Praise for Alabama's Dee Foster simply trickles from the mouths of virtually everyone associated with women's gymnastics.

Sample this slice from her coach, Sarah Patterson: "Dee is by far the most talented athlete we've ever coached."

Incidentally, Patterson has coached at one of the nation's top gymnastics programs for 15 years.

On top of that, add this Foster tidbit from Penn State Coach Steve Shephard: "She's awesome, she's explosive -- she's probably the best vaulter in the country right now. She's got legs a running back would kill for."

There is very little that Foster hasn't accomplished in her gymnastics career: member of the national team since 1984, NCAA all-around champion as a freshman, runner-up as a sophomore and third last season.

But all of that can't even compare to the immaculate season that Foster is having right now.

She is in the midst of one of the most torrid streaks ever by a collegiate gymnast, having scored a 10 in all five meets this season --including three on vault.

Foster will look to continue the streak 7:30 p.m. today in Rec Hall when the No. 3 Crimson Tide (5-1) take on No. 8 Penn State (10-1). In the process, the Tide will look to extend its 11-0 series record against the Lady Lions.

But don't think for a minute that Foster is the only weapon in the Tide's loaded arsenal. Fellow senior Dana Dobransky was the NCAA co-champion on the balance beam last season and has been an All-American on every event. Freshman Kim Kelly was a national team member and an Olympic team qualifier.

The list goes on and on.

"We have some juniors and sophomores who have stepped through to pick up where we lost three seniors," Patterson said.

Alabama lost one-third of its routines from a team which finished third at nationals last year, but the Tide hasn't missed a step. Alabama scored a school-record 196.1 last weekend against Louisiana State.

"I think as we continue to mesh and mold together, we're going to be a better team," Patterson said.

But how much better can they get?

"I think that our scores our not going to rise but our performance could continue to improve," the Alabama coach added.

Yet Alabama's stacked lineup, impressive numbers and historic domination of Penn State really don't mean a thing to the Lady Lions.

"They're tough, but I think we'll stack up well against them," Shephard said. "We're trying not to focus on them."

Keeping the focus on yourself can sometimes be a chore when one of the nation's best teams is competing alongside.

"Going against Alabama, it's going to be a little more difficult to focus on us," senior co-captain Allison Barber said. "But I think last weekend really helped us out in committing to each other."

The Lady Lions lost freshman Michelle Manzolillo to a knee injury last weekend at West Virginia. So far, Penn State has done the best that it can to gain some sort of positive out of Manzolillo's loss.

"I think it caused us to rededicate ourselves to our goals, and confirm that we still believe in our goals," Barber said.