All Entries Tagged With: "season-ending injury"

Big Detour For The Tise

Much of the fun of attending University of Louisville women’s basketball games the last two seasons has been watching Chauntise Wright have her way in the middle. With her 6-foot-3 wide body, she is an intimidating force for opposing centers, doing the pushing instead of the relenting, a force with which to be reckoned Unfortunately for Tise and her many fans, Chauntise went down hard Friday, suffering a season-ending torn ligament, a major blow in the gut to the Lady Cards.

By Sonja Sykes

Things that stand out about Chauntise “Tise”  Wright: Off the court are her big smile and playful nature. On the court she is calm and businesslike, a warrior dominating the paint on both ends of the court. Tise will need all of those qualities the next few months as she goes through surgery and rehabilitation … not only to keep mind and demeanor in tact, but for the sake of her teammates who begin the season without her in six days.

For Tise, it’s just one more delay in her journey at the University of Louisville and hopefully not her final destination.  Tom Collen recruited the Forestville, Maryland high schooler to Louisville with hopes of turning her into the type of dominating center that top teams in women’s college basketball usually have on their rosters. Collen already had a pretty decent pivot player already in Jazz Covington but he envisioned a future battleship in the middle.

The first season was delayed, Tise becoming eligible only after the fall semester. There were things for her to work on — a tuneup, if you will, before she got on the road. Weight to be lost, conditioning to work on, defensive skills to be  improved. There were the shining moments, 23 points and  9 rebounds in one game, but she couldn’t keep pace in games against powerhouse schools.

Tise she continued to work on her game along with Angel McCoughtry, another Maryland freshman, seemingly too skinny to have much of an impact. Angel and Tise began together, and they would be counted on as the journey continued.

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