Forgive Rene Portland for telling all of the doubters "I told you so."

Even before the season started she pronounced her four-year starter at point guard the best in the Big Ten, so there is no doubt about how Portland is feeling now after Jess Strom's recent four-game stretch.

Coming off the Lady Lions' loss to then-No. 12 Texas Tech, a game in which Strom had a season-high seven turnovers and just two assists, Strom has been the glaring catalyst in Penn State's 3-0 Big Ten start.

Just this past week Strom was named the Big Ten Player of the Week for the first time in her career, a feat that just might be proof of others realizing what Portland has known all along.

"I do declare she still is the best point guard in this league," Portland said on Dec. 30 after a 69-62 win against Ohio State.

"Maybe some of you will start believing me soon."

Portland's affirmation came on a night when Strom couldn't buy a bucket. She shot 1 of 8 from the floor, but managed to outrebound everyone on the court (with 12) and hit key free throws down the stretch. Strom came within a point and an assist of getting her first career triple-double.

It was an effort that not only jumped off of the stat sheet, but also caught the attention of the opposing coach.

"She does it on a day when she can't throw a ball in the ocean," Ohio State coach Jim Foster said after the Dec. 30 game. "She found a way to help her basketball team. She found a way to do the little things that are necessary to win a basketball game."

It's those little things that are expected of a point guard, but since the Texas Tech game, Strom has taken on a bigger task when her team's knees were on the verge of crumbling.

It was earlier in the season that Strom was fighting through stitches above her eye, a bad thumb and a nagging ankle injury. Now it's the smallest Lady Lions starter, all 5-foot-7 of her, who has become the most reliable.

She has played all 40 minutes of the past four games, and after her poor shooting night against the Buckeyes, Strom has led the Lady Lions in scoring all three games.

Her 91.8 percent free-throw shooting (first in the Big Ten, seventh in the nation) has certainly helped in close games.

With the Lions ahead by two against Iowa with 2:39 remaining, it was Strom who scored nine of Penn State's 11 final points -- seven from the line. The end result: a huge road win against the last remaining undefeated NCAA Division I team, along with a new career high of 29 points.

"It's exciting," Strom said of her Player of the Week honor. "It's never happened to me before, but I think that the best part of this week is that we got two good road wins."

Mixed with some of the younger players on the team, and against inexperienced opponents, Strom's knowledge of the court is most evident. Foster said that the most embarrassing part of his team's loss was the fact that Strom was the high rebounder. And it's not like she was boxing out the big 'uns down low. It's Strom's anticipation that seems to have her in the right place the majority of the right times.

Thus the reason that she leads the conference with 5.5 assists per game and ranks second in steals with 2.79. It's as though she knows where the ball is heading seconds before it actually goes there. If she stays on pace, Strom will challenge Tina Nicholson's assist mark (826) for second place all-time at Penn State. Were it to hold, her free-throw percentage would be the highest ever in the school's history.

However, what the school already knows might take the conference all season to figure out; that the best point guard in the Big Ten just may reside in State College.