Coach Sue Rankin is getting used to playing Connecticut in the worst types of weather.

Last year, the softball team played UConn in a downpour, and Rankin pulled the team in the fifth inning. Two years ago, the team played 14 innings in another rainstorm and lost by one run.

This year, as the Lady Lions (4-8) prepare to leave for the Lady Huskie Invitational, today through Sunday, the weather once again looks bleak. The forecast calls for off-and-on rain showers all weekend.

The Lady Lions play UMass today at 1 p.m. Tomorrow, they meet Princeton at 11 a.m. and clash with UConn at 1 p.m. Penn State finishes the weekend with a doubleheader against UConn at 1 p.m. Sunday.

North Carolina was scheduled to compete but backed out because of the weather, and rain may also cancel of some games.

"We're just used to playing all the teams in our region, it seems like, in really bad weather," third baseman Dena Tauriello said. "We just have to stick it out until the weather gets nice . . . we'll do okay."

"Both teams have to play in it, and the better team will win, no matter what the weather is," outfielder Kellie Goodman agreed. "I'm sure it will affect our play, but it'll affect both teams equally."

Downpour or no downpour, the tournament is very important to the Lady Lions. The remaining teams in the field -- UMass, UConn and Princeton -- are all in the Northeastern region, and emotions always get high whenever Penn State plays UMass.

The Lady Lions, No. 4 in the Northeast, and the Minutewomen, ranked No. 3 in the region, have fought for the Atlantic 10 championship for years, a battle which UMass won last year over Penn State. While their game in the Invitational does not count in the league standings, it could come into play if the two teams end up tied at the end of the year.

Host UConn enters its tournament ranked No. 20 nationally and is currently the top-ranked team in the Northeast.

"Anybody who knocks them off is going to be doing pretty well," Goodman said. "I personally think that we deserved to be ranked a little higher in the (Northeast) than we were, and I think that we can beat both teams."

The Lady Lions may be facing some formidable competition at the tournament, but Tauriello says that is something they shouldn't think about.

"I think it's just a matter of us keeping our intensity up and us playing our game," Tauriello said. "Because if we do that, nobody's going to beat us. We just can't look at, 'Oh, well, what do they have?' or, 'Oh, what is their pitcher throwing?'

"We can't allow ourselves to be intimidated by them, because those two teams are usually ranked ahead of us in the Northeast, and if we can just get that out of our heads that they're 'supposed to be better than us,' then we'll be fine."