Baylor’s Shanay Washington tore her left ACL in victory over Texas

Baylor confirmed the worst for sophomore Shanay Washington after she was injured in the Lady Bears’ 80-59 victory over Texas on Tuesday night. The school announced today that the guard tore her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Washington’s return to play is uncertain at this time.

During the last 16 seconds of the game she fell to the floor clutching her knee brace and after the game went to the hospital.

“Shanay had an MRI last night after the game which confirmed that the ACL was torn,” said head coach Kim Mulkey in a statement. “It hurts, it hurts me to watch any kid get injured. You don’t ever want to see athletes get injured. You live with sprained ankles, you live with stitches, you live with broken bones, but just the knee…it’s a downer. We will regroup, and the best medicine for Shanay is going to be her teammates. They are the ones that are going to have to help her, and they will.”

Washington first tore the left ACL in November 2010 and underwent surgery on December 1, 2010. She had additional surgery in July 2011, as the graft in the knee did not heal properly. She also had two surgeries on her other knee after tearing the right ACL in high school.

She played her first game season on January 18 at Texas Tech and averaged 7.8 minutes per game. Last night she only played two minutes. During her freshman year, she started 32 of 36 games and started the first five games of the 2010-11 season before injuring her knee. She received a medical hardship waiver from the NCAA that season.