When the Penn State Lady Lions tip-off their season against No. 3 Texas on Sunday afternoon, the minds of the Penn State nation will be on two players who are not on the floor as much as the five players that are.

But if it seems hard to think about Penn State women's basketball without thinking Kelly Mazzante and Jess Brungo, it's not something that will be on the mind of the current squad when it takes the floor at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin on Sunday.

At all.

Throughout the preseason, the members of this year's team have been asked a seemingly endless stream of questions about their departed comrades, and as they prepare to start their season this weekend, they have heard just about enough.

"It does get old, but I mean they were great players," sophomore guard Jen Harris said. "There's always something to say about them, but it's a different team this year. Everyone's underestimating us."

If the returning Lady Lions feel as though they are not getting enough respect, they could remedy that in a big way this Sunday against a Texas squad that is undoubtedly one of the best and most athletic teams in the country.

The Longhorns return four starters from last year's team that compiled a record of 30-5 and went to the Sweet 16, and they are deep and talented at every position. Four Longhorns averaged in double figures last season and the team depth will create a tough matchup defensively for a Penn State team that will rely heavily on its core group of players.

"They have a lot of legit players that do big things. We're going to just have to do good things, box out, rebound, play good defense," Harris said.

Last season's Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Tanisha Wright agreed, saying that the key to stopping the Longhorns will be limiting second-chance opportunities.

"We have to rebound. When they miss shots we can't let them get a second opportunity because that's were they could kill us," Wright said.

"And in the scrambles, where the ball is loose, we can't give them any easy buckets."

On the offensive end, Penn State will look to push the tempo and use its quickness in transition, but this will be a tough task against a Texas team that can run and gun with anyone in the country.

Penn State's lack of depth at the post positions could also be exposed on Sunday as the Longhorn's have a plethora of players over 6-feet tall who can run the floor.

"They're just a really athletic group of post-players, they can all run the floor, they can all jump, they can all block shots," senior center Ashli Schwab said. "Our goal has to be stop them as many times as possible, get a hand in their face and distract their shots."

To accomplish that, Penn State's post trio of Schwab, Amanda Brown, and Hazel Joseph must stay out of foul trouble while still playing aggressively on the defensive end and on the glass.

The Lady Lions drubbed the Longhorns 79-59 last year in State College on the strength of a 17-0 second half run that came with Mazzante and Brungo on the bench Wright sees no reason why the team cannot repeat that impressive performance this weekend in Austin, and continue that success in subsequent games against Duke and Villanova, away from the Bryce Jordan Center.

"If we come out focused and prepared, I don't see any reason why we can't win these games," she said. "Everyone's talking about the tough schedule, and starting the first three games on the road. We have the talent, talent-wise we're there."