Minutes removed from Sunday afternoon's victory over Syracuse, the members of the Lady Lions were greeted in their locker room by packets of information on South Carolina, who they will meet at 7 tonight in the Bryce Jordan Center.

"We don't have much turn around time," Penn State head coach Rene Portland said. "So, we gotta put something away and get really fired up."

The Gamecocks (1-0) are the third installment in a hellish season-opening four-game stretch that spans only one week. So maintaining mental focus -- as well as staying healthy -- will be crucial as the Lady Lions (2-0) take their next step.

"These two games will be a great measuring stick to their enthusiasm," Portland said Sunday. "You just don't play the game of basketball, you have to love playing the game of basketball. Get yourself fired up and start thinking about the next game as soon as they take their uniforms off tonight."

The enthusiasm Portland spoke about was absent for a portion of the first half of the home opener against Syracuse. And she said that it was also noticeably missing in the practices leading up to Sunday's game.

So when Syracuse clogged the lane with a 2-3 zone against the Lady Lions, they didn't step up quite like Portland would've liked -- something that will have to change intrinsically against a veteran, "very physical" South Carolina team.

"We didn't really respond, in the first half, to somebody being strong to us," she said. "You can't create that over night, it's a mind-set of just attacking back, but the fact that they're experienced, we don't have that yet. We have to run against them, we have to be strong with the basketball."

South Carolina, which has 12 returning players, including all five starters, should similarly jam things up near the post. Eight players on the Gamecocks roster stand over 6-feet tall, with two hulking forwards, 6-foot-6 Illona Burgrova and 6-foot-5 Iva Sliskovic, and they will also play a lot of zone defense. Senior forward Melanie Johnson, who was tabbed the South Eastern Conference Player of the Week, led South Carolina in its season-opening win against East Tennessee State, scoring 23 points.

The Lions have six players 6-feet or taller, but only one taller than 6-foot-3. So an emphasis on the perimeter shooting -- as it was against Syracuse -- might be heightened tonight.

Though South Carolina has a distinct height advantage and the Lady Lions are running on little rest, sturdy sophomore point guard Brianne O'Rourke doesn't think they will be affected.

"We'll be ready for Tuesday, I think," she said on Sunday. "Having four games in seven days is not easy, but we're going to come in with our mentality and we'll be all right. Just working to the next game. And I think our coaches will have us ready and our bodies will be able to make it through."

And just in case the team wasn't ready for yesterday's practice, on Sunday Portland promised that it would be.

"The energy of what I see [Monday], if I don't see it, they're going to have it before they walk out of that gym," Portland said.

"Because I think it's too exciting for us to play these [three] games at home ... This will be a test of their endurance. This will be a test of how much they value this building."