Sophomore Tiffany Longworth has had to run the point guard position all alone during some of the women's basketball practices the past few weeks.

Injuries have left the Lady Lions with as few as seven players at one point this season, making practices more like individual conditioning sessions. Coach Rene Portland said she would rather play actual games than go back to the practice court.

"Games make us better," she said. "When we go to practice, no one is there."

Portland will get exactly what she wants for her still-recuperating squad today when the No. 12 Lady Lions travel to No. 16 George Washington for a 7 p.m. showdown that caps off a five-day stretch of three games.

Senior guard Carla Coleman said she prefers the closely scheduled contests.

"Playing is a lot better for us to gel because we don't have the opportunity to play as much together in practice," she said.

The Lady Lions (11-3) are coming off two conference wins, including a 92-44 thrashing of Michigan on Sunday. Penn State's early dominance in that game gave Portland the chance to rest her starters and injured players, such as center Kim Calhoun, who is still nursing a sprained foot.

"We were very concerned about playing three games in five days, so I thought this was nice that we got some rest time," Portland said. "But I needed to work some people in."

Part of that need was because of tonight's rematch with the Colonial Women (11-1).

On Dec. 21, the two teams played a back-and-forth game in the final of the Showboat Shootout tournament in Las Vegas. Penn State prevailed, 90-85, but George Washington took with it a moral victory.

"I really believe G.W. looked at that and said, 'We were right with them,' " Portland said. "When we saw them at the airport, their attitude was, 'You're coming to our house next.' "

There, Penn State will face off against two All-America candidates -- forward Darlene Saar and guard Debbie Hemery. Saar is averaging 14.3 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. Leading the Colonial Women, Hemery averages 20.2 points per game, with a career-high 31 earlier this season.

"They are definitely our big guns," said George Washington Coach Joe McKeown. "They carry us, and that's why we're 11-1 right now."

The Colonial Women are also 11-1 because Penn State thwarted their comeback bid in the Shootout. Using explosive outside shooting, George Washington rallied from 12 points down to pull within three.

McKeown said offensively, his team could have won the game, "but the defense just didn't do what it had to. We have to clean up some plays, and it would help if we guarded better."

Penn State has cleaned up its own defensive play since that first meeting. No longer as susceptible, the Lady Lions defense tallied a combined 29 steals and 56 defensive rebounds and allowed only three three-pointers during their weekend wins over Northwestern and Michigan.

Still, McKeown said both teams are evenly matched going into tonight's game.

"We look at the Las Vegas matchup," McKeown said. "Penn State had a few ups and downs, but now they're back on a roll; we're coming off a physical win against Massachusetts -- this should be a good rematch."