Following surgery over the summer, Hazel Joseph was in such bad shape that she needed to use an electric cart to get around campus.

This came after a season in which the 6-foot-3 forward averaged just over one point and rebound per game. The Lady Lions did not figure to miss her services too much if she was unable to fully recover in time from surgery to start this season. The Lions had three forwards ahead of Joseph on the depth-chart, plus Tiffany Tomlinson, who red-shirted last season.

Joseph needed surgery to repair a torn meniscus in both of her knees as well as an ankle spur.

"It was the hardest experience of my life," Joseph said. "I kept on thinking maybe I should red-shirt, but I kept thinking maybe I can make it through."

The idea of red-shirting also went through the mind of Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland.

However, things changed when Jackie Shook transferred and Courtney Upshaw left the team, leaving Joseph as the back-up center with the season rapidly approaching.

"The main thing when Courtney quit was my having to become a five [center]," Joseph said. "I thought it would put me in a disadvantage because last year I was a four."

Earlier this season, Portland stressed that Joseph's job was to run the floor and rebound when starting center Ashli Schwab needed a break. Schwab's emergence this season was huge for the Lions, but when she and her 8.7 points and 6.5 rebounds a game went down in early January with a stress fracture of her right tibia, Portland had no other option but to make the call to Joseph.

Joseph had not only been battling to get her legs up to par, but she was also integrating a new shooting technique. She began shooting left-handed, because Portland noticed that something just wasn't right.

"At the end of the season, we were really frustrated with her shooting," she said. "It's obvious to me she was left-handed. We started working with the left hand."

Now battling injuries and a new shooting hand, Joseph also had to get her teammates not only used to playing with her in games, but confident in her abilities. She went about this by doing all that she could on the practice floor.

"This kid just gave incredible hours in the training room," Portland said. "She needs a bag of ice after every practice."

However, practice was no longer where Joseph needed to prove herself. Now she had to make a name for herself in Big Ten play.

In her first three games as a starter, Joseph averaged around 20 minutes, while scoring just 10 points and nine rebounds total, but then when Ohio State came to Happy Valley -- in a game the Lions needed to win -- Joseph proved that she belongs.

Joseph dropped 12 points and pulled down eight boards in almost 30 minutes, and after the game Ohio State women's basketball coach Jim Foster seemed to be at a loss for words when talking about her performance.

He said it was the game of her life, and he never expected her to play this well.

"I was happy that I was able to help out my team," Joseph said. "The only person I surprised was myself. My teammates always knew I could do it."

Throughout this whole process of joining the starting lineup, Joseph has been helped along by Schwab, who although unable to play, has been instrumental in teaching Joseph with every opportunity. Schwab also knows Joseph's predicament from personal experience with surgery.

"When I got forced into the five, the fact that she was encouraging really helped a lot," Joseph said. "We have seen each other when we're both really down, she understands. As long as the job is getting done, both of us are happy."

Joseph has started the last seven games for the Lions, who currently sit in first place in the conference. While not posting the gaudy numbers, she has done everything the team could have asked of her and more.

Schwab is now practicing fully, but Joseph's strong performances are going to give Portland a decision to make about how much playing time each will get down the stretch.

"I think for Rene it took Ashli getting hurt to show that I can play," Joseph said. "I think if we split time it'll be a good change-up. Power and speed should help us in the post."

Joseph has come a long way from pushing around an electric cart over the summer, to pushing around defenders in the low post.