Aug. 23, 2000
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Western Kentucky University senior guard LaVonda Johnson (Bowling Green, Ky.) will miss the 2000-01 season after sustaining a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her right knee during a pickup basketball game Monday night at E.A. Diddle Arena. Subsequent tests by team physicians confirmed the injury, which will require surgery. A date has not yet been set for the operation.
"Our prayers and best wishes go out to LaVonda and her family for a speedy recovery," Lady Topper head coach Steve Small said. "We will meet with her in the next few days to evaluate her options for the future. We hope she will be able to redshirt this season and rejoin the team next year."
A graduate of Warren East High School in Bowling Green, Johnson started 22 games at point guard for Western last season, averaging a career-high 6.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. She scored a career-high 19 points Jan. 29 in a win at New Orleans, and later chalked up her first career double-double with 10 points and a career-best 12 rebounds Feb. 3 against Arkansas-Little Rock. The Lady Toppers went 17-5 last year when Johnson was in the starting lineup.
With Johnson's injury, All-America forward ShaRae Mansfield is the only remaining senior on the WKU roster. The Lady Toppers will have six letterwinners and two starters returning from last year's squad, which went 22-10 and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
