The last time the Penn State women's basketball team played Indiana it had to come from behind to pull off a five-point win. Much has changed for both squads since that game.

The Lady Lions (15-8, 7-3 Big Ten) will try to add to their four-game win streak when they have their rematch with the Hoosiers (11-11, 5-6) tonight at 7 p.m. in Assembly Hall.

When the Lions last played the Hoosiers they were a mediocre 10-7 overall and 2-2 in the conference while Indiana was a similar 8-7 overall and 2-2 in the Big Ten.

My, how things have changed.

Penn State has recently reestablished itself as one of the top teams in the conference. The Lions have only lost one game since then and have taken the No. 2 spot in the Big Ten standings. The Lions' rebounding and defense have improved and better team chemistry has been apparent.

There has been no better evidence of the turnaround than Sunday, when the Lions avenged an earlier loss to Ohio State by ripping the Buckeyes 95-62.

"The kids are working real hard, they are in the gym," Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland said. "There is a lot of talent on this team and I truly believe it's not an act. They were fun to watch at Northwestern, but Sunday when you can make 8,000 people shut their mouths and not say anything five minutes into the game, that was pretty fun."

Indiana has been having more fun recently as well. After struggling to make some waves in the conference, Indiana has come into its own. The Hoosiers have won three out of their last four games, including a victory against nationally ranked Wisconsin.

With the improvement comes higher expectations. Indiana women's basketball coach Kathi Bennett knows that her team has to continue to build on its success in order to gain respect.

"It's a big week for us and I feel that we need to have incredible intensity," Bennett said. "I just want to keep our team very intense about winning. I think that is very key for us."

This week will test the Hoosiers. Tonight they will play the second best team in the conference and Sunday they will travel to play the No. 1 team in the Big Ten, Purdue.

Against Penn State, Indiana will try to finish the job that it could not on Jan. 10. In that game the Hoosiers had a lead for the entire first half. However, the Lions were able to recover and escape with the win.

Freshman point guard Jess Strom feels Penn State is now a different team than the one that played the Hoosiers in early January.

"I just think coming off of our four wins our energy is going to be a lot higher than the last time we played them," Strom said. "I think we have improved a lot since the last time we played them so we just have to come out and play like we can."