Lauren Ervin out for season
Lauren Ervin knew when she heard her knee pop Thursday: Her college career was over.
“I’m still pretty much in shock, said Ervin, Arkansas’ senior post player who averaged 16 points and 11 rebounds per game.
At an MRI examination Friday, a doctor informed Ervin that she tore her anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee. Ervin fell to the floor after making a basket with 4 minutes, 41 seconds left in No. 20 Arkansas’ 76-54 loss to No. 11 LSU on Thursday.
When her teammates learned the extent of Ervin’s season-ending injury a day later, they were crushed.
Ervin, after all, was the centerpiece of the Lady Razorbacks’ offense. Upon arriving from Mt. San Antonio College in Los Angeles in 2006, Ervin emerged as the Lady Razorbacks’ main scoring option. This season, she was the tallest player on the team and the most productive.
“It’s hard,” said senior forward Sarah Pfeifer said. “A lot of our confidence was in Lauren. We’re losing our All-American post player, the best player on the team.”
Arkansas coach Tom Collen has since devised a contingency plan in the wake of Ervin’s injury. He will move Whitney Jones, who had played in the high post, into Ervin’s spot. Pfeifer, meanwhile, will now start after coming off the bench in the previous 16 games when the Lady Razorbacks went 15-1.
“My biggest concern is that it shortens my rotation,” Collen said. “It’s going to make us small, a little inexperience. But those are the cards that have been dealt to us.”
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