Star freshman Him-Lazarenko injured in marquee win
By Earl Zukerman
MONTREAL – Anneth Him-Lazarenko, a star freshman with the ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ
Martlets and leading scorer in the Quebec University Basketball
League, will miss the remainder of the season.
The 5-foot-10 forward, named Monday as the ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ female athlete of
the week, suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her right
knee during the fourth quarter of last Saturday’s 80-67 road
victory over UQAM.
With just over eight minutes remaining and ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ comfortably ahead
69-49, Him-Lazarenko fell to the ground while going for an
offensive rebound, and got tangled up with two other players. She
was carried off on a stretcher, putting an abrupt end to the best
rookie campaign by a ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ player in 16 years, since Hall of Famer
Vicky Tessier first suited up for the Martlets in 1992-93. Tessier,
who was a five-time all-Canadian and won CIS rookie-of-the-year
honours, also suffered as season-ending torn ACL, albeit in her
sophomore campaign. She battled back the next year and by her
senior season, she earned CIS basketball player-of-the-year
honours.
Him-Lazarenko, a 21-year-old education major who joined the
Martlets out of Vanier College last fall, is the top-scoring
freshman in the nation and leads the QUBL scoring race with a 14.8
points-per-game average. She is ranked third among QUBL rebounding
leaders (7.9), fourth in field-goal shooting (48.0), sixth in
free-throw shooting (71.8), ninth in steals (1.5) and fourth in
minutes played (31.4).
The loss of Him-Lazarenko was a tough blow to head coach Ryan
Thorne and his Martlets, who have won four of their last five
games. They sit fourth in the QUBL standings with a 5-7 record and
four games remaining before playoffs. ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ, which currently has a
grip on the last post-season berth, are six points ahead of
last-place Concordia (2-8), who hold two games in hand. The
Martlets have a bye this week and will resume play with a
home-and-home series against division-leading Laval (8-2),
beginning at ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ’s Love Competition Hall on Feb. 13.