FEARLESS
by JAY NATOLI
| Kam Gissendanner leapt at the chance to contribute in 2005. The sophomore is a leader of the Lady Lions offensive attack. |
Heading into the second overtime period of the Texas Tech game on Dec. 4, Penn State head coach Rene Portland wasn't just running out of time.
She was running out of Lady Lions.
Penn State stretched its lead to 46-38 at the four-minute mark of regulation and looked poised to hang on for an important early-season win. But the Lady Raiders, intent on stealing a rare win in the Bryce Jordan Center, mounted a furious comeback to tie things up and send the game into overtime.
The extra basketball was bad news for the Lady Lions, who were already undermanned. Playing without starting guard Mashea Williams who was out with injury, the Lions had also lost stars Amanda Brown and Adrienne Squire and key newcomers Brianne O'Rourke and Charity Renfro, who had all fouled out late in the contest. When the game moved into a second overtime, Portland had just five eligible players left - and they were all on the floor.
Turns out, all she needed was one. Sophomore Kam Gissendanner took charge, scoring a total of 14 points during the two overtime periods to lead the Lady Lions to a thrilling 78-72 win over the nation's No. 24 ranked team. Gissendanner finished with a whopping 34 points, the most by a Lady Lion since 2002 when Kelly Mazzante scored 34 against Wisconsin in a Big Ten Tournament game.
"Coming down the last few minutes of that double overtime, I thought we did a good job," Gissendanner remembers. "Everyone knew their roles. My role in those last five minutes was to take control and score. I like having the ball in my hands. That's what my team needed me to do, so..." Her voice trails off.
So that's what she did. But for Gissendanner, can it be that simple? The experience is all new to her. She's never been a captain at any level and is playing a major role in big-time intercollegiate basketball for the first time since transferring from NC State and sitting out the 2004-05 season per NCAA rules.
Furthermore, the Penn State program is in a rare rebuilding state, already two years removed from turning regularly to its all-time leading scorer, the clutch Mazzante, and the calming influence of Jess Brungo. Moreover, last year brought to an end the careers of backcourt stalwarts Jess Strom and Tanisha Wright, both All-Big Ten guards, and veterans so seasoned they should've had a photo and biography listed on the assistant coach page of the media guide.
And of the 10 players on the 2005-06 roster, only Amanda Brown had even started a game coming into this season. There are six new names and no seniors on the roster, so this season might be the most critical time ever to be a Lady Lion captain. There's a reason Gissendanner was chosen. "She's blunt, she tells it like it is," Portland says. "There have been one or two instances where she's had to confront the freshmen and tell them they're wrong, and the kids really listen to her. They trust what she's saying."
Gissendanner's instant credibility comes from a close relationship with Strom and Wright, whose influence still colors the Lady Lion program despite the fact that each has finished their eligibility and moved on.
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"I've been comfortable ever since I got here," Gissendanner says. "Jess and Tanisha, I've known them since forever, since I started playing basketball. We played on the same AAU teams, so I was just coming to another team where I already had friends, and that made it a lot easier. I talk to Tanisha on my bad days, I call her up.
She talks me through things, tells me things are going to get better. She's a great role model for a lot of people." For now, Portland is happy that Gissendanner has inherited Wright's fearless attitude.
"Kam is getting it done, and she's doing it as a worker," Portland says. "In the Texas Tech game she put the team on her back. She's not afraid of being a leader. She was really waiting for this year. She's handled it very well so far. She has been a joy to work with."