It was exactly one week ago that the No. 23 Lady Lions (13-7, 8-1 Big Ten) were hitting high stride, in the midst of a six-game winning streak.

But then the unthinkable happened, and Penn State left Northwestern with a ripe shiner after dropping one to the lowly Wildcats.

A win Sunday over No. 14 Minnesota made the loss easier to forget, but when they visit Michigan (5-15, 1-8) at 7 tonight, the Lady Lions are hoping for a more focused, determined performance on the road.

"We want to focus on our goal," senior forward Ashli Schwab said, "and our goal is to win the Big Ten championship again and to go far in the NCAAs. We just need to take it one game at a time and play good defense and rebound and do all the little things to win the games."

Penn State has won its last six games against the Wolverines, including two victories last season.

Michigan has the third-worst scoring offense in the Big Ten (60.5 points per game) and only two players average more than six points per game.

Senior center Tabitha Poole is fifth in the Big Ten in scoring (17.5) and third in rebounding (9.2), but she is the only Wolverine to start all 20 games this season. Freshman Ta'Shia Walker is second on the team, averaging 13 points per game, but the next closest scorer is averaging just six.

"Their expertise is defense," Penn State coach Rene Portland said. "They were down 20 against Wisconsin, and all of a sudden, it's a six-point ball game. They force turnovers and they pick you up at half court. We have to be ready for their presses and half-court trap, but I do think the 3-pointer is a big part of their game."

Michigan does have the second most 3-pointers in the conference (111), which might have been a bigger problem for Penn State earlier in the season. In the beginning of the season, Penn State's defense struggled to get outside and teams exploited the Lady Lions from behind the arc.

Now, 20 games into the season, Penn State has become a more disciplined team on both ends of the court. What used to be the Tanisha Wright and Jess Strom show has now turned into a more team-oriented game.

Thanks in part to the senior leadership, everyone on the team has figured out their roles, and things have gone a lot smoother.

"The beginning of the year when we started out, we were telling Jess and Tanisha to give us 50 points and they were giving us 50 points and we weren't winning," Portland said. "We needed the rest of the team to step up. We needed the rest of the team to understand their role because Jess and Tanisha certainly knew their roles, and when they tried to go past their normal roles, it was putting too much pressure on them.

"I really think the charge was led by these two [Jenny Brenden and Schwab] to get the rest of the team to come along."

After making the mistake last week, faltering against an inferior team on the road, Penn State's battle cry all week was to focus on winning on the road, especially against teams it should beat. With a rematch at Purdue on Sunday, Portland is just hoping it won't be another game to help forget a midweek flop.