The Penn State women's basketball team enters next weekend's games against Duke and Villanova as a team still searching for an identity.

Guards Tanisha Wright and Jess Strom proved beyond all doubt in Sunday's loss to Texas that they make up one of the best backcourts in the nation, but the team as a whole is still looking for that one thing that can turn a good team into a great team.

But if the Lady Lions are trying to figure out what they are as a team, they have already come to terms with one thing that they are not.

Deep.

Penn State has only seven upperclassman on its roster and that means that all seven had better be prepared to play big minutes.

In addition to being prepared for the physical drain that comes from playing 35 minutes or more, game-in and game-out, the Lady Lions top seven must also deal with the added pressure. They must play aggressive defense while knowing that their team cannot afford them to be on the bench because of foul trouble.

"I know that I need to be conscious of things like that because I know for us to do well I have to be on the floor," Wright said.

She also emphasized that being careful about fouls does not necessarily mean playing cautious defense, but means simply being more focused on limiting the preventable fouls.

Wright also cannot be fazed by fatigue or a lack of focus that might have been excusable in recent years when the team had more legitimate options.

"I think I have to be conscious of it because there are times when you get lazy fouls," Wright said.

"When you're tired and you just try to hack someone. Those are the things that I can't do. In the past I would do that. You know, well I'm tired I might as well."

Wright is unquestionably Penn State's biggest threat on the offensive end, but as important as it is for her to be careful on the defensive side of the ball, it may be even more vital that Penn State's three true post players can keep themselves on the floor and out of foul trouble.

Sophomore Amanda Brown is the Lady Lions' strongest player on the blocks and she also emphasized the importance of being selective in which shots she can realistically challenge at the defensive end.

"It is tough because I don't want to get into foul trouble, yet I also have to play aggressively," she said.

"I can't emotionally back off. I think I just have to be smarter about what I do."

Brown logged only 17 minutes in Sunday's loss because of early foul trouble and her absence obviously hurt the Lady Lions' interior defense in the first half.

With Brown on the bench, Texas attacked Ashli Schwab relentlessly in the post and three of the Longhorn's interior players finished in double figures in scoring.

With Brown already forced to the bench, Schwab was limited in how aggressive she could be at the defensive end, but agreed that much of the battle with fouls is mental.

"I just have to feel out the game," she said.

"It's just a matter of focus. Staying on your feet different things like that. Basically just playing good solid man-to-man defense."