Penn State women's basketball head coach Rene Portland had her first chance on Wednesday to see where her young team stands entering the 2001-2002 season. The first lesson she learned in the Lady Lions' 78-68 exhibition win over the Premier All-Stars was clear: their defense has a long way to go.

"The number one goal was not met, and that was defense," Portland said after the game. "I'm very, very concerned about our mental attitude towards defense."

The Lions likely were not expecting such a close game against the All-Stars, a collection of ex-college players who were competing in their sixth exhibition game in a seven-day span. But the Lions' shaky defense allowed the All-Stars to stay close for most of the game.

Some of the Lions' defensive lapses can be contributed to the inexperienced lineup that played on Thursday. Most of their ten freshmen and sophomores saw action because none of the Lions' seniors -- forward Katie Schumacher, guard Katrena Carr and center Rashana Barnes -- were available to play against the All-Stars. Schumacher, a star on the Penn State women's volleyball team, will not join the squad until the volleyball season ends. Carr is still nursing an ankle injury and is expected to return in about five weeks, and Barnes was rested to preserve her aching knees.

Portland said that her youthful squad has worked hard on their defense thus far in practice, but it was not evident on Wednesday.

"We'll be back (to practice today) and obviously we've got to do some defensive drills," Portland said. "I don't think I've ever had a team that just didn't play defense. I didn't see one bit of anything they worked on in practice."

The Penn State offense was luckily able to take up the slack, thanks in part to sophomore Kelly Mazzante's 29 points. A few Lions did turn in decent defensive performances, particularly sophomore forward Courtney Upshaw. The 6-foot-4 Upshaw grabbed 10 defensive rebounds and also recorded three blocks.

Sophomore forward Jessica Brungo said that although the youngsters on the team are anxious to start the season, they cannot let that anxiousness affect their defensive performances.

"I think at the beginning of the game it was a little bit of nerves," Brungo said. "But we have to carry the excitement over."

The Lions may not be able to turn in such poor defensive showings in the regular season and expect to come away with victories. The team faces tough matchups against Maryland, Old Dominion and Vanderbilt, ranked No. 3 in the Associated Press preseason poll.