Dance Card: Penn State, Big Ten at-large

Who? The Lady Lions of Penn State. Someday, I hope some Penn State coach has the nerve to get rid of that moniker.

What? The Nittany Lion is a mountain lion, and it should always wear that nifty scarf.

Where? State College, Pennsylvania. We're not bringing up the football program.

When? March 24th, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Why? They were the Big Ten regular season champions.

How? They were an at-large selection.

Surprise? Predicted to finish first in the conference by both the coaches and the media, they finished in first, two games ahead of Nebraska.

RPI: 7

SOS: 13

Record: 25-5 (14-2 Big Ten)

Good wins: At Texas A&M.

Bad losses: At Wisconsin.

Who's running this show? Coquese Washington, since 2007. She's a lawyer, too!

Extra, Extra! The Patriot-News.

There are few shooters anywhere in the country as dangerous as junior Maggie Lucas (44.4% from the field, 47.5% from beyond the arc, 89.6% from the line), who stokes a high-powered Penn State offense with her 20.5 points per game. Senior Alex Bentley has struggled to adjust to the point guard position, but can still contribute on offense (14.0 points per game) and defense (106 steals on the year, over 3 per game). Senior center Nikki Greene provides muscle in the middle, with 8.9 points and 8.2 rebounds- but at just over 3 fouls per game, it's hard for Coquese Washington to keep her in.