HARTFORD, Conn. - Known for being quiet, down-to-earth and polite, Lady Lions' senior guard Kelly Mazzante has a side that the public doesn't get to see.

But her teammate Ashli Schwab sees it; she's known Mazzante since high school.

"Kelly has always been a competitor," junior center Schwab said of the typically soft-spoken Mazzante. "By far, one of the most competitive people I know. Right now, what you're seeing, that's all that fire coming out of her, because she just wants to win so desperately."

And Mazzante has never been more desperate for any win than the one she will seek tonight at 7 in the Hartford Civic Center when the top-seeded Penn State women's basketball team (28-5) faces No. 2 Connecticut (28-4) in the East regional final. To get to this game, the Lady Lions defeated No. 5 seed Notre Dame 55-49 on Saturday.

Today's game will be televised on ESPN.

Schwab's statements about Mazzante sound like they are keeping with what's been observed about the three-time All-American since the tournament started. With so much being said about Penn State being a No. 1 seed and still having to play two games on another team's home floor, Mazzante has been the player displaying an outspoken confidence few would expect from someone of her temperament.

"I have a lot of confidence in this team," Mazzante said after Penn State's second round win. "I think we can beat anyone."

Words like those may not sound like much, but coming from Mazzante, a player who prefers to speak in mostly uncertain terms while in the public eye, such comments grab a little more attention.

However, the senior's self-assuredness has just been the spearhead of a team trying, as it has all year, to show everyone it is a group worthy of being called one of the great teams in women's hoops. A win against UConn would certainly prove that point. The Huskies have won the last two national championships and three of the last four.

While the Huskies did have troubled times despite returning every starter from last year, they still have a player many regard as the most talented woman in the country in Diana Taurasi. They also have players coming off the bench who would start at nearly every other school in the country.

For Penn State, a little touch of confidence -- and perhaps even cockiness -- from players like Mazzante might be necessity for a team looking to beat Connecticut and move on to the Final Four.

"I think every [team] playing has a chip on their shoulder right now and wants to play well," Taurasi said. "It's a game to go to the Final Four so it means a lot."

For the Penn State players, it would probably mean everything. The group started talking about the Final Four in October, and the steady drumbeat has never stopped. And the Lions have never tried to hide that tonight will be the biggest game of their lives.

"It's huge. We want to go to the Final Four and win it," Mazzante said. "This is my and Jess Brungo's last chance, and everyone realizes it and has a sense of urgency."

Mazzante sees the urgency especially. And she sees what she's up against. She watched intently from the stands during Connecticut's 63-55 win against UC-Santa Barbara and saw a team that is deeper and more athletic than any the Lions have faced this year.

While other Penn State players conversed with friends and family after the Lions' win over Notre Dame, celebration and pats on the back didn't seem to matter to Mazzante.

At this point, at the end of her career, winning is what does.

As she said at media day before the season started, "If we don't get to the Final Four, we didn't do our job."