Purdue figured that its matchup at Penn State Monday night would be a big one, but perhaps even more so now.

With the Nittany Lions surprising loss at Wisconsin Thursday night ? PSU had beaten the Badgers by 42 a few weeks earlier at home ? Purdue moved into a first-place tie atop the Big Ten. Now, the winner of Monday's game in Happy Valley will have a one-game edge with seven league games left to play.

But Purdue (18-3 overall, 7-1 in the Big Ten) expects PSU (17-3, 7-1) to have plenty of motivation.

"I feel like they're always extra charged against us, but I feel like that's going to be an extra kicker, with them coming off a loss," Drey Mingo said. "So I feel we have to make sure we stay poised in a hostile environment."

Purdue's rivalry with Penn State is again one of the best in the Big Ten. The teams split their meetings last season, with the Nittany Lions winning in Mackey Arena in the regular season, before Purdue got revenge on a buzzer-beater in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament.

"That would be my message to motivate," Coach Sharon Versyp said of the Lions' 68-66 loss to Purdue. "And they're going to be coming off of a loss. When you lose, you come back and are wired tight. They're going to get after it, so we have to be ready."

Although Purdue has won 12 of the last 15 in the series, and five in a row at the Bryce Jordan Center, the seventh-ranked Nittany Lions present quite the challenge. Led by junior Maggie Lucas' 19.9 points per game average ? Alex Bentley adds 12.9 ? PSU scores a Big Ten-best 73.6 points per game. It's second nationally in three-point percentage, shooting at 39.6 percent.

And the Nittany Lions have interior presence as well, with 6-foot-4 center Nikki Greene and 6-2 forward Mia Nickson combining to average nearly 17 points and 15 rebounds per game.

Previously, the Lions had been largely guard-oriented, but they're getting production inside, too.

"They have both," Versyp said. "They can go down low with Greene or with Nickson; she hurts us quite a bit. They rotate some big bodies in."

In the Big Ten Tournament in March, Purdue won with its defense, particularly on Lucas. The Boilermakers face-guarded the star, keeping a defender directly in front of her with little regard for what else was happening on the floor. It worked; Lucas scored only nine on 3-of-11 shooting in 40 minutes. She had scored 28 in Penn State's win at Mackey Arena earlier in the season.

"You can't let her get even one second of being open," said KK Houser, who had first-half defensive responsibilities on Lucas in the win last season, before Purdue threw several bodies at her in the second. "She'll knock it down or take it to the hole. Just face-guarding and putting a lot of pressure on her. I'm sure she remembers the game where we wouldn't even let her touch the ball, which we hope to do similar things this game.

"Taking her or Alex Bentley out of the game would be huge for us."

Monday's matchup is a big one, not only because it's between the league leaders but because it's the only one of the season. Penn State doesn't travel to Mackey Arena. And now, with PSU's loss at Wisconsin, it's for first-place outright.

"Anytime you play any team on the road, it's huge," Versyp said. "I knew all the teams weren't going to be undefeated; in this league, anything can happen."

* Chantel Poston didn't play against IU Thursday night in an effort to rest the senior as much as possible before Monday's game with Penn State.

The forward has suffered knee soreness following her return from surgery in December. The former starter is averaging only 13.3 minutes per game during the Big Ten, down significantly from expectation.

"She wasn't recovering really well after games, so we decided we were going to give her the week off," Versyp explained. "She can be prepared for Penn State, then we can give her three days off again before Michigan (on Sunday).

"What we were doing, we weren't getting the results, so we'll try something different."

Purdue could use Poston against the Nittany Lions. The Boilers' most athletic wing, particularly when she's healthy, Poston can be a big, physical defender vs. Lucas and Co.

"We need her to be pretty solid," Versyp said. "If we can get 15 to 20 minutes out of her from here on in, it would be good."

* Mingo spent some extra time in Cardinal Court Thursday night, following a 1-of-11 shooting performance vs. the Hoosiers. The senior scored only three points, coming on a three-pointer in the second half. She missed all eight of her two-point attempts, many of them blocked near the basket.

She says she needs to make some adjustments, particularly when playing against taller posts.

"I really have to work on that," Mingo said. "And knowing that power isn't always going to be the best option. You have to face up and go around to the basket."

Mingo has struggled to shoot in two consecutive home games, going 4 of 24 vs. Northwestern and Indiana. But she sandwiched those performances with a 10-of-14 effort in the overtime win at Michigan State.

"I really just want to give the home crowd a better effort than I have been," she said.