THROWING MUSES, “University” (<i> Sire</i> ) *** 1/2

When it comes to women in rock, Courtney Love and Liz Phair dominate the headlines, and the Breeders and Belly (led by former Muse Tanya Donelly) have gotten more chart action. But Kristin Hersh’s songs have long set the alternative-rock standard for reflections from the shattered mirror of a female psyche.

“University,” with striking lyrical and musical imagery, culminates a steady maturing process, presenting a powerful thesis on that psyche’s resilience. Having cleared her head and changed her pace with an intimate 1994 solo album, Hersh returns to the band (restructured as a taut trio) with a greater focus and wider textural palette than on past Muses albums.

Her wordplay is still made from emotional shrapnel: “With your bright yellow gun you own the sun / And I think I need a little poison / To keep me tame, keep me awake / I have nothing to offer but confusion,” she sings in the opening “Bright Yellow Gun.”

But now there’s an active sense of ideas, feeling--life, for that matter--being pulled together with a creative confidence. “University” meets the promise evident when Hersh arrived as a precocious teen and suggests that she could be a force for years.

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).