Issue date: 2/22/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Wade Barker Senior Morenike Atunrase has gone from the leading scorer on the team to a backup because of injuries that kept her off the court for much of the 2007-2008 nonconference season. She has learned how to adapt and help her teammates learn to be leaders on the court. [Click to enlarge]

Watching the action from the sidelines is one of the hardest things an athlete has to deal with. Everyone, from the star of the team to the third string scrub, wants to play. Senior Morenike Atunrase of the Texas A&M women's basketball team is one of the stars, but she knows the feeling of watching her team and being powerless.

"It's difficult and I'm taking it day by day," she said. "The biggest thing is learning to watch from the bench and take in the game mentally and not physically. That's what I'm trying to do."

"Mo," as fans and teammates know her, came back from an October 2007 surgery to correct a nonhealing stress fracture in her right tibia. She was expected to miss most of the nonconference schedule but be back for the Big 12 season. Still, it was a tough blow for the Aggies, who lost its two-time leading scorer for the first nine games of the year.

"I was frustrated," she said. "I didn't want to get set back at all, and coming back you have to get back into shape. That's not easy. I knew surgery was the best option and I'm glad I had it."

It was a familiar spot for both parties. Atunrase missed time in 2007 with a stress fracture in her other foot. Concern about the Aggies' performance without its biggest offensive threat turned into its first Big 12 title. Teammates Takia Starks and A'Quonesia Franklin picked up the slack and Atunrase returned, finishing the year averaging 10 points a game.

"The first two years that I was here, I helped my team tremendously," she said. "And now, the other girls have to step up and learn different roles. It was a blessing in disguise."

Continued...

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