The first time these two squads played, the Lady Lions needed a win to save their season.

When No. 22 Penn State (18-8, 13-2 Big Ten) takes on No. 4 Ohio State (26-3, 13-2) at 6 p.m. Sunday in Columbus, it will be to make the season a championship one.

Penn State beat the Buckeyes 69-62 on Dec. 30, but Sunday's game holds far more implications than any other game has this season.

Currently, Penn State is a half-game back of No. 6 Michigan State for the regular season conference title. The winner of Sunday's game shares the Big Ten championship. The loser winds up with the third seed in the conference tournament, without a first-round bye.

If the Lady Lions beat Ohio State, the team will win its third straight regular-season conference title. But this time Penn State has to win it on the road, something the Lady Lions have only done six times in 14 tries this season.

And, in the Dec. 30 meeting with the Buckeyes the Lady Lions' record stood at a disappointing 6-5, with the quintet of losses coming on the road and the season in danger of slipping away.

But that contest at the Bryce Jordan Center served as a rallying point for Penn State.

"If you looked at our record prior to that game I was looking at this team asking, 'Do you want to make the NCAA Tournament?' " Penn State coach Rene Portland said. "I felt that they showed great focus in that game. ... Sure, there's been 15 games between the two games, but when you look at what's changed, I don't think things have changed that much."

Maybe not much has changed in game plans since the conference opener, but Buckeye's sophomore center Jessica Davenport has elevated her game to the likes of possibly the best post player in the Big Ten.

Against Penn State, Davenport scored 20 points and had nine rebounds, but 10 of those points were in the final three minutes when Penn State was content to concede lay-ups rather than 3-pointers. Since that game, she has recorded seven double-doubles.

Davenport is averaging 21.2 points, 10.3 rebounds and 3.5 blocks in the 15 conference games prior to last night's matchup against Purdue. She has scored more than 30 points three times this season, including a 35-point, 11-rebound game against Minnesota's Janel McCarville, and had one of the best performances in college basketball last Sunday.

Though the Spartans pulled off a two-point win, Davenport notched her first triple-double: 19 points, 13 rebounds and 12 blocks. Those are some scary numbers, especially when coupled with a game that has so much bearing.

"I think we played her very, very well last time," Portland said. "She's tall, she's agile, she's fluid on her feet. She really is a great post player."

Penn State has had the luxury of a bye week to rest up and to prepare. Ohio State had to deal with the Spartans last Sunday in East Lansing and Purdue last night in West Lafayette, Ind.

The Lady Lions, on the other hand, have played four of the conference's bottom five teams in the last four games and have built up some momentum with a four-game win streak.

"Where we wanted to be was certainly not in this position," Portland said. "Where we wanted to be was no losses, but that's not what we have to play with right now. We have to focus on what's in front of us. You have to come up with a sense of closure to your goals and this is a great way to see if they are really, really focused on what they said they were going to do."

Another side story to Sunday's game is the Big Ten scoring crown. Before last night's game against Purdue, Davenport was averaging 19.2 points per game. Penn State's Tanisha Wright is averaging 19.3.

Wright scored 22 in December, but it was Penn State guard Jess Strom who dominated the stat sheet, with nine points, nine assists and 12 rebounds.