Junior forward Aisha Jefferson collapses due to a knee injury during the first half of the game against Lake Superior State on Sunday afternoon at Breslin Center. Jefferson tore the ACL in her right knee and is expected to miss the entire season. MSU head coach Suzy Merchant expects Jefferson to serve an important supporting role on the team this season.
—Lauren Aitch knows how it feels to go through an ACL tear.
The sophomore center lost all of last season after tearing her right ACL in preseason practice, so it’s only fitting that she’ll be there for junior forward Aisha Jefferson, who was lost for the season with an ACL tear of her own during the exhibition win over Lake Superior State.
“I gave her a little heads-up on everything she’s going to go through because I know exactly what she’s going to go through,” Aitch said. “I know what things are going to be like for her, so I’ve just been trying to give her help and take care of her.”
The loss of Jefferson makes three players that the Spartans were counting on who are now unable to play, as junior guard Mia Johnson recovers from an ACL injury of her own, and Laura Hall had to call it quits due to a recurring foot injury.
“We’re down three right out of the gate,” MSU head coach Suzy Merchant said. “It’s bizarre. I’ve been coaching a long time, and I’ve never quite seen anything like this, but it is what it is, and we have to get out there and do what we need to do.”
Losing Jefferson puts pressure not only on Aitch to perform fresh off her injury, but on freshmen like Cetera Washington, Taja Wilson and Kalisha Keane, as well.
“What A.J. brought was a lot of knowledge and experience on gameday,” Merchant said.
Keane appears to be the player most capable of filling the scoring void, as she scored 33 points in the two exhibition contests.
Merchant said she believes the freshmen can step if needed.
“I think they want to, I think they need to and I think they’re prepared to,” she said. “I have confidence that they’ll do that.
But it also goes beyond the freshmen, as the Spartans will need to look to their bench to score and get contributions from those who didn’t need to contribute in the past.
“It gives a chance for everybody else to step up and get better at their role and bring more to the team,” senior guard Alisa Wulff said.
But now, the Spartans will need to focus on Friday’s regular season opener against IUPUI in the Preseason Women’s National Invitational Tournament.
“It was hard for us in the beginning of this week,” Aitch said. “I think we have a lot of enthusiasm, and I think we’ll be fine.”
While still adapting to new offensive and defensive systems, Wulff said the team learned a lot during the wins over Grand Valley State and Lake Superior State.
“We have a lot to work on our defenses and running smoother offensive sets,” Wulff said. “You can learn everything from game to game, you try to get better, so we’re watching a lot of film and hoping to execute on offense and especially on defense.”
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