Twenty-four games into her first season in Ann Arbor, Michigan women's basketball coach Cheryl Burnett finally believes her young Wolverines are starting to turn the corner.

"There's a certain point in time, usually about this time, when you have new players and everything starts to click in with their understanding," she said.

The "point" Burnett refers to is a dominating 75-55 win over Wisconsin at home on Feb. 7. Burnett's team used a balanced offensive and defensive attack to snap a four-game losing streak.

Burnett and the Wolverines (11-14, 4-8 Big Ten) will need everything clicking just as much -- if not more -- when they face the Penn State women's basketball team Sunday afternoon at 2 in the Bryce Jordan Center.

The No. 8 Lady Lions (18-4, 10-1) should be fresh after a bye week. Fresh as in well rested and fresh as in fresh off a big loss; Penn State had a 10-game winning streak ended last time they were in action -- a 74-56 rout at Minnesota.

The Lions took the time off to tie up the ends that came loose in their debacle at Minneapolis, where they were out-scored 30-11 in the second half.

"We can't panic after one game," Lions senior guard Kelly Mazzante said. "We need to fix some things this week and get re-focused for the next five [games]. I think having this week off will help a little in getting ready for that last stretch."

The Wolverines, however, will not be as rested. Always an emotional game between intrastate rivals, Michigan lost 59-54 last night in a crucial conference match up with No. 17 Michigan State (19-4, 9-3).

Though the Wolverines kept it close for much of last night's game, they shot just 7-for-12 from the free-throw line and could do little to stop the Spartans' Liz Shimek, who was 5-for-8 from the floor, 2-for-2 on 3-pointers, and had eight rebounds.

Aside from coming off a loss of their own, the Penn State women find themselves in a position similar to the last time they faced Michigan, on Jan. 15. Prior to that game, Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland very publicly challenged her post-players, saying she had "had it" with their lack of production in rebounding and scoring. The posts responded and kept pace with Michigan senior center Jennifer Smith, combining for 24 points and 16 rebounds to Smith's 21 points and eight rebounds. The interior players followed that performance with three weeks of solid play until they slipped back to their old ways, scoring only 10 points as a group in the loss at Minnesota. Smith, the conference's third-leading scorer, is again on the horizon, and Lions will again need to regroup from some listless play.

Penn State will have more than just Smith to contend with on Sunday. Junior guard Tabitha Pool has been hot lately, scoring 25 points on 11-for-16 shooting against Wisconsin, and adding 15 points on 6-for-11 shooting last night. But it will take more than this pair for Michigan to top the Lions; Burnett needs freshman forward Kelly Helvey and senior guard Stephanie Gandy to make contributions.

Then the Wolverines would be really turning the corner.