There will be more at stake tonight for one member of the Penn State women's basketball team than just another Big Ten game when the No. 8 Lady Lions (11-3, 4-0 Big Ten) travel to Ann Arbor to take on the Michigan Wolverines (9-7, 2-1) at 7.

Penn State senior Kelly Mazzante stands just 28 points shy of breaking the all-time Big Ten scoring record. Former Ohio State Buckeyes guard and four-time WNBA all-star Katie Smith holds the record with 2,578 points.

Mazzante insists she doesn't pay too much attention to breaking particular records, but rather is more interested in helping her team win the Big Ten championship.

"I didn't even know I was that close until someone mentioned it to me the other day," Mazzante said. "[Winning the Big Ten] is my primary focus."

While Mazzante is averaging 22 points this season, she has scored more than 30 points in four games this year and has accomplished the feat 27 times in her four years at Penn State.

Penn State has won the last four meetings between the two teams, but this year's Wolverines squad has a different look and feel to it than in previous years. The main reason for this change is the hiring of Cheryl Burnett as head coach.

Before going to Ann Arbor, Burnett coached the Southwest Missouri State Bears for 15 seasons, taking them to the NCAA tournament 10 times and the Final Four twice.

"The hiring of Cheryl Burnett was a great move," Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland said. "Cheryl is a Final Four coach, Cheryl is a NCAA coach, Cheryl is a winner."

Leading Michigan on the court is the current Big Ten player of the week, Jennifer Smith. The 6-foot-4 senior from Lansing is averaging 22 points and eight rebounds per game. Also, don't expect Michigan to get all starry-eyed over playing the No. 8 team in the country. This is actually small potatoes for the Wolverines, who have already played and lost to No. 6 Minnesota and No. 1 Duke.

Not counting the Iowa beating, the Lady Lions have only won their other three Big Ten games by a combined eight points. They realize that, if it wasn't for their non-conference schedule, they may not be in their current position.

"It will always go back to the non-conference schedule," Portland said. "They learned how to play all 40 minutes of the game. And this 4-0 [conference start], some of them took us 40 minutes."

Currently, Penn State is tied atop the Big Ten with undefeated Minnesota, while the Wolverines are tied with Purdue and Ohio State for third.

"I think we have to be honest that this is the toughest year in our conference," Portland said. "This is the best the Big Ten has ever been, and it's not going to get any easier."