Dec. 22, 2005
NORMAL, Ill. -
The freshman basketball season of Illinois State's Nicolle Lewis is apparently over. The 6-foot-5 center, who started the first eight games of her career, suffered a season-ending injury to her right knee and will have surgery in about a month to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
She was injured late in the Redbirds' 83-71 win Sunday at Texas-El Paso after scoring a career-high 12 points in the game. Lewis had elevated her play in recent games, averaging 10.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game over her final three contests.
Lewis returned to Normal with the team on Monday, had an MRI on Tuesday and the results showed what Redbird basketball athletics trainer Yvonne Becker suspected from the moment Lewis went down with just over three minutes left in the UTEP game. The surgery will likely be performed by Dr. Rob Seidl and rehabilitation should enable Lewis to be ready for her sophomore season in 2006-07.
With the progress Lewis had been making on the court, Redbird head coach Robin Pingeton feels the injury is a tough blow to her team.
"This is a gigantic loss," said Pingeton. "Nicolle was improving every day. Just the recent game experience showed how much more she understands the pace of the game, the intensity at this level and the focus she needed to be successful. She was starting to see the impact she could have on the game."
Pingeton doesn't foresee one player taking Lewis' place on the court.
"Fortunately, our team has much more depth now than it had in the past two years," said Pingeton. "Our other post players will have to step up to the plate and take on more responsibility."
The Redbirds play Thursday at Illinois before opening the Missouri Valley Conference season with a 7:05 p.m. Dec. 30 contest with Southern Illinois at Redbird Arena.
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