Jennifer Mossor’s New Year’s resolution may as well have been to have a healthy rest of the season.
The senior was hampered by injuries in 2009, from beginning to end.
After starting the first 16 games of her junior campaign, Mossor tore her right ACL against Mississippi State on Jan. 8, 2009 — the team’s first conference game of the season.
She missed the rest of that season as the Gators finished 24-8 and lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to Connecticut, the eventual national champions.
The year hurled its second challenge at Mossor when she tore her left lateral meniscus in practice on Nov. 12, two days before the start of her senior season.
“Frustration — it goes beyond that,” Mossor said. “I’ve just been injured, injured, injured, and to finally not be injured — I’m still dealing with the injury and everything that goes along with it — but actually being a part of what I’ve been trying to be a part of this whole time and what I’ve been waiting for, feels great.”
After rehabbing and getting back into playing form, Mossor saw her first action of the 2009-10 season against Southern on Dec. 20.
It had been 346 days since her last meaningful appearance.
She saw eight minutes of court time against Southern, and in the team’s next game, a loss to High Point, she scored seven points on 3-of-4 shooting.
Her most playing time was logged against Ohio, when she was on the floor for 13 minutes.
“I’m still not fully back,” Mossor said. “It just feels good to be more of a part of the team, because when you’re injured you’re just kind of off to the side.”
Coach Amanda Butler said Mossor’s value lies in her physicality on the perimeter, a guard who is as likely to attack the rim as shoot from the wing.
“Jenn is really a great mix of a kid who’s a good player because of her physical gifts but mixes in a very, very high basketball IQ,” Butler said.
Added time on the bench healing her wounds has forced Mossor to sit, observe, mentor, and develop a perspective of the game available to those who watch rather than play.
The most frustrating part of the ordeal was the fact that Mossor, who was a starter in her junior year and the team’s fourth-leading scorer (9.1 points per game) before her injury, has been relegated to a supporting role so far this season.
Rejoining a squad that has been playing for nearly two months without her and had hit a few bumps earlier in the season has forced Mossor to try and find a new place on the team.
If the team’s identity is to mold to Mossor, her return has come at a pivotal time: the beginning of Southeastern Conference play.
“SEC is the biggest time of the year and the most important, so it’s better to be back for that than anything else,” she said.
Florida won its SEC opener against Arkansas, and they will host Auburn on Thursday before heading to No. 8 Georgia on Sunday.
