Imagine you're a freshman in the Big Ten. You've spent most of the season watching and learning, and although you've made some contributions on the court, you're a point guard, so you know it's a transition year for you.

Now imagine the starting point guard, a senior, goes down with an injury, and all of a sudden your role as observer has disappeared. You're on the floor, and it's up to you to command the offense. Oh, and guess what? Your team just happens to be playing the USA National Team, so you have the thankless task of guarding Theresa Edwards, the game's premiere floor general.

Illinois' Shavonna Hunter found herself in just that situation last year, and when the sophomore point guard leads her Fighting Illini against Penn State tonight at 7, she'll be one year wiser. Hunter won't be asked to stop Edwards, but she will have the responsibility of fellow sophomore Ashley Luke and the No. 16 Lady Lions.

In her second season at Illinois, her first as a full-time starter, Hunter is still learning what it takes to be a point guard in the Big Ten, and says the growing process this season is just as tough as it was a year ago.

"I think it's been harder this season just because of the different players," Hunter says. "Last year we had Tauja (Catchings) and Susan (Blauser), and they were the leaders on the team. This year it's kind of like I have to be the leader and teach things, even though I'm still learning myself."

Hunter describes her collegiate debut against Edwards and the national team as "an honor". Illinois assistant women's basketball coach LaVonda Wagner says she could think of some easier debut scenarios for her freshman, but that Hunter handled it well.

"She got thrown into the fire, her first game coming against Theresa Edwards," Wagner says. "This year she's taken on more responsibility. She's a captain, she's quite bright, and knows the game extremely well."

If anyone can relate to being a young point guard in one of the toughest conferences in the country, it would be Luke. Unlike Hunter, who has started all but one of the Illini's games this season, Luke has shuffled in and out of the Penn State lineup, splitting starting duties with junior Katrena Carr.

"I knew the plays and I knew what I was doing, but I had a hard time figuring out what everyone was supposed to be doing," Luke says.

Hunter, who played against Luke in high school in Illinois while she was at Hillcrest and Luke at Waubonsie Valley, can empathize.

"I think we're both still learning so it should be interesting to see what happens when we play against each other," Hunter says.

The matchup will be an important one in what is a key game for both teams. Illinois, which defeated the Lions 75-71 last month in Champaign, is trying to stay above the .500 mark and keep its dwindling postseason hopes alive, while Penn State is chasing conference-leading Purdue.

And it's no secret that the Illini's success down the stretch will be determined largely by the play of Hunter. Although her assist-to-turnover ratio (0.8) is down from last year and lower than she'd like it to be, she leads the team with 24 three-pointers and is second in minutes played.

"She's learning that she not only has to take care of herself but four other people as well," Wagner says. "But right now she's one of the top point guards in the conference as well as in the country, and she has a bright future at Illinois."