Lady Lions gear up for Big Tens

The Penn State women's basketball team should have enough on its mind to give all 11 players on the roster as well as its coaching staff throbbing headaches.

But if Lady Lion coach Rene Portland has been losing any sleep over tomorrow's Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament, she certainly showed no signs yesterday at her final news conference before leaving for Indianapolis.

"I think we are working hard to get ready for this series," Portland said. "We've just been talking about the magical weekend. We are going into it extra prepared."

Portland has adopted a laid back attitude, which is surprising for a coach whose team has not been able to string together three straight wins since January and now faces the prospect of winning four games in four days in order to defend its tournament title. The Lady Lions have won the Big Ten tournament the past two seasons.

Portland said she is confident about Penn State's chances because of the development of her underclassmen and the quality minutes she's been getting out of her bench players.

"I think we have improved from December to March," Portland said. "I think we've been able to play a lot of people."

A Lady Lion who has not seen much action this year has been junior center Em Clements. Clements, a native of Australia, has been hampered all season by injuries. Most recently a stress fracture in her right foot caused her to miss eight games in January and February. Clements returned to action last weekend to give Portland 30 minutes off the bench.

"We're not feeling any repercussions from the injury," Portland said. "It's been a month since she's played. This week in practice we've been asking her to buckle down and get it done. It's nice to have a body."

Clements' return last weekend helped fill the void left by the departure of juniors Tara Macciocco and Julie Jarosz following the Feb. 9 game against Indiana. But even with Clements, the Lady Lions who have logged the most minutes this season will continue to be counted on in the postseason.

Starters Angie Potthoff, Tiffany Longworth, Helen Darling, Andrea Garner and Shauntai Hall will be crucial to Penn State's chances.

"This is what we were dealt," said Potthoff, who will play with a black eye she suffered last weekend. "It's gonna take a lot because 11 teams come to the tournament, and 11 teams come ready to play."

Penn State's preparation will be tested early, when the Lady Lions take on Ohio State at 6 p.m. tomorrow in the RCA Dome. Penn State only faced the Buckeyes once this season -- an 83-66 victory at St. John Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

"Ohio State said it would make their season to beat us," Potthoff said. "We did only see them once, so we're doing a little more preparation."