There was something missing this year at Senior Day for the Lady Lions.

The seniors.

After a disappointing finish in the Sweet 16 against Tennessee, the Penn State women's basketball team will look to improve for next year with all of its roster intact.

"Certainly, I am pleased with my team that they have gotten here," said Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland. "It's a young team and we don't have any seniors. This is a group that took us to the Sweet 16 last year. We won the Big Ten regular-season championship and went into the tournament with high hopes. I was disappointed with how we played."

The disappointing ending to a promising season allowed the players to reflect on what they have done, and what they want to do in the season to come. Some of the goals were met, while others failed to materialize.

"Overall, we've accomplished one out of our three goals I guess," junior guard Kelly Mazzante said. "Next season, we have to match the Big Ten. We need to get back in the tournament."

Most likely, the biggest area focus for improvement in the offseason will be rebounding and the overall development of the team's inside game. The entire season, the Lady Lions struggled on the boards. This was evident against the Lady Volunteers, as Penn State was outrebounded by a margin of 30.

"The rebounding piece was embarrassing," Portland said.

Incoming freshman center/forward Amanda Brown will get an early look to fortify the post position. The 6-foot-4

Kennett Square native was pursued by the Penn State coaching staff with just that in mind. Adding even more height to the recruiting class will be 6-foot-2 Rochelle Johnson, who was a highly sought prep talent at Brien McMahon in Norwalk, Conn.

The other area of focus for the offseason will be maintaining the team's defensive strengths. This will no doubt include yet another year of rigorous strength training and conditioning.

"I think we stressed it a lot after the Big Ten Tournament," guard Tanisha Wright said. "It was all about defense in practice after that. We picked up our one-on-one defense. It is just people taking responsibility for themselves that has helped us get better defensively."

With the Mazzante era entering its final year, Penn State also recruited guard Jen Harris to develop a replacement for the prolific scorer. Mazzante is 16 points away from being the all-time leading scorer for Penn State. Her possible successor Harris is a Parade All-American and recently participated in the McDonald's All-America game.