For years, filling out a bracket for the first round of the women's NCAA tournament was not challenging.

But with parity suddenly becoming the norm in the women's game, that's no longer the case.

Though fourth-seeded Penn State has to be considered a heavy favorite entering its first-round NCAA tournament game against 13th-seeded Liberty University of Lynchburg, Va., Sunday in College Park, Md., the Lady Lions would be making a big mistake if they looked past the Lady Flames.

"They come to the table with a complete game, and they are going to do some really good things," Penn State coach Rene Portland said.

Liberty has dominated the Big South Conference for the last decade and has won the league title for the last nine years, yet has no wins to show for nine straight NCAA appearances. The Lady Flames feature one of the tallest players in the history of the women's game in 6-foot-8 center Katie Feenstra. Feenstra has imposed her will on the Big South throughout her career, winning conference player of the year honors the last three seasons. She ended her career by leading the Big South in scoring, rebounding, field-goal percentage and blocked shots this year.

Feenstra's presence is also felt at the defensive end, where she and her teammates held opponents to only 53 points per game. Lady Lions senior forward Ashli Schwab will most likely be called on to shut down Feenstra. Schwab said that, despite Feenstra's size, she will not approach the assignment differently than any other post player she has guarded.

"I think the biggest difference is going to be boxing out for me on defense. She's so tall and her arms are so long," Schwab said. "I kind of experienced that with [Ohio State pivot player Jessica] Davenport; sometimes I had her boxed out, or at least I thought I did, but she just reached over me."

The Lady Flames faced Ohio State and Big Ten Player of the year Davenport about one week after Penn State beat the Buckeyes in State College. Ohio State pounded Liberty, 66-51.

Feenstra did outscore Davenport 17-6 and did out-rebound her, 11-4, however, and that may not bode well for Schwab.

"Their offensive rebounding is phenomenal," Portland said. "They are very solid, they shoot the ball well, they play a solid 2-3 zone."

The only other opponent that both teams have in common is Duke. The Blue Devils annihilated Liberty, 83-48, and pulled out a close game against Penn State nearly a month earlier, 66-58. Both games were at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Without a doubt, Liberty's biggest win of the year came on Dec. 4, when it beat Kansas State, a No. 4 seed in the tourney's Kansas City Region.

The Wildcats were playing without their leading scorer, Kendra Wecker. The Lady Flames took advantage and hung a 77-56 loss on K-State.

"If you play them on a night that they are committed to getting Feenstra the ball and the small forwards are shooting well, they are very formidable," Kansas State coach Deb Patterson said.