Ironically, the greatest challenge of Shaquala Williams’ college basketball career may take place off the court.
Williams, the Oregon women’s basketball team’s star point guard, will miss the 2000-01 season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee, an MRI revealed last Monday.
Williams said she sustained the season-ending injury in a pickup game at McArthur Court on Sept. 16. Surgery should take place this week at Sacred Heart Medical Center. According to head coach Jody Runge, rehabilitation will take six to nine months.
“I’m proud of the way she’s handling this,” Runge said. “Obviously a grieving process will come, and there will be times when it’s not easy, certainly. But I think she’s doing a great job with it right now.”
A sophomore last season, Williams helped lead the Ducks to a 23-8 record and a second straight Pacific-10 Conference title. She was the team’s high scorer and assist leader with 17.7 points and 4.4 dishes per game, en route to Pacific-10 Player of the Year and Honorable Mention All-America honors.Now, she begins her journey down a path new to her — the road to recovery.
“It’s going to strengthen me in other areas; it’s probably going to strengthen my mental game,” Williams said. “It’s probably going to give me a new release and a new love for basketball. If anything, it’s going to make me like it that much more.
“The trainers said they’re not going to let me do that much, or allow me to reinjure myself by trying to come back too soon. They pretty much closed the door on my face about me coming back this season, so that’s not really an option.”
Playing in a full-court scrimmage with most of her teammates and Oregon’s new recruits, Williams got the ball and ran down court for a fast-break layup, as fans have seen her do in so many games at The Pit.
Only this time, something went terribly wrong.
Oregon center Jenny Mowe, who was behind Williams, said Williams put some extra mustard on the layup, going side-to-side as she planted her left foot to jump — but to everyone’s surprise, Williams hopped, limped, then went down.
“I was really disappointed,” Williams said. “I was like, ‘No, this can’t happen to me.’ At the time I was really devastated.

“I knew, and everybody else was just trying to stay optimistic, saying maybe it won’t be that, but I knew it was. I wasn’t going to try to convince myself it really wasn’t.”
Williams played as a true freshman in 1998-99 and will use this season as her medical redshirt year. She will have two seasons of eligibility remaining.
The injury leaves the Ducks inexperienced at the point. Sophomore Kourtney Shreve, whose minutes at the point and as shooting guard increased through last season, will take the role of starting point guard.
Last season, Shreve had a breakout game against Arizona State, scoring 10 points in 16 minutes in the win. Last February, Shreve played the point in the final minutes of the Ducks’ come-from-behind win over Washington after Williams fouled out.
“Since last year I’ve learned so much, so now I know what it takes to play out there as a starter,” Shreve said. “I feel like I can play the role, but I’m a little worried because I played some last year but I didn’t start.”
But reserve point guard Karen Piers quit the team and returned to her homeland of Nova Scotia in Canada during the summer, leaving Oregon without a designated point guard behind Shreve.
Runge said that shooting guard Jamie Craighead will back up Shreve at the point this season. Craighead, a skilled three-point shooter and defender who demonstrated talent last season in breaking the full-court press, played point guard at Elma High School in Elma, Wash.
Also seeing some minutes at the point will be guard/forward Lindsey Dion, regarded by Runge as the Ducks’ emotional leader. Dion, whose head and knee injuries sidelined her off-and-on last season, can shoot from anywhere on the floor and has excellent defense and penetration skills.
Shreve doesn’t expect to shoulder the void in the offense Williams left. She considers herself more of a passing point guard and said she’ll try to set up Oregon’s post players — seniors Angelina Wolvert, Brianne Meharry and Mowe — for more scoring opportunities.
“I’ve told her I don’t expect her to score 22 points a game, but I think she’s going to help a lot of other people get the ball a lot more effectively than maybe Shaq did,” Runge said. “It will be a different look, but I have every confidence in her being able to run this team.”