While Texas has been a traditional powerhouse in women's basketball, this year has proved somewhat different.

Due to a very difficult schedule and the loss of a key player, the Lady Longhorns (9-7) have not been able to continue the success they had last season when they went 21-9 and advanced to the NCAA tournament.

The eighth-ranked Lady Lions (14-4) hope to capitalize on those factors as they play Texas tonight in the hostile Erwin Center in Austin, Tex.

The problems began in the first game of the season when Texas lost its senior forward, Vicki Hall, to a serious knee injury. Hall underwent surgery and was declared out for the year.

Hall had been the Lady Longhorns' leading scorer and rebounder and Coach Jody Conradt immediately had to find a quick replacement.

However, when talking about the loss of Hall, Conradt doesn't like to dwell on things she has no control over.

Conradt believes that the team must look ahead and concentrate on the positives of this season.

"I agree, this has been a disappointing season with injuries, but it's not anything we can't deal with and move forward from," Conradt said. "When you're down, you're vulnerable and people try to take advantage of that."

One group that has taken advantage of the Lady Longhorns' problems have been their Southwest Conference opponents.

So far this season, Texas is 2-3 in the conference, including its first losses ever to No. 14 Houston and Texas A & M.

Texas has arguably the toughest schedule in women's basketball with 12 games against Top 25 teams, including two against defending national champion Tennessee and one versus No. 2 Virginia.

One of the changes that Texas has made this year is its defensive style. The Lady Longhorns have forever been known as a man-to-man team "that will take us right out to the sidelines," said Penn State Coach Rene Portland.

But after looking at the tape of Texas' convincing 82-56 win over Rutgers last weekend, Portland noticed something different.

"In the Rutgers game they came out 2-3 zone," Portland said. "They came out and played 40 minutes of zone and Texas doesn't do that.

"You would go into Texas not prepared for any zone if you knew the Texas history and maybe that caught Rutgers off-guard."

Forward Jackie Donovan and her teammates know they will have to prepare for both defenses but feel confident about their chances against the zone, which the Lady Lions have had problems with in the past.

"We were going over our zone offense and (Portland) said that in past games the teams when they've zoned us, they've been giving us trouble," Donovan said. "But it just seems like there's less pressure when they play zone -- it's kind of easier to get the ball up.

"Hopefully our shots will fall."

Though the Lady Lions will be more concerned with what goes on within the court lines, they also know that Texas -- with 5,000-plus fans per game -- is a tough place to play.

Susan Robinson is excited about the chance to play in Austin and looks forward to the game.

"It's gonna be a fun time," Robinson said. "I've never played at Texas and we're going to expect a crowd, I'm sure.

"It's a great atmosphere for basketball."