Lydia Giomi made the most of her 19th birthday on Dec. 2, even though she broke a bone in her right hand during Oregon’s practice.
It’s only the second time the Oregon freshman has broken a bone; she broke her leg when she was 5.
While she was running in practice last Friday, she turned while in motion, bending her ring finger backwards. Sophomore Oti Gildon was nearby to lighten the mood.
“We were both laughing about it,” Giomi said.
She doesn’t have a set date to return to action — it’ll depend on how her hand feels after the cast is removed. Oregon’s press release last Sunday said she would be sidelined for “several weeks.”
Lydia Giomi’s cast has encouraging messages from her Oregon women’s basketball teammates. (Jonathan Hawthorne/Emerald)
Giomi, a Seattle native, was able to quickly find a silver lining in the early-season injury. She still enjoyed birthday cake — though she had to adjust to use her left hand.
“There’s no good time to get hurt, but I think if you’re going to get hurt, freshman year is probably ideal,” she said “It’s better than senior year or when you’re headed to the [NCAA] Tournament or something like that. In the big scheme of things, this would be a better time.”
Giomi, who is averaging 7.1 a minutes for the Ducks this year, credited her Oregon teammates in helping her make her birthday special, despite the unfortunate timing. She waited to get x-rays until Saturday.
“My teammates are awesome,” Giomi said. “They got me all these gifts and helped me make the best of the day that I could. … They were like, ‘Let’s pretend you didn’t break it. Let’s live the day like it’s not broken.’”
Junior Lexi Bando said she felt horrible for Giomi, who is the tallest Duck on the 2016-17 roster at 6-foot-6.
“Lydia is so spunky and just such a good player,” Bando said.
Head coach Kelly Graves said Giomi’s positive attitude will carry her through her recovery time. Graves has often praised her character during interviews.
“She’s such a good person,” Graves said. “Sometimes bad things happen to good people. She’s got a great attitude. … She’ll be fine. She will get through it and come back better than ever.”
Follow Jonathan Hawthorne on Twitter @Jon_Hawthorne
