It was the second time she had gone under the knife of Dr. Matt Lawless of the Wright State Physicians group. He also repaired the torn ACL in her right knee that she suffered as a UD sophomore.
Sunday it was her party and she was the one doing the operating. In the final minutes of a hard-fought game against George Washington at UD Arena, she went to work on the Colonials heart and ended up taking the game away from them, too.
“I told her and the team afterward that she just put us on her back at the end,” UD coach Shauna Green said after the Flyers came from behind in the final minutes to win 50-48 and snap a five-game losing streak to GW. “She carried us at the end and made every play when she had to.”
Austria finished with a game-high 19 points, five rebounds and three steals. She hit three of her five three-point attempts, including the scrambling go-ahead three she got off just before the shot clock expired with 2:01 left.
That lifted the Flyers into the lead 49-48. And with 17 seconds left she added a free throw to provide the final margin,
Just as impressive was the defensive effort she and her teammates turned in at game’s end. They held the Colonials scoreless for the final 3:25.
GW had five possessions in that span and ended up turning the ball over three times and missing two shots. In the process the Flyers held their Atlantic 10 nemesis 20 points under its offensive average this season.
Austria is a person of few words, especially when it comes to tooting her own horn. But afterward she did admit:
“At the end we were just saying ‘We’re NOT going to lose this game!’ That’s the hardest I played throughout a whole game since I’ve come back.”
In the stands her parents sensed it was going to be that kind of effort from the onset.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen that determined look on her face in a while,” said her mom, Renae.
Her dad, Mike – who played college basketball himself for Saint Joseph’s College in Indiana – agreed:
“From the first minute of the game she had that old look in her eye. It’s been a long journey back for her. It was nice to see her be aggressive…and not be afraid.”
The 6-foot Austria starred at Carroll High School and was really coming into her own her sophomore season at UD – she started the first 16 games – when she tore the right ACL against U-Mass.
She returned the following season started 34 games and averaged 9.5 ppg as the Flyers advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight.
Last season she was contributing even more when she suffered her second ACL injury against Toledo. Although she was given a medical redshirt and recovered in time to start this season, it was a taxing process to get there her dad said:
“It was tougher this second time. Physically it’s really grueling the first month. Mentally it weighs on you throughout. Sometimes I could see the mental and physical pain she was going through until she finally started to get her confidence back.”
Austria agreed it was tougher the second time around: “But I love playing the game and there’s no way I was going to give it up. I had my teammates to support me and that helped me make it.”
Even as the season started there were physical challenges. Besides strengthening her left knee, she says she has some weakness in the right one and has tendinitis in both legs.
To get her shot back, she often worked extra with her dad in the evening.
‘She might call at 9 or 9:15 and ask me to come work with her,” Mike said. “I’ve gone to the Arena, the PAC and over to Carroll High.
“She called me last week before the St. Bonaventure game and asked me to meet her at Carroll. She snapped off 300 or 400 shots and then she went back to UD and I went home.”
This season is far different than the Elite Eight year. Her role has changed drastically, said Green.
“She used to be able to play off (Andrea) Hoover and (Ally) Malott (both 1,500 point scorers),” said Green. “Now we put the ball in her hands and she had to make the play. That’s what I’m most proud of with her. She’s making the plays now.”
Saicha Grant Allen, the Flyers 6-foot-5 senior center, said the same thing: “Kelley can do absolutely anything when she wants to.”
And Sunday, early on, Green had to remind her of that.
“I got on her a couple of times and at the half, too,” Green said. “I said ‘Go at them! Keep being aggressive. Keep attacking. They can’t stop you.’”
That’s what Austria did down the stretch and she got plenty of help from people like Grant-Allen who finished with 12 rebounds and eight points, and point guard Jenna Burdette, who had 11 assists and nine points.
After starting the season 3-5, the Flyers have now won six of their last seven games and are 9-7. The loss dropped George Washington to 10-6.
“I think of all our guys Kelley knows what this rivalry with GW is all about,” Green said. “She’s been here five years . She knows what a great program they have and the trouble they’ve given us.
“They took away an A-10 championship from us one year. They had beaten us five in a row….This time. she put us on her back. She knew what this was.”
Of course she did.
It was her anniversary party.
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