When junior forward Amanda Cahill went down with an ankle injury in the second quarter and gingerly limped to the bench while holding back tears, things looked bleak for IU.
Though the Hoosiers were in the midst of an 18-4 run to begin the second quarter against rival Purdue, Cahill’s injury sent IU’s best frontcourt player to the locker room before halftime and put the Hoosiers’ chances for the game in serious doubt. After all, Cahill plays more than 31 minutes per game, which is the third most on the team.
However, an impressive substitute performance by sophomore forward Kym Royster and an equally impressive return from injury by Cahill powered IU to a 74-60 win against Purdue on Thursday night in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. After the game Cahill downplayed the injury.
“What ankle?” Cahill said jokingly. “I just tweaked it a little bit. It was a little rough at first, just throbbing a little bit. I think it scared me a little bit too.”
Royster was already rolling before Cahill’s injury. She had made her first three shots to begin the game, but when Cahill’s left ankle was twisted, the Hoosiers let their lead slip a bit as they headed into the half. IU led by just four points at the mid-way mark, and it looked as though Royster would be needed to come up huge in the second half for the Hoosiers to hang on.
Royster certainly stepped up, but Cahill’s ankle felt good enough to have her join her teammate. Both posted solid second-half stat lines. Cahill shot 4-for-5 after her injury and finished with 19 points, including a 3-pointer with less than a minute to go to seal the game for IU, and eight rebounds.
IU Coach Teri Moren said she was initially concerned Cahill might have suffered a knee injury, but when Cahill assured her it was an ankle injury instead, Moren’s mind was put at ease. Once the Ohio native returned to the game, Moren said she was impressed with her performance.
“That’s the toughness that she has,” Moren said of Cahill. “It looked like it hurt her, so give her credit for digging down deep and being able to play in that second half because as you know, we need her.”
On Thursday IU might not have even needed Cahill. Senior center Jenn Anderson matched Cahill’s second-half line with a 4-for-5 shooting mark, and Royster added eight points in the final two quarters as well. All told, the three-headed monster that was IU’s frontcourt combined for 43 points and 17 rebounds in the game.
“I thought offensively she played within herself,” Moren said of Royster. “She didn’t force shots, and she didn’t seem rushed. It really just felt like she allowed the game to come to her. That gives us another threat in the low post.”
By the end of the game Cahill was able to jog up and down the court at an even pace with most other players. Both she and Moren appeared quite relieved in their postgame press conferences. Moren said when her initial worries were relieved things calmed down a bit.
“Really, really grateful,” Moren said. “There was a moment there where my stomach didn’t feel so good when I watched her and the amount of pain she was in. It was kind of scary, but give her credit, that’s hard to do.”
