The No. 13 Penn State women's basketball team is hurting.

The Lady Lions (14-4, 5-1 Big Ten) picked the wrong time to be hurting as they are in the midst of a stretch where they will play five games in 11 days.

Tonight is the third game of the stretch as Old Dominion is in town for a 7 p.m. tip-off at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Sophomore forward Ashli Schwab is battling a leg injury and will not start. Her replacement will be sophomore Hazel Joseph, who saw her most extended action of the season with 27 minutes on Sunday against Michigan State.

Schwab's limited minutes mean that the Lions will lose low-post scoring ability, but that does not mean that Joseph will be expected to score like Schwab. Portland just wants Joseph to run the court and rebound.

Sophomore Jess Strom returned to the starting lineup on Sunday after a four-game hiatus. Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland said that Strom had not been starting due to a conditioning problem. Junior guard Kelly Mazzante has been fighting the flu, but will get the start against the Monarchs.

The Lions will get no break on the floor tonight when they play the ultra-physical Monarchs (8-5).

The Monarchs outrebounded the Lions last season in Old Dominion by a margin of 21, 52-31.

The Lions have also been beaten on the boards in five of their last six games, including Sunday's 38-20 differential against Michigan State.

"We know [the rebounding problem] is a concern," Portland said. "Certainly a team like Old Dominion gets a lot of offense off second attempts. That will be a focal point and we need to correct the things we did the other night against Michigan State."

The Old Dominion squad that comes into Happy Valley tonight will be much different than the one the Lions saw last season. The Monarchs graduated four starters from last season, and all four were drafted in the WNBA.

The new Monarchs won't be starry-eyed against the nationally ranked Lions as they have already played Tennessee and Duke this season.

Affecting the Monarchs all season has been the lack of consistency they have been getting from their players.

This could be attributed to having four new starters or the fact that senior guard Okeisha Howard has had to change position from last season.

Old Dominion women's basketball coach Wendy Larry believes that can be the difference between a good team and a great team like Penn State.

"Kelly Mazzante, Tanisha Wright and Jess Brungo. You can count on those three kids day in and day out for double digit points and five rebounds," Larry said on her radio show on ESPN radio. "Every once in a while not only are the consistent three giving you that, but someone else like Jess Strom blows up too."

Penn State trails the all-time series 4-2.