In honor of her 25 years as head coach of the Lady Lions, Penn State will honor Rene Portland in a ceremony before her team's 1 p.m. matchup versus No. 8 Michigan State on Sunday. To mark the occasion, the first 2,000 fans through the gates will receive a medallion commemorating the occasion.

Coming into this year, the legendary coach ranked seventh all-time with 649 career wins, including 562 at Penn State. Portland, who is the reigning WBCA National Coach of the Year, has directed her Lady Lions to five Big Ten championships, and seven conference championships overall (including two Atlantic 10 titles).

Her Penn State teams have made 20 NCAA tournament appearances, 11 Sweet 16 appearances, and four Elite Eight showings, while reaching the Final Four in 2000. Last year the Lady Lions advanced to the Sweet 16 for the third straight year, and finished in the Elite Eight. This year she has guided the Lady Lions to a perfect 5-0 record in the Big Ten, which includes wins over Ohio State and Iowa. Penn State also upset North Carolina earlier this year.

Portland and the Lady Lions are in action tonight versus Big Ten rival Purdue, before Sunday's matchup versus the partans. Tonight's game begins at 8 p.m., and will air live on FSN Pittsburgh. Sunday's contest begins at 1 p.m. and will air at 2:30 p.m. on FSN Pittsburgh. Both games will broadcast over the radio on the Penn State Sports Network and www.GoPSUsports.com.

The No. 3 Penn State men's gymnastics team will open its home schedule this weekend when it hosts Temple and Navy at 7 p.m. tomorrow in Rec Hall. In conjunction with the meet will be the national championship banner raising ceremony to honor the 2004 men's gymnastics team for winning its 11th national championship, an NCAA record. The first 500 fans will receive men's gymnastics national championship commemorative cups featuring the 11 national championship years. Penn State Athletics will also honor 2004 NCAA all-around champion Luis Vargas after the meet. Vargas was the first all-around champion for the Nittany Lions in almost 30 years.

Local youth championship teams will also be honored as a part of "Champions Night." Some of the teams to be honored are from YMCA Soccer, Centre Soccer, Assembly of God Football, YMCA Basketball, State College Little League, Local Cross Country Leagues, and the YMCA Volleyball League.

Men's and women's gymnastics 2005 home schedule magnets will be given to the first 1,000 people at the meet. Various promotions tailor-made for Penn State students will occur and dinner for two will be awarded to two lucky couples during the meet.