The DU women’s basketball team lost both games of their games last week and saw the injury of key player, Sara Bents in the second half of the first game.
The losses, Wednesday vs. powerhouse Middle Tennessee State 77-49 and Saturday at Arkansas-Little Rock 58-53, bring the Pioneer’s record to 12-11, 7-5 SBC.
DU stepped onto the court Wednesday night in Magness Arena to face an intimidating challenge; the No. 26 nationally ranked and undefeated in the SBC, Middle Tennessee. Looking up to the challenge: DU got off to a competitive start and scored on a three by Andie Mason, her only points for the game. Also having a major impact was red-shirt sophomore Brianna Culberson. who led the team with four team points and added five rebounds. The Pioneers continued to play Middle Tennessee evenly for about the first ten minutes, then poor ball handling caught up to them and the Blue Raiders began to pull ahead, led by star forward Alysha Clark with 27 points and 12 rebounds.
“They were ferocious on defense,” said head coach Erik Johnson. “I thought their defensive pressure took us out of our game right from the beginning.”
By the end of the night, DU gave up 17 turnovers to steals, compared to five from Middle Tennessee.
DU tried to rally at the beginning of the second half, but after about five minutes, the game focus shifted. While trying to control the ball, forward Sara Bents collided with Clark and went down hard, where she lay facedown on the court. Bents, apparently conscious, but having difficulty moving her legs, had her head/neck immobilized by trainers and was transported to a trauma center by Denver Health Paramedics.
“Obviously it is scary, anytime a player has a head, neck or back injury like that,” said Johnson. “She hit the ground really hard, but often it is the wrong thing to assume that it is worse than it is. She is a little bit numb. She is conscious. She was talking to us, so it’s just a matter of waiting a little bit to see how severe the injury is. I appreciate all of the support and the thoughts and prayers from everybody here.”
After the game restarted, DU tried to keep their spirits up, but the focus shifted to concern for their teammate.
“I give our kids credit,” said Johnson. “They fought. They got after it. We got beat by a better team tonight.”
Teammates spoke about their concern for Bents after the game and the important role she plays in brining energy to the team.
“It’s kind of hard to talk about it right now,” Ashly Robinson said. “Sara brings a lot of energy. She’s a senior. She’s a leader out there. She’s a hustler, and we feed off her energy a lot. Rather she’s running the floor, getting boards, or just whatever she does, we feed off her energy. She’s a big spark for our team.”
“She brings so much energy for us. She is a hustle player,” Celena Otero said. “She gives up her body. She takes key charges for us…she just brings energy to the team, that’s unique.”
According to Media Relations, Bents was released from the hospital on Friday and has been recovering at home. She is being treated for a lower back injury, but has requested that details about her injury not be disclosed. There is no word yet on if or when she may return to DU basketball.
The rest of the team will travel to Florida this Wednesday to take on Florida Atlantic before returning home Saturday to host New Orleans in Magness Arena at 1 p.m.
