More than a month out of the wrapper, the Big Ten season has lost its plastic-like, new-toy smell for the Penn State women's basketball team.

Nine games into the 16-game conference season, the Lady Lions aren't walking up to Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland with anymore childish observations about their playground.

"The thing they liked about the Purdue gym was that they could bounce the ball at half court and they could hear some echo," Portland said.

"And I was like, 'Why are we even talking about it?' "

It is normal for a young child to want to play around and ask their mother curious questions, such as "Why is the sky blue?" and "Where do babies come from?" But with the first five games of Penn State's first seven Big Ten contests on the road, the players have been learning the little things as they go. It has been entertaining at times.

"The youth of this program has been pretty comical at times," Portland said. "They had no clue. They have a clue now."

Yet the slow learning process has not always been a game of patty-cake. Portland remembers one game where junior co-captain Amanda Brown got frustrated with the younger players because they are a "slow group." Coming to practice at 1:50 p.m. instead of the scheduled 2 p.m. was a chore.

And just the toughness of "not counting their black and blue marks," was something that Portland thankfully has in the past.

Instead, the topic of particular interest for this group has been the opposing team's courts. Portland frequently recalls the story of freshman point guard Brianne O'Rourke questioning if the floor at Ohio State was any bigger than at Penn State. It was just an illusion of a creative little mind.

"She didn't understand that it was just red, it wasn't blue," Portland said.

More recently, Portland had to explain to the Lady Lions the ins and outs of Williams Arena at Minnesota. One of the few raised courts in the country, the floor extends above the actual benches. This left Portland standing, as she called it, "on a podium," while her players sat "in a hole."

"Who falls off this was their first question," Portland said.

Beyond the fear of falling off the court was the actual fear of bumping heads with the No. 14 Golden Gophers. Playing the actual game against Minnesota's two 6-foot-3 towers inside, junior forwards Liz Podominick and Jamie Broback, was a trial by fire. The key against that team was to "give the first hit."

This was an imposing thought when both players are raised a couple of feet toward the arena roof by the elevation of the playing surface. Yet Penn State didn't show fear in this trial by fire on the court, coming out of Minneapolis with a close 77-72 loss.

If the players didn't know how to fight back, they certainly adapted quickly. Junior forward Charity Renfro, who Portland fears could hurt her herself in celebrations with O'Rourke, sent a clear message to Minnesota's players.

"I saw her clean somebody's clock," Portland said.

These flashes of maturity aren't the first that have caught the eye of outside onlookers. O'Rourke has impressed several Big Ten coaches with her ability to lead Penn State at a young age. She leads the conference in assists with 5.3 assists per game.

"I had an official say to me Saturday night, 'What year is No. 3?' " Portland said. "He actually thought she was sitting on the bench all last year."

The second time around the merry-go-round, the Lady Lions should have fewer questions. Purdue, the same team whose court amazed the Penn State players in the teams' first playtime together, will visit the Bryce Jordan Center on Sunday.

After this weekend, Portland hopes to know more about where her program stands in front of the ruler measuring growth. Physically the team might not have changed, because the years don't come any quicker, but the dimensions of the playground remain the same.

"There was a newness about the Big Ten that they had to understand," Portland said. "Now we'll see if they understand."