Conference Outlook: Penn State

The Nittany Lions are tabbed as preseason co-favorites to win the conference with Purdue. They return NCAA scoring champion junior Kelly Mazzante, who averaged nearly 25 points per game. Meanwhile, they went further than any other Big Ten team last year, advancing to the Mideast Regional Semifinals, before losing to eventual national champion University of Connecticut. The team has no seniors on its roster, but have four juniors and five sophomores. \n"Our team is sort of anxious to sustain what we did last season," said coach Rene Portland, who is in her 23rd year at Penn State. "After losing to the national champion that motivates you to want to do a little bit better. We want to get as far as we did last season and then just kick it into another gear"