Carlie Needles thought she just needed some more ice.
It turns out the only thing on ice is Needles’ season, which
ended when she suffered tears to the anterior cruciate ligament and
meniscus in her left knee during practice Sunday.
She is scheduled to undergo surgery after Thanksgiving.
“When [athletic trainer John Barrett] said those three letters
(ACL), I was just like, ‘What? Wait a second,’” Needles said.
Needles sustained the injury during an intra-squad scrimmage
while playing defense.
Coming down the court following a change of possession,
Needles attempted to cut off her opponent, but her left knee
buckled and she fell to the floor untouched.
Initially, Needles thought she had merely hyper-extended her
knee and would be back on the court shortly.
“I’ve seen people tear ACL’s right in front of me and I’ve
seen people scream, I’ve seen people just wobble off,” Needles
said.
“It didn’t hurt at all, but then a huge sense of pressure went
rushing to my knee.”
Needles is not the first player on the active UF roster to
experience ACL woes.
Redshirt senior forward Ndidi Madu and sophomore forward Lily
Svete both suffered tears to the ACL in their right knees in 2007
and 2009, respectively.
Like Needles, Madu and Svete sustained their respective
injuries during November practices as freshmen.
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“We still haven’t found that magic thing to determine why
exactly women are more susceptible to ACL tears than men,” Butler
said. “They’re just so prevalent in our game.”
Needles has never missed significant time in her basketball
career, admitting that she has never taken more than a couple of
weeks off at a time.
Senior guard Jordan Jones, who had to sit out the 2008-09
season following her transfer from South Carolina to Florida,
expects this season to be tough and at times, boring for
Needles.
“If there’s any positive in it, she was going to be learning a
lot anyways,” Jones said. “This gives her a chance to be coach
Butler’s right-hand man.”
While Needles’ injury is disappointment enough for the Gators,
it came during an already bleak time for the team.
Freshman guard Andrea Vilaró Aragonés returned to Spain last
Thursday after learning that her mother’s battle with cancer had
taken a turn for the worse.
Three days later, Butler received news that Aragonés' mother
had slipped into a coma.
She died the next day.
“There’s no way to ease the pain,” Butler said. “You just try
to make sure that she feels all the love we have for her.”
Butler says that she has not yet spoken with Aragonés and her
family about a timetable for her return to the team.
While Needles is frustrated by the abrupt end to her season,
she says that Aragonés’ loss helped her put things in
perspective.
“Vila’s probably one of the strongest people I know,” Needles
said of her suitemate. “Coming overseas and knowing that her mom
was sick, I personally don’t know if I could have done that.”
Since Aragonés returned to Spain, her father has kept in
contact with Butler through email.
Butler said that Aragonés’ father has been “an inspiration”
for her squad, constantly reminding her to “make sure the girls are
ready to play Michigan.”
“Those practices and games provide outlets for some of the
feelings you have that you don’t know where to place,” Butler
said.
Unfortunately for Needles, her only outlets are the film room
and the bench.
Watching from the sidelines, beginning Friday at 4:30 p.m.
against Michigan, will be a challenge, but Needles says to expect
an increased “hungriness” from her next season.
“Things happen for a reason and I keep telling myself that,”
Needles said. “It’s the way I was brought up — you just try to
overcome things, you don’t try to feel sorry for yourself.”
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