Lady cagers look to regain early season touch against Spartans

By DAN GIGLER
Collegian Staff Writer

After coming out of the starting gates to the 1998-99 season like Secretariat, the Penn State women's basketball team has hit a muddy stretch of track.

The No. 17 Lady Lions (9-4, 1-2 Big Ten) are mired in a losing spell, having dropped three of their last four games, including two consecutively. The Lions most recently fell 82-78 in a surprising road loss to Arkansas Saturday in a nationally televised game that was the first-ever meeting between the two teams. This after another hard-fought 53-48 loss to conference rival No. 3 Purdue Jan. 5, and another disappointing conference loss to No. 23 Ohio State Dec. 28 at The Bryce Jordan Center.

Following the Ohio State loss, Penn State co-captain Christine Portland expressed extreme disappointment.

"This is not the way you want to start the Big Ten season," Portland said.

The Lions' lone win since the calendar changed came via a 72-43 trouncing of Big Ten opponent Minnesota on Jan. 3. In the weeks prior, the Lions had rolled over formidable top 10 opponents such as Old Dominion, Alabama and North Carolina State.

The Lions will hope to regain their stride at 7:30 tonight when they host Michigan State (8-5, 2-1 Big Ten) at the Jordan Center. The homecoming will be welcome for the road-weary Lions.

"We are disappointed," Penn State coach Rene Portland said in a press release following the Arkansas loss. "We were a little tired from our travel situation and that hurt us."

The Spartans are on a roll of late, notching consecutive conference victories over Northwestern and Wisconsin, respectively. Led by a pair of standout juniors, guard Maxann Reese and forward Kristen Rasmussen, the Spartans are primed to try and beat the Lions for only the second time since Penn State joined the Big Ten.

However, the Lions may be down, but they are certainly not out. Despite having accrued more marks in the loss column of late, they have continued to develop. Junior center Andrea Garner has been an all-around force for the Lions, leading the team in scoring and rebounding as well as the Big Ten in blocked shots. The Lions' backcourt has solidified with strong play from guards Lisa Shepherd, Helen Darling, Christine Portland and Shawta Vanzant, who exploded out of a season-long slump with 25 points against Arkansas.

Although the conference season is young, by starting out with a precarious 1-2 record, the Lions must dig themselves out of an early hole tonight against Michigan State. If they do not, they may be digging their way into a postseason grave.