Like an old friend, sports competitors look forward to facing a well-known nemesis. This weekend, another chapter in such a rivalry will be written.

When the No. 1 women's basketball team faces No. 8 Iowa on Sunday, the two teams will be continuing a two-year tradition which has a history far beyond its years.

"(Iowa's) certainly one of the programs we like to say, 'Hey, we're right there with them,' " Penn State Coach Rene Portland said. "They have a terrific women's athletic program at the University of Iowa, and certainly at Penn State, we feel we have one of the finest, too. So I think we go hand in hand with them in a lot of ways."

The rivalry between the two schools already has enough memorable moments to warrant a documentary film. A commemorative stamp. A highlight video free with your next Sports Illustrated subscription.

"Our highlight film last year, when it gets to the part about the University of Iowa, it says it has the atmosphere of a Final Four," Portland said. "That's really what it feels like when you play them."

Last year, the Lady Lion basketball team finished third in the conference, with Iowa and Ohio State sharing the title. The Hawkeyes and Lady Lions once again find themselves at the top of the pack.

Junior guard Carla Coleman said the team has been excited to play the Hawkeyes for quite some time.

"It's a good rivalry," she said. "It's not like Rutgers, but it adds a lot of spice."

And women's basketball has some company in the two schools' competitive arena.

Penn State is the only school to ever beat the Iowa wrestlers at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Before the Lions entered the conference, the Hawkeye wrestlers had never tied a Big Ten opponent. But in their first match as conference rivals, that's exactly what happened.

Iowa and Penn State finished first and second, respectively, in both the Big Ten and NCAA Championships for wrestling last year.

The field hockey teams from both schools have traded the top two spots in the Big Ten during the last two seasons. Last fall, the Hawkeyes were the only team to defeat the Lady Lions in the regular season, with the Lady Lions prevailing 1-0 in the other contest.

"I think all of us at the University of Iowa were delighted when Penn State joined the conference," said Dianne Murphy, an assistant director for Iowa's women's athletic department. "Penn State is recognized by all of our coaches as having an outstanding athletic program."

Coleman concurred that the two schools passed the true test for determining a rivalry. She said it wouldn't matter if both women's basketball teams weren't ranked --the feeling would be the same if they were the worst two teams in the nation.

"It'll always be an important game," Coleman said. "I think it's just going to be good, old-fashioned basketball."