When the Penn State women's gymnastics team faces No. 3 Alabama, Cornell and Rutgers at 7 p.m. Saturday in Rec Hall, it won't be the first time this season that Alabama and the Nittany Lions have met. And it won't be the first time that Cornell and Rutgers have met either.

Penn State finished last out of the six teams competing at the Super Six Challenge to open its season Jan. 6, scoring a 193.275, its worst score of the season. Alabama and Georgia tied for the Super Six Championship scoring a 195.350.

But when Alabama travels to Happy Valley, it isn't going to see the same team it saw two months ago.

"We weren't prepared," Penn State women's Steve Shephard said about Penn State's performance at the Super Six Challenge held in Tuscaloosa, Ala. "We weren't really ready. We hadn't trained effectively and we didn't have a gym."

Since then, the Lions have only improved -- breaking school records left and right all season long. Penn State has broken the team record on every single apparatus and also the overall team score. Individually, Penn State gymnasts have tied the records for highest score on vault and bars, and sophomore Katie Rowland broke the school's previous all-around record, scoring a 39.650 not once but twice.

"You have to keep those things in perspective," Penn State coach Steve Shephard said about his team breaking school records. "Sometimes you get higher scores than you deserve, sometimes lower. I think the records are a nice bonus, but I'm more concerned with maximizing this team's potential. That's what I want to see happen."

And Penn State will have to do just that if it wants to come out with its final win of the season. Because while Penn State has improved, so has Alabama.

Alabama's only loss this season came in its second meet against Georgia with a score of 197.225-197.075. Only two weeks earlier, Alabama had beat Georgia by the same margin.

Alabama senior Lissy Smith is currently ranked No. 11 in the country on beam, while junior Andreé Pickens is ranked No. 21. Freshman Jeana Rice and sophomore Kristin Sterner are ranked No. 16 and No. 25 on the vault, respectively. Junior Natalie Barrington is ranked No. 5 on the uneven bars.

"Because Alabama will be a big meet for us we really want to finish off good," Penn State's Leslie Bair said. "It's our senior night, and it's always nice to beat Alabama. It would kind of top off our regular season. That would be great."

Like Alabama, Penn State also has gymnasts ranked in the top 25 of the nation. In addition to Rowland's No. 1 ranking in the country in the all-around competition, she also is No. 15 on beam and No. 10 on vault. Freshman Richelle Simpson comes in above her teammate on beam at No. 10 and senior Gemma Cuff is currently No. 15 on vault. Senior Maria Taylor rounds up the Lions successes, currently No. 12 in the country on bars.

Cornell and Rutgers, the two other teams competing in Saturday's quadrangular meet, last met on March 3 where Rutgers defeated Cornell 193.025-186.350. Rutgers record is currently 7-7, while Cornell is 12-6-1. Rutgers lost its meet against Maryland March 11 196.200-191.600 only a week after Penn State fell to the Terrapins 195.500-195.350.

"Our goals are to set school records," Cornell coach Paul Beckwith said. "We've already set our overall team school record this year. "We are looking for a great week where we can get some great scores to set us up for our ECAC Championship."

Cornell brings with it a very young team made up of 12 freshmen and sophomores, four juniors, and no seniors. And it lost its school record-holder on vault and floor due to a torn ACL suffered on a beam dismount against Massachusetts. Despite this, the team remains strong.

"We've come together as a team in terms of team attitude and team spirit," Beckwith said. "We are really, really functioning as a team. It's not something the audience can see. We are just very cohesive at this point."