Maybe it's an identity crisis, or maybe it's just a crisis.

It used to be the same formula for the Penn State women's basketball team: three guards and two posts -- try and stop it. But this season, the offense has gone from what Lady Lions head coach Rene Portland described as "ass backwards" to other desperate measures.

"We haven't had time to really groom all the looks when we're just trying to get a look out on the basketball court," Portland said.

In the second half against Illinois, Portland sent out four guards and her last hopes for a victory. Freshman Mashea Williams came into the game and scored all of her 12 points in the second half with freshman point guard Brianne O'Rourke and sophomores Kamela Gissendanner and Adrienne Squire alongside.

Portland hoped that Williams, who she calls both offensive-minded and a defensive stopper, could provide the dual surge, but the Lady Lions would only pull within four, eventually losing, 66-57. The number of adjectives for respective players has proved role-dividing is a hard task.

"It gives us different kinds of looks that is really going to depend on what the game gives us," Portland said.

While Williams has been tagged as the two-guard, and O'Rourke has been deemed the 40-minute point guard, others have not quite caught on. A main reason for that loss was Penn State's 2-for-17 performance from beyond the arc, mostly attributed to Squire's 1-for-10 from 3-point range.

Errant and overzealous 3-point shooting had already happened against Michigan State on Jan. 5, when the Lady Lions threw up 21 threes, hitting five. If one positive came from that game, Portland said it was that it became evident that only one player is allowed to be the downtown specialist.

"It's Adrienne Squire," Portland said. "And for some odd reason she thinks she can penetrate."

The four-guard display was not something Portland intends on using permanently, because the most experienced backcourt player is Gissendanner. When Williams missed three games with a knee injury, the Lady Lions would often use three post players.

Problem: Penn State's premier post player, Amanda Brown, has been playing the role of prisoner to turnovers and fouls. Brown is second on the Lady Lions in turnovers with 57.

The leader of the offense is O'Rourke, but she also has the most turnovers with 59.

Fouls have also been cutting down Brown's minutes, as she leads the team with 52. Without their co-captain on the floor, the Lady Lions have just tried to find themselves on the court.

"Right now we're just trying to feel our strengths, get through some foul problems when Amanda gets in foul trouble," Portland said.

More trouble lies in the fact that Brown has been unable to create shots, having 20 total assists. O'Rourke, on the other hand, leads the Big Ten in assists with 5.5 per game.

It all translates to lost shot opportunities early in possessions that run through the post. In a game where scoring more than your opponents is the objective, Penn State is averaging 1.1 less points per game than its opponents.

But Portland does not want to panic. She won't abandon her normal game plan for circumstance.

It would be impossible to change a playbook that classifies more as a textbook or tome.

"I'm not going to trash the post play because we had great success here at Penn State with a more balanced kind of attack," Portland said.

This year's success has amounted to a below .500 record. The search for a winning identity that works is still ongoing.