Hiding an elephant is no easy task, but the Penn State women's basketball team has found a way to do it.

Despite former Lady Lion Jennifer Harris alleging that Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland dismissed her from the team because she believed Harris to be a lesbian, practice has been running smoothly for the Lady Lions.

In fact, the team didn't even mention Harris, instead choosing to focus their energy on practice, especially with a scrimmage scheduled against Bucknell at 7 tonight at Lewisburg.

"We don't really talk about it much at all because it doesn't really come up," freshman point guard Brianne O'Rourke said. "We just stay away from it actually. We try to make it not a big deal. We're just focusing more on the season and forgetting about that."

Portland declined to comment specifically on whether or not the allegations were causing a distraction during practice.

"Anything I say about that, I've already said. My job is to coach this team, and that's my intention," she said. "I've already said what I'm going to say. You can go down any road you want. I made a statement."

Portland's statement, issued Oct. 14, supported the university's discrimination policy, claiming Harris was dismissed because of a poor work ethic both on and off the court.

With a young team -- the team has four freshman and no seniors -- Portland has had to focus on covering the entire basketball spectrum to get her team ready for its first real competition against Duke on Nov. 18 at home. Many experts consider Duke to be the nation's best team.

At practice, the team has practiced the pick-and-roll offense as well as easier rebounding and defensive drills.

"We're doing everything, to be quite honest, considering our youth, considering we open with Duke," Portland said laughing. "We have to be the master of things."

The scrimmage against Bucknell will be the first time this season the Lady Lions will not be playing against their all-male practice squad. The scored contest will be two 20-minute periods, connected by a 20-minute interlude that will allow each coach to arrange certain plays for 10 minutes each.

O'Rourke said the team has been jelling well, attributing the quick start to extra practices allowed this

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year. As the team watches film and continues to practice, it has gotten an idea of what each player brings to the court.

While Portland is impressed with how quickly the team has learned the playbook, she does have concerns about turnovers and stamina.

"I could always use another day of practice," she said laughing.

O'Rourke has been thrown right into the mix as the starting point guard and has impressed coaches with her ability to move the ball so far.

Despite the allegations surrounding Portland, O'Rourke has focused solely on getting ready for the season rather than worrying about any off-the-court issues.

"At first it was shocking, but then I got over it," she said.

And by all accounts, so have the rest of the Lady Lions, who are content to worry about rebounding and passing while keeping the elephant locked outside of the Bryce-Jordan Center.

"Nothing has been brought into practice, not one thing," O'Rourke said.