Penn State Coach Rene Portland quietly crept up on her 400th career victory without much fanfare. The 14th year coach has guided the top-ranked Lady Lions to a perfect 16-0 (7-0 Big Ten) record, their best start ever. She scored No. 400 in the 73-53 win over Wisconsin on Sunday.

Iowa Coach C. Vivian Stringer had no such luck. Her No. 8 Hawkeyes (13-2, 6-1) faltered twice against unranked teams before allowing the 10th year coach to embark on career victory No. 500.

Indiana stunned the Hawkeyes at Assembly Hall, then Northern Illinois knocked off Iowa, 59-56. Stringer earned the monumental victory at the hands of Michigan State on Sunday, 54-46.

The Lady Lions are in the midst of the toughest stretch in their schedule. They faced No. 22 Ohio State (11-6, 4-3) and No. 9 Vandy on the road last week, and now come home to host Minnesota and their star Carol Ann Shudlick, then Iowa.

But Portland's plight can't compare to that of Indiana.

"It's a tough schedule. We have the toughest Big Ten schedule," Indiana Coach Jim Izard said. "We have to play all the nationally-ranked teams twice. We've got just one game with Wisconsin and one game with Michigan State."

Izard's got a legitimate gripe. The Hoosiers (13-3, 4-3) beat Northwestern (9-5, 2-4) on the road Sunday, 84-76. This month, they host No. 12 Purdue (15-3, 6-1), Ohio State and the top-ranked Lady Lions consecutively, then travel to Minnesota and Iowa and come home to Northwestern again. Whew!

Purdue's freshman sensation Leslie Johnson has been tearing up the Big Ten offensively. The 6-foot wide-body is redefining the phrase "power forward" in women's basketball with her play in the paint.

"We knew that Leslie was an outstanding prospect and could make an immediate impact because of her strength," Purdue Coach Lin Dunn said. "She's physically strong -- Leslie's a big, strong woman. And she can take a pounding."

She can dish one out, too. Johnson is averaging 18.9 points, 9.2 rebounds per game (both third in the Big Ten) and leads the conference with a .612 field goal percentage. Johnson held Shudlick, the Big Ten's leading scorer at 25.6 ppg, to a mere 17 points.

Iowa at Penn State (2 p.m. Sunday)

The No. 8 Hawkeyes visit Rec Hall for the much-awaited matchup between the Big Ten's top teams. Stringer's squad is the defending conference co-champion and reached the Final Four last year. But the Hawkeyes are without star forward Tia Jackson, lost for the season with an anterior cruciate ligament tear in her knee.

Iowa is led by the coaching genius of Stringer and a pair of seniors: 6-foot-5 center Cathy Marx (13.9 points, 8.4 rebounds per game) and 6-foot-1 forward Necole Tunsil (14.1 points per game). Look for the Lady Lions' trio of Helen Holloway, Tina Nicholson and the Mack Attack to talk some smack because the game will be televised on espn2.