Maybe Johns Hopkins University should bring its medical school to State College tonight when the Blue Jays take on the Penn State women's lacrosse team.

Maybe the med students have a cure for the inconsistent play of the Lions.

When the No. 12 Penn State women's lacrosse team (2-2) takes the battlefield at Holuba Hall tonight at 7 with No. 18 Johns Hopkins (4-3), the Lions will look to put together a full 60 minutes of the type of play they know they are capable of.

"We need to work on starting strong and finishing strong," said Lions head coach Suzanne Isidor. "We need to get focused for 60 minutes."

The problem of inconsistency plagued the Lions all last season, and has resurfaced itself in the early going at times in 2002's fresh campaign.

In last Sunday's game against William and Mary, the Lions needed eight second-half goals to overcome a four goal first-half deficit in what would end up a 10-8 Penn State victory.

Against Virginia, the Lions showed signs of greatness when they rattled off six unanswered goals to erase a 5-1 deficit before finally falling 11-9 to a resilient No.8 Cavaliers.

Nobody doubts the talent of this Lions team.

But in order for Penn State to get the truck moving, they know they're going to have to harness their abilities with their full capabilities and reconcile the two.

"We're definitely a very talented team," senior defender Alyson Shand said.

"If we play like I know we can we can play with anyone. Playing a full 60 minutes is key. We've had our lapses."

It will be key for Lions to focus and finish tonight, as Penn State is playing its second conference game of the year.

In their first conference match-up, the Lions fell 7-6 to Vanderbilt in the season opener.

Falling to 0-2 in conference play is a death wish considering the teams Penn State will compete with this season.

"It's a big game because our first conference game was a loss," junior Colleen O'Hara said.

"We need to come out in the first half ready to go, and not be a second-half team."

After starting the year 0-3, Johns Hopkins has rattled off four consecutive victories including a 23-11 clinic over Ohio last Sunday in which their offense exploded.

"They have great coaches so I'm assuming they're intense and they have good stick skills," Shand said.

"I know they've been playing well and they're definitely going to be a good team to beat and a good team to play against."