Jan. 16, 2006
University of Iowa Head Women’s Basketball Coach Lisa Bluder announced Monday that freshman small forward Nicole VanderPol will be sidelined 3-6 weeks after suffering a partial tear to her medial collateral ligament in her left knee during the second half of Sunday’s 80-48 victory at Northwestern.
The injury is the fourth knee setback to an Iowa women’s basketball player in the last seven months. Point guard Lindsay Richards (June), small forward Johanna Solverson (July) and center Stacy Schlapkohl (December) all suffered season-ending ACL injuries to their right knee.
“Unfortunately Nicole has suffered a partial tear in her ligament,” said Bluder. “We are thankful that it is only a partial tear and she’ll be back without requiring surgery. Again, we’ll have to make some adjustments to our lineup, but we hope to have Nicole back before the end of the season.”
VanderPol averaged 2.8 points and 2.1 rebounds in 16 games off the bench for the Hawkeyes. She was shooting 55.6 percent (15-27) from the field and 73.7 percent (14-19) from the foul line before sustaining the knee injury.
Iowa (11-6, 4-2) returns to action Thursday when it travels to Madison, WI, to face Wisconsin (6-11, 1-5). Tip-off is slated for 7:05 p.m. in the Kohl Center.