Heading into this season, there is that aura of the unknown around the Lady Lions.

That type of feeling would come to any team that just lost its most prolific scorer, along with half of last season's point production. There is no more Kelly Mazzante to dish it to when things get cramped, and everyone on the Penn State women's basketball team knows it. That explains why the Lady Lions repeatedly have said that it is going to be more of a team effort this season.

Fortunately for the No. 21 Lady Lions, their new leader is quite sure of herself. Well before preseason practice even started, there was no doubt that it was Tanisha Wright's turn to take the reigns of the back-to-back Big Ten champs.

In the exhibition game against the Netherlands National Team on Tuesday, Wright was more than willing to show her assertiveness, scoring 26 points. It will be up to her to create that offensive spark if the team is to be successful.

And she's quite fine with that. Being the natural leader that she is, Wright too knows that her surrounding players are that much more important this season if her team is to duplicate last year's results.

"I think Jess [Strom] and I are handling it well as far as knowing we're the people that they're looking for to score," Wright said.

Penn State finished 28-6 last season and was one game short of reaching the Final Four. Without Mazzante, Jess Brungo and Reicina Russell (who transferred to Georgia), this year's team has a completely new look.

The theme established by coach Rene Portland this season has been to "create a shot."

"We have to use the individual talents," Portland said. "I think it's there, it's just a matter of pushing them more to create shots.

Wright was second on the team in scoring last season, with 14.8 points per game. With the new emphasis to open up the offense, Wright will have plenty of chances to prove she is, indeed, one of the premier guards in the country. Portland has already deemed her to become the best all-around basketball player she's ever coached.

Along with Strom, who is fifth all-time in the Big Ten in assists (641), and sophomore Jen Harris, the Lady Lions backcourt will be expected to make things happen. From Tuesday night's game, it is quite apparent that for the Lady Lions to win this year, it will be the guards carrying the scoring load.

"It's about everybody contributing to the game and everybody pulling their weight and doing their part," Harris said. "We don't have a Kelly Mazzante anymore so we need everybody to make up for that."

Big things are expected of Brown inside this year, but as in the past, the post-play is a question mark. First things first, Ashli Schwab and Hazel Joseph are hoping just to stay healthy for their senior campaigns.

It is expected that the front court will not be counted on to win games. Rather, the players will be expected to do the dirty work, as well as complement the main scorers when opportunities arise.

"We need to have those expectations, and we need to live through those expectations," Brown said. "We can't simply rely on the guards this year."

Russell's decision to transfer to Georgia last year leaves a hole in the paint that will make the task of controlling the middle much tougher.

The defense gave up just 57 points a game last season, but it will be even more important this season if the offense can't match last season's production.

"The guards are gonna have to get up on some people and the posts are gonna have to hold their own," Wright said.

With the type of leaders running this team, the foundation is set. The question is, will it be firm enough to carry the youth, along with stepping up to the level that Mazzante and Brungo made so commonplace in Happy Valley?