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SECOND THOUGHTS Loaded with veteran players, the Lady Lions look to repeat as conference champs There's a sense of urgency surrounding the Penn State women's basketball program as it heads into the Big Ten season. The Lady Lions are a seniorladen team, and while the presence of so many proven veterans bodes well for the upcoming conference campaign, it also means the clock is ticking. With five of 11 players set to graduate after the 2012-13 season, the Lady Lions are going to look very different a year from now. For Alex Bentley, Mia Nickson and Nikki Greene, the future is now. It bears mentioning that the conference is going to look very different, too, in the coming years. The Big Ten's decision to welcome Maryland and Rutgers may not have set the college football world ablaze with excitement, but it will have a major impact on the balance of power in women's basketball. Maryland has been a perennial contender in the Atlantic Coast Conference and won the 2006 national championship; Rutgers has been to two Final Fours since 2000 and was Penn State's fiercest rival back when both schools were in the Atlantic 10. The Terps and Scarlet Knights are set to join the Big Ten in 2014. In the meantime, here's a look at what PSU is up against in the coming months. LAST SEASON Penn State won the Big Ten regular-season championship with a 13-3 record. The only conference teams to defeat them were Michigan State and Purdue. However, the Lady Lions failed to hold their seed at the Big Ten tournament, falling to the Boilermakers, 68-66, in the semifinal round. FAVORITES Let's round up the usual suspects, shall we? Penn State was the preseason pick to win the conference regular-season crown and looks to be ready to fulfill those lofty expec- BIG TEN PREVIEW PennStateLive MVP CANDIDATE Lucas, a junior guard, is off to a blazing start for the Lady Lions. tations, despite a 67-52 loss at Connecticut on Dec. 6. Ohio State is a perennial favorite under veteran coach Jim Foster. As of this writing, the Buckeyes' only losses were to nationally ranked Notre Dame and North Carolina. Purdue won seven of its first eight games, but its loss to Connecticut was a lot uglier than Penn State's, a 91-57 thrashing at the U.S. Virgin Islands' Paradise Jam. DARK HORSES Michigan State is off to the best start in the program's history. Can the Spartans maintain their momentum after they trade Grand Valley State and Robert Morris for Penn State and Purdue? They defeated Penn State twice last season, so they can't be ruled out. Nebraska is highly regarded, but a 60-55 loss to South Dakota State raises concerns. MVP CANDIDATES Penn State guards Alex Bentley and Maggie Lucas go right to the top of the short list. Lucas, in par- ticular, is off to a fast start, ranking 16th in the country in scoring as of this writing (21.4 points per game) and eighth in 3-point field goal percentage (56.1). Ohio State senior guard Tayler Hill shared preseason Player of the Year honors with Bentley, while Nebraska junior forward Jordan Hooper and Purdue junior guard Courtney Moses are likely to merit consideration as well. Illinois senior forward Karisma Penn is a standout on a team whose outlook is uncertain under first-year coach Matt Bollant. PENN STATE'S CHANCES The Lady Lions are wearing a target this year, but it's not an unfamiliar sensation. "This team has experience with that," Lucas said. "We were on top of the Big Ten last year. This is a whole different year, so we just try to go in and play our style of basketball and set the pace." That pace is brisk, to say the least. Opponents will have to be prepared for a three-guard attack featuring Bentley, Lucas and Dara Taylor. Penn State's stellar backcourt should ensure that the defending champs contend for another regularseason crown. As for the tournament, anything can happen. Six of the league's 12 teams have won the crown at least once, and nobody in the Big Ten looks to be head-and-shoulders above the pack this season. Penn State probably comes closest, but it hasn't won the tournament since 1996. The tourney is moving this season from Indianapolis to the Sears Centre Arena in suburban Chicago. The move may diminish the home-court edge that Purdue has parlayed into a league-high eight tournament titles, including last year's. But for Penn State the tourney is merely a steppingstone, a chance to secure the kind of seed that will help it advance to the Elite Eight or beyond at NCAAs. – M.H.

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