The Observer, March 2, 2007
Volume XXXIX, Issue 19
Jackson overcomes injuries to lead Lady Spartans
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Three years ago, while guarding a teammate during the Lady Spartans' last open gym of spring semester, Maria Jackson jumped to defend a shot. She landed awkwardly and felt a slight pop in her right knee. Feeling only a small amount of pain, Jackson just shook it off and finished the scrimmage.
The next morning, the pain in her knee was so great she could hardly crawl out of her top bunk bed. The walk downstairs to breakfast was excruciating. Her knee was swollen. Jackson knew something was wrong.
The prognosis: a partially torn ACL. A torn ACL is a serious knee injury that can cost a player an entire season or even a career while leading to months of strenuous rehab. Since her tear was only partial, Jackson's career was not in serious jeopardy. She was certain that she would play again. The question was how well she would play. Would she regain the quickness and mobility she had prior to the injury? Standing five feet, six inches, short for a women's basketball player, speed and quickness were critical to her success.
"There was definitely doubt in my mind," Jackson said. "The doctor told me that I might not be ready to come back that season. I was very nervous about where my level of play would be."
Remarkably, Jackson played in all but one game that season. However, she was not the same player. After spending most of her freshman season on the bench, Jackson hoped for a breakthrough sophomore year, but the injury slowed her.
"I didn't expect to play much my freshman year. The team was so good. But when I tore my ACL, I got really discouraged," she said. "But things could have been a lot worse. I could have missed the entire season."
Jackson looked forward to her junior season and putting the injury behind her. After a slow start, she began to raise her level of play when the conference schedule began. On one particular Sunday afternoon at NYU, she was having the game of her life. Making three of four three-pointers, Jackson was leading her team in scoring against the toughest team in the UAA.
Then, late in the first half, misfortune struck again. As teammate Amber Hammell went for a rebound, she ran into Jackson, whose left knee twisted as she fell to the ground. This time, there was pain. A lot of pain.
"It felt like my knee was hanging on a thread," she said. "It hurt a lot more than the first injury. I thought I was done for the year."
She did not miss the rest of the year as she had originally thought, missing only one game. The injury was a tear of the MCL. A torn MCL is less serious than a torn ACL, and surgery is not required. But finishing the season was difficult, as she battled soreness and discomfort the rest of the year.
"I pretty much lived on Aleve for a while," she said.
Jackson's performance on the court once again suffered. Nonetheless, quitting never crossed her mind. Instead, she took a pragmatic approach to her injury.
"I really didn't want to be at Case if I wasn't playing basketball, so quitting wasn't really an option," she said. "Injuries are very common. They are a part of the game, and you deal with them."
Her perseverance paid dividends this season, as she finally stayed healthy. The senior finished the season as the team's second leading scorer with an average of 9.2 points per game, including a season-high 26 points in the team's first conference win of the season against Carnegie Mellon on Feb. 2. In addition to her success on the court, she also enjoyed mentoring the team's freshmen as team captain.
"I can identify with the younger players," she said. "They know that I didn't play very much during my freshman year, so they look to me for advice on how to handle that."
She knows what they're going through, as she struggled to gain playing time and then to stay healthy. Looking back to when she was a freshman, she realizes how much she has been able to achieve despite the injuries.
"I have gone from not playing a lot and overcoming the injuries to playing 30 minutes a game and being a team captain," she said. "I had to work really hard to get where I am today. I definitely take a lot of pride in what I have been able to accomplish."
