The first blow came in October.
Bentley College's sophomore point guard, Ashley Saia, whose game is defined by intensity, leadership, and intelligence, went down with a knee injury, a torn anterior cruciate ligament, during the preseason.
"We felt her loss for a long time," said Bentley women's basketball coach, Barbara Stevens.
Then sophomore forward Colette Josey, healthy and starting to show the potential that she put on display during an extraordinary career at Framingham High, tore her ACL last month in a game against Merrimack. The 5-foot-11-inch Josey was averaging a solid 9.6 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, while shooting 54 percent from the floor.
A week later, Elise Caira, a promising freshman guard out of Arlington Catholic, was shut down with a stress fracture in her leg. Also, sophomore guard Meagan Lambros is sidelined with compartment syndrome, a painful condition in her legs.
Saia and Josey are done for the season, Caira is targeting for a return by the end of the month, and Lambros is out indefinitely.
"We're down to nine players on good days," said Stevens, noting that assistants C White and Kathy Karlsson have had to step in during practices to give the squad at least 10 players.
Yet the injury-depleted Falcons (8-4) had reeled off four consecutive wins before Tuesday night's Northeast-10 Conference matchup at Franklin Pierce University in New Hampshire, including a pair of victories at the Barry Holiday Classic in Florida late last month.
"I felt very encouraged by our performance and our effort," said Stevens, who was preparing for Tuesday's game, her 700th on the Bentley sideline. After 22 seasons, her record stood at 585-114.
"These kids have really rallied around it. We don't have a big bench, but it's narrowed our focus."
A number of players have stepped forward.
Junior wing Kristy McLean, leading the Waltham college's squad in scoring (11.6 points per game), steals, 3-pointers, and offensive rebounds, is up to nearly 35 minutes per game. Freshman point guard Kim Brennan has started all 12 games, averaging 30-plus minutes, and was honored as the NE-10's Freshman of the Week after averaging 10.3 points per game on the recent Florida trip. Senior Vanessa Lux is putting up 10.3 points per game from the post position, and senior Ashley Bruton delivered 13 pivotal points in a big comeback against Barry College.
"We're asking some of our kids to do an awful lot, but they are stepping up and not complaining," said Stevens.
He collected his first collegiate double-double Dec. 28 with 25 points and 10 rebounds against Kean University, went for 34 points the next day against Pacific Lutheran, and had 20 points against Fitchburg State.
"Throughout the year, Anthony has played at as high a level of consistency as any player I have coached at Wheaton," said coach Brian Walmsley. "He continues to impress his coaches and teammates with his unselfish play. . . . He believes he can score whenever he touches the ball but still prefers to put team and winning as his first priority."
