to take care of our girls," Ingram said.

"We feel like a big family," club member Elaine Musser agreed. "I don't know how else to put it, (it's) very congenial, the people are all pleasant."

Weekends are very special for the team and the club. After home games, the boosters have a party at the Nittany Lion Inn. This is a chance for the players and the club members to talk without the pressures of the game hanging over them.

"It lets us get closer to the athletes," Ingram said. These parties are only after weekend games, never on a weeknight, as instructed by Coach Rene Portland.

At the end of the season the club annually sponsors a banquet to celebrate the year's triumphs, but the boosters don't stop there. During the summer months the club has barbecues culminating with a welcome back picnic for the team. This allows the new players to get acquainted with the school and allows veterans to get back into the normal routine.

For all the parties and picnics the club has throughout the year the best part is still just supporting the team.

"Penn State Lady Lion basketball is the next best thing since sliced bread," Ingram said.

"We cry for them, we laugh for them, we're happy for them, we're sad for them," Musser said.

The future is looking bright for both the Lady Lions and the Lady Cagers Booster Club as the team looks to do well in the tournament.

"We're just going to get bigger, better and stronger as the Lady Lions do," Ingram said. In the past three years the membership for the boosters has gone from 70 to more than 300 members.