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YOUNGSTOWN -- It wasn't the season Kelsea Newman envisioned.
The 5-foot-11 redshirt senior forward tore her ACL during Youngstown State's opener against American.
Her women's basketball season was over, along with her YSU playing career.
Newman used her redshirt season her freshman year and cannot apply for a medical redshirt for the 2017-18 season.
"In the beginning, it was difficult because that's what you've been doing your whole life since the third grade," said Newman, who is a mechanical engineer on pace to graduate in May. "You've been playing basketblal. For it to be taken away from you in a matter of 5 seconds, it kind of sucks. At the same time, it happens to people. You can't let it ruin your life."
Teammate Nikki Arbanas, a 5-7 junior shooting guard, knows that same pain and injury. Hers was suffered in the team's first practice in October. Out was the team's leading defender and 3-point shooter.
"I knew something was wrong," Arbanas said. "I knew it wasn't looking good for me. It's something for anyone to have to go through. You never think it's going to be you when you play.
"I'm lucky to have a great team around me to pick me up and get me through this."
Sarah Cash, a 6-1 junior forward, suffered an ACL tear in her left knee while at Lordstown. She wore a protective brace her freshman season.
She was last year's leading scorer and rebounder as a sophomore, the heart of the interior play.
During the summer, she had a hyperextended right knee with a piece of torn cartilege. The pain wouldn't go away.
She started one game and played in bits of seven early this year, but couldn't muster any production.
"I thought it was nothing, then it just keeps going. I don't know what to think about it. I'm hoping it gets better soon," Cash said.
She's trying to rest as much as possible, but is able to run and lift. Basketball-related activities put the stress on the knee.
Cash is frustrated she has to sit and wait with Arbanas and Newman.
"It gets frustrating because it feels like I could be out there playing, but it bothers me and causes me pain. It's not the best thing for the team," Cash said.
The perspective is different for the three starters.
"They're arguably our most experienced players and best defenders," YSU coach John Barnes said. "They're trying to help out any way they can, whether it's taking players aside or giving little tidbits to help them out, cheering them on. That's what good leaders do. They're doing all that they can without being on the court."
Arbanas said she and the other injured players are learning from this vantage point.
"We see a lot of things we don't typically notice," she said. "Whenever you're on the court, you see more individual things. Whereas you see the team defense as a whole, where people are supposed to be, the gaps that they need to fill."
These three aren't the only ones out. Freshman 5-11 guard Jen Oduho is out for the season, and 6-3 freshman center Mary Dunn suffered a sprained ankle during the Green Bay game on Jan. 26. Dunn played six minutes in Saturday's overtime win at UIC.
The five have discussed how these five would be an amazing starting lineup.
"I would have to be the point guard," Arbanas said. "Not good for me. It would be fun."
This year's team is (8-15 and 4-8 in the Horizon League).
"It's always a topic of conversation," Newman said of the injured starting five. "At the same time, you have to go with what you have. The people we have out there, they're trying every day to get a little bit better. Eventually it is going to pay off."