If there is one player on the Penn State women's basketball team who best reflects the highs and lows of the 2006-07 season, it would be guard Kam Gissendanner.

Trading impressive home victories for disappointing road losses, the Lady Lions' success has wavered, and Gissendanner is no exception. While the team's overall record is just below .500, it boasts a 7-1 record at home and holds a woeful 2-9 road record. After losing by 14 points in Ann Arbor on Jan. 7, the Lady Lions returned home this past weekend and beat that same Michigan team by that same margin.

Similarly, Gissendanner's season has been far from consistent. Last year, the transfer from N.C. State started every game for the Lady Lions, winning the Big Ten Player of the Week award after scoring 34 points in an overtime victory against Texas Tech in early December. She also finished the 2005-06 season ranked ninth in scoring in the Big Ten with 14.8 points per game.

This year, as a junior co-captain, she was removed from the starting lineup against Western Kentucky on Nov. 25, as head coach Rene Portland juggled players to halt a two-game losing skid. With Gissendanner's demotion came offensive struggles, scoring only four points against Xavier and Pittsburgh and not registering a point in six minutes during a loss at Mississippi.

But just when her season was at its lowest, Gissendanner returned to her usual offensive output, leading the team with 18 points in the Big Ten opener against Illinois in late December. Gissendanner has led the team in scoring in four of the first six conference games.

"I've never been gone. I was in a little lull," Gissendanner said. "Everything is going a lot better now. My teammates are getting me the ball in a position where I can score. I just give all the credit to my teammates for wanting the ball to be in my hands at the appropriate time."

Gissendanner's playing time increased after the departure of junior guard Adrienne Squire, who left the team during the holiday break for unspecified reasons. Gissendanner re-entered the starting lineup for a Dec. 28 game against Illinois, and led the team with 18 points. Portland, who has had three different starting lineups this season, has recently been pleased with the Lady Lion's play at the opening whistle, giving credit to the group of starters that once again includes Gissendanner.

"Our start [against Michigan on Sunday] was really great," Portland said. "I know when we played Ohio State we hung in there really tight early, so maybe the lineup changes were a good thing for us to do with Kam [Gissendanner] and [guard] Mashea [Williams] and the group that's the lineup right now."

Not only has Gissendanner's recent dominant play helped boost the energy of the starting five, but she has also caught the attention of Michigan head coach Cheryl Burnett. Like the rest of her Penn State team, which defeated Michigan and only lost by two to No. 5 Ohio State last Thursday, Gissendanner is again playing at the top of her game and others have noticed.

"She's multidimensional," Burnett said. "She did a great job with her size and finishing inside. She runs the floor well, she rebounds well, she has a pull-up jumper and dribble penetration.

"We really felt that we guarded her pretty well at home, but she still scored. We really had some great contested shots, [but] she still hit some big shots. Great players are going to hit some big shots even when you're defending them pretty well."