TAYLORSVILLE — Sitting on a bench and soaking her ankle in a tub is not the sort of pre-practice ritual Dayna Burgess enjoys. But nursing a sprained ankle doesn't seem so bad when she considers the alternative.

"It's much better than (hurting) an ACL," Burgess remarked.

The SLCC guard knows from experience. A torn ACL cut short Burgess' first season with the Bruins. She injured the knee during a drill in practice and ended up playing in only three games.

Getting back to the court for this season became her paramount goal. Burgess chose to undergo a form of surgery she described as more "brutal" in order to speed up her recovery time. She started doing exercises for her knee the day after surgery and wasn't allowed to use crutches during her rehabilitation.

It paid off in helping Burgess meet her comeback timetable. She is doing for SLCC this season what she expected to do a year ago. In 12 games, the redshirt freshman is averaging 7.2 points and 3.7 assists. She is one the Bruins' top outside threats, shooting 48.6 percent from three-point range.

Her basketball skills aren't quite as polished as she wants after being sidelined for so long, but Burgess feels like she is progressing back to an acceptable level.

"I might not be as athletic as I was two years ago, but the way I see the game is definitely coming back," Burgess said.

Bruins coach Betsy Specketer sees Burgess as a pillar of consistency on her young team. Specketer describes her as a student of the game and a player whose love of basketball pushes her to overcome any obstacle — injury-related or otherwise.

"One word comes to mind and that's resilient," Specketer said. "She's had several times where she could have said, 'Enough'. As far as we're concerned, we're really glad she has decided to keep trying."