Northwestern has not won a game since Dec. 17 and is still winless in the Big Ten.

Maybe it’s fortunate for the Wildcats (4-13, 0-6 Big Ten) that one of the two conference teams they beat last year, Penn State (7-9, 1-4), is coming to Welsh-Ryan Arena on Sunday.

“We played a fantastic game against Penn State here last year,” coach Beth Combs said. “Ifeoma (Okonkwo) had a great game and I know she’s looking forward to this year. I hope that at least she and A.J. (Glasauer) can carry a little bit of the momentum from last year into this year.”

Okonkwo scored 19 in the Cats’ 59-48 win last year.

Like the Cats, Penn State is a young team, with five freshmen and only one starter returning from last year’s 19-11 team.

Also like the Cats, the Nittany Lions have limped to a poor start in conference play, with their only win coming against 6-11 Wisconsin.

“At this point, we really just need a win,” Okonkwo said. “It doesn’t matter what team it is, but we need just some wins to show that we can play in this conference.”

Reach David Morrison at d-morrison @northwestern.edu.