Wednesday, October 17, 2001

Payne out for season as MRI reveals torn ACL
By Kelly Morris
Skiff Staff

The TCU women’s basketball team is starting its season in less than a month and it is having to fill a hole it didn’t expect to fill.

Senior guard Tricia Payne will be out for the season after a MRI Tuesday confirmed a tear in the anterior cruciate ligament of her left knee.

Payne, who was the Frogs second leading scorer and the team’s most valuable player last season, will have surgery to repair the ACL tear Oct. 31.

She injured her knee in the first team practice of the season Saturday after falling awkwardly during a one-on-one match up.

Head coach Jeff Mittie said it will take an team effort to overcome Payne’s absence.

“Anytime we’ve ever recruited, we don’t look to one player to replace someone,” Mittie said. “We look to a number of players to step up their game and the entire team to raise its game a level. That’s the way you always approach this. We got a a lot of talented, young players in the mix right now, so I think a variety of players could fill (Payne’s) role, but it’s awfully early to tell right now.”

Because of the injury, the Frogs will lose one of their four seniors.

Mittie said he will look to senior forward Kati Safaritova to step up her role this season.

“Safaritova’s capable of increasing her role anyway because of a player coming back,” Mittie said. “Late in the year, she scored more as she got more comfortable with the offense. She seems to be more comfortable at this time of the year already.

We have to look to give Safaritova the basketball. We know we need her to get a certain amount of shots.”

In her first season at TCU, Safaritova led the Frogs in scoring with an average of 12.2 points a game. She also averaged 24.3 minutes and 5.4 rebounds a game in the 32 of 33 games she started.

But Mittie said Payne’s experience on the court is irreplaceable.

“She’s been in our system now going on three years, and she has a tremendous understanding of what we want to do both offensively and defensively,” Mittie said.

She provides the stability in that regard. Last year she also had a knack for performing in the big games.”

By not reshirting her freshman season, Payne still has one year of eligibility left. Payne said she is still considering using a medical redshirt this season, so she could play next year.

Kelly Morris
k.l.morris@student.tcu.edu