It took years of practice to turn Peppi Browne into one of the finest players in the ACC.
It may have taken only a split-second to see that career come to an abrupt end.
MRI results yesterday confirmed the women's basketball team's worst fears-Browne suffered a complete tear of the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee when she collapsed untouched last Thursday night against North Carolina.
"As soon as we saw the way she went down, we kind of thought it was the ACL," coach Gail Goestenkors said. "It usually happens on jump-stops and without contact. So it wasn't a surprise.
"It's tough, not only because Peppi is such a great player, but she's such a great person and brings such spirit to the team and to the floor."
Browne has already been fitted for a brace and will discuss her options over the next day or two with her family, doctors and the Duke coaching staff. Although a torn ACL is usually a season-ending injury, Browne will test out her knee with the brace in the next few days to determine if she could play again this season.
If Browne, one of the hardest workers in the history of the program, decides against returning to the floor, it will mean the end of her solid, and sometimes brilliant, collegiate career.
"We're all behind Peppi 100 percent, so Peppi will do what's best for her," Goestenkors said. "This injury is as serious as it can be-it's completely torn. If it's a partial tear, then she can fully tear it. But since it's completely torn already, there isn't another injury she can sustain by playing... and that's the good news.
"They've ordered a brace for her.... So she's going to try to do some little things-she doesn't know if she can run, jog or even walk."
A recent precedent has been set for a women's basketball player playing through a torn ACL. Clemson center Erin Batth missed five games midway through last season after tearing her ACL, but she came back and played a major role in Clemson's ACC championship season, averaging 7.6 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.
Batth, however, is a back-to-the-basket post player who doesn't normally move laterally. Browne's game is more reliant on her raw athleticism and ability to penetrate, and she may be affected more by an ACL injury than Batth.
"No one is counting Peppi out," Rochelle Parent said. "With a lot of people, we'd not expect them to come back. With Peppi, it's sort of surreal that she's injured. If there's anyone who could play at the Division I collegiate level well with a torn ACL, it's Peppi. She could probably play without a leg; she seems invincible."
With Browne either ending her collegiate career or contributing in a lesser role, Goestenkors will begin the difficult task of trying to return the team to its elite status without its top defensive player and rebounder.
"We don't have one player that's going to do all the things that Peppi did, but everybody's going to have to step up a little more," Goestenkors said. "I'm trying to see the positive, and see that it's opening more opportunities for other players to step up and expand their role, help the team and for us as a team to grow."
Browne currently leads the team in rebounding with 6.8 boards per game and ranks second on the team in scoring at 13.7 points per game. Earlier this season, Browne became the third Blue Devil ever to record 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 200 assists and 200 steals in her career.
Andrea Bookman contributed to this story.
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